First Response Finance


		Andy Shim

	Film Star turns to Motorbike Racing!

	Shimy "I’m loving the Racing"

	CADWELL PARK

	BRANDS HATCH

	SILVERSTONE

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Shimy "I’m loving the Racing"

Andrew Shim “Shimy” I’m loving the Racing

Well how much fun was the first month; the preparation, the organizing, the track days and of course the racing, there were some ups and downs as you’d expect in racing, but wow - we’re finally off.

The first thing on our minds was to get some new First Response branded racing leathers. We decided on Carrera Leathers due to their reputation of producing quality racing leathers, so we had Martin (CEO from Carrera Leathers) in to discuss some designs.

Shimy finally got his bike delivered after weeks of anticipation, and he was not disappointed. Meeting with him to view the bike after his first track-day round Cadwell Park; Shimy seemed impressed, “the bike feels quite small underneath me, it’s dead nippy – you can really chuck it round the corners”.

A week later Shimy popped into FRF to discuss picking up his new leathers, however I was met by a not-so-happy Shimmy.

A day earlier Shimy had taken the Bike to Donington Park for a track-day so he could get used to the racetrack, ready for his first race. “I’ve got to replace my engine later! I had an engine failure yesterday - well on only my 6th lap of the day, my engine blew up throwing a ConRod through the front of the engine at around 145mph covering me in oil and leaving a 4 inch whole in the front of the engine!”