Race Report: Anglesey 20-22 Sept 2024.

Last round of the Championship sees me fighting for third in the main F400 class and for first place in the Newcomers class. This will be the decider round!

The weekend started a few days prior, as Anglesey is around 5/6 hours away from London so we decide to leave Thursday morning and make our way there at a relaxed pace. Me, Oliver (the trusty spanner man) and Elle (Oli’s girlfriend) arrive on track about 2 hours before we are allowed access to the garages and we have the pleasure of watching the locals rip cars around the track with the most surreal background. Anglesey’s track is right on the coast of a tiny island and, from the right view point, it looks like the cars will end up in the Irish Sea.

We set up camp in garage 18 and we find that we will share it with Harley, #24 and Pete, #48, both racing with me in the F400 class, both armed with the legendary Honda VFR400.

I have brough Aghostina, a Kawasaki ZXR400, and my girlfriend's bike too, a Ninja 300, as I signed up for double duty this weekend. I have also signed up for the Newcomers races, 2 of them this weekend.

This means that I will have lots (perhaps too many) sessions on track that will help me learn it quickly but also means that I will suffer fatigue at a level that I never experienced before.

The F400 and Newcomers championship will take priority but I always wanted to do double duty so I’ll have some fun in the Junior SuperSport class on the Ninja, where Ninja 250/300/400, KTM 390, Yamaha R3 and CB500 are also allowed.

Friday is the easiest day and I do 7 sessions on track, 6 on the ZXR and 1 on the Ninja, without close calls. The bikes are very different, and I have to get used to the difference in weight, power delivery, breaking and cornering capabilities.

On Saturday I get a really good lap time on the Ninja that sees me second in the JSS class, behind a Ninja 400. I also qualify second with the ZXR400, behind Pete, in the F400 class, but on the last lap of qualifying I have a major scare, where I lose the bike momentarily coming out of the last left hander, before the short start straight. The rear steps out and I get thrown off the pegs, I land like a bag of potatoes and my left shin hits the left foot peg with all my weight behind it. I manage to keep the bike upright and ride it back to the pits but my left leg is killing me. Oli tells me to give a look at the peg, it looks like I cracked it when I landed on it so the bulge I can feel growing under the suit is appropriate for the occasion. I roll up the suit from the bottom to find that the leg is indeed swelling at a rapid rate. Luckily there is still some ice in the cooler and while Oli replaces the footpeg and its mount I check the daily program to see when I have to go out on track again. Well, I have about 30 minutes before the first race of the weekend and I can barely walk. Good start.

JSS (Junior SuperSport) Race 1:

The JSS class runs along the Monster 600 & Monster 620 class bikes that are usually slower in the corners but have a lot more grunt on the exit and more top speed. I am starting second in my class and my only goal, having hurt my shin just a few minutes prior to the start, is to bring it back home, no matter the position. The ice does its job, and I manage to fit the boot back, I am ready to race! (am I?)

Warm up lap, first time I practice a start on the Ninja, all seems in order. Lights on, lights off, let’s go! I launch off the line and maybe it was rider error or maybe the recently hurt leg but my input on the gear lever is less than perfect, I hit neutral instead of second and I get absolutely demolished before turn one, at least 3 riders have passed me. I try to fight back but the Monsters are holding me back in the corners and they pull away every time there is a straight. I finish the race with an intense battle with Jessica, #81, on a Yamaha R3. I plan the overtake in my head, and I am ready for the last lap. I have the inside at the end of the straight and I complete the pass, after that point is almost impossible to overtake. The corners are running out and only the corkscrew is left before the finish line. We ride side by side up and over the famous Anglesey crest, a blind right hander that makes it look like we are racing boats, as it presents the sea before revealing the track. Up a gear, full gas downhill, brake as hard as you can, down a gear, quick look down the corkscrew, and my heart sinks.

A backmarker is in the way.

I know he has not seen us, coming at full race pace. He holds the line, and I have no choice but to slow down behind him, Jessica, with a daring pass, manages to squeeze past me and the Monster and she pulls away, only one corner to go, the one where I just hurt myself on the other bike is coming up and I just don’t have the heart to gamble it all. Jessica gets a well-deserved the third place, I get fourth, but the lap times don’t lie, almost 2 seconds a lap slower than my qualifying time, I was held up and I have to find a way to do better.

I later have a quick chat with her and her dad and I have a chance to congratulate her. If she keeps going this way one day I’ll be asking for her autograph.

F400 Race 1:

My leg was hurting a bit but no time to rest, the first race for the F400 is coming up and I cannot wait. I know that, because I am also doing the newcomers race, I will have to come in the pits immediately after the race for a quick refill as the 2 races are back to back, so Oli has a can with about 3 litres of the finest Scottish high-octane fuel ready. I am starting second in my class and I have one of my best starts, following Pete and a 600. Pete, as per, makes a run for it and I cannot keep up.

I’ll get him one day, don’t you worry about that...

I am now trapped between a group of 600s that are battling each other. They are not in my class and I have no reason to risk it so I complete the laps safely and bring home the most boring 2nd place I ever took. My pace does not improve, unsurprisingly. The view and the track are not boring at all and I really enjoy riding the last few laps all alone.

Newcomers 500 Race 1:

I ride back to garage 18 where Oli puts the bike on the stands and refills it in record time, time to go out again! I qualified first and, as I line up, I check out the competition.

I launch as hard as I can but a bike passes me on the right, mercilessly. Intense battle for all the 9 laps of race while trying to find out how come he was so fast in the straights. I managed to stay right with him and pass him a few times. Once back in the garage Oli asks me why I was fighting him, since he was in a different class. No wonder he had a higher top speed than me, different class Franky!

Anyway, gold medal, first place in the race and solidified my first place in the Championship. I can taste the champagne already.

The day ends with a BBQ and a charity track walk. Harley has agreed to walk the track in a T-REX inflatable suit for “racing in pink” and I am happy to follow him and Pete, around Anglesey, with a magical sunset. I hit the bed, exhausted and happy.

JSS Race 2:

The grid position of race 2 is decided by the best lap that took place during race 1 so I am starting way back this time but I am ready for battle. As soon as the lights go off I launch as hard as I can and get in a really good rhythm, I can see that there are 2 Monsters in front of me and Max, #56, on a Yamaha R3, second in our class. I can feel I am much faster than the Monsters and after a quick, intense battle, I am in front. The Ninja is so nimble and light that it’s almost effortless. I am about a second behind Max and a turn 2 of the 5th lap I have my chance. Turn 2 is called “banking”, a right hander with the highest banking I have ever seen on a UK track and it allows for insanely late trail braking and lean angle. I dive on the inside, braking some 20 metres after him and for about a lap I am not disturbed. Max appears again at the end of the straight but I brake harder and remain in front. He must have learnt a few tricks from me while I was riding in front of him, as he seems considerably faster now. We engage in the most fun and long battle I have ever had in my (very short) race history. He tries on the outside of turn 1 to have the inside of turn 2 but I brake even deeper than before and I stay in front. He tries again at the end of the straight but outbrakes himself, going long, and with a swift switchback I am back in front. We exchange positions many times and every corner seem like a reasonable place where to pass as the last lap approaches. I don’t have time to think of a game plan and during the last lap he manages to pull a few metres on me, having missed a gear, I am forced to come out of a corner in fourth and not third, losing lots of ground. I finish third with a big smile on my face, that race was mad fun and I am satisfied with my first trophy in the JSS class.

F400 Race 2:

The perfect blue sky is no longer blue and a few drizzles are coming down so we start getting the wet wheels and tools out. It’s time to go out and the track is still 95% dry, even though it has been drizzling for at least an hour.

I launch well and keep a moderate pace, trying to understand the grip level and getting used to the ZXR400 again, Pete disappears into the distance, yet again, and I just have to bring home another second place. I have to be also mindful because the newcomers race is immediately after the F400 race, as yesterday.

Only a few laps are left, and disaster happens.

Coming out of banking, turn 2, I hit the rumble strip, and I am not fast enough closing the gas. The rumple strip is generally quite grippy but when wet it’s like ice. Aghostina goes completely sideways and there is no saving it this time. This is my very first proper highside, I think, as I fly up in the sky. I land on my left shoulder and start rolling for what felt like forever. The marshalls are with me in a second and the red flags go out immediately.

I am taken to the medical center where I crack a few jokes with the medics as they patch me up, they think I don’t have anything broken but my shoulder is hurting quite a bit.

As I walk towards garage 18 I see the newcomers getting ready, I know I will miss that race, the last JSS and the last F400 race too. What a rookie mistake.
I am quite banged up so I take some time to lick my wounds as the last few races of the day go by.

But first a few photos and some champagne, to celebrate the first place in the championship, the painkillers provided by the medical center help a bit and we try to take photos of the bike from the less damaged side.

We pack the van and get ready for the drive home and I realize that I cannot change gears as my left shoulder is pretty much frozen in place.
Oli comes to the rescue, obviously, and we proceed to drive as a team. I do the turning, clutching, braking and throttling and Oli mans the gearbox, as I shout him the gear needed. The conversations went more or less like this: "So Oli what are you FIRST! thinking for next year SECOND! since you are quite far you into building your THIRD! CBR400. Will you race it or BACK TO SECOND! will you get something else? NEUTRAL PLEASE NOW"

We rest up at a hotel for the night and arrive in London around 11:00 where I thank him and Elle for their help. A bittersweet ending to a fantastic first year of racing.

Huge thanks to my sponsors that have supported me on this path and the biggest thanks to my friends and family that have been close to me during this adventure:

Roy, Rupert, Federico, Oli, Elle, Raven, Pete, Harley, Kevin and Simon.

(Editor's note - Special thanks to Phil Newell for all the action shots. Take a look at his other work here...

(Editor's other note - That's the end of the season. Huge congratulations to Francesco and his merry band of suppporters on a brilliant result. Looking forward to next season...)

A word from (OK, about) Francesco's sponsors. Because we appreciate them and without sponsors there's no racing.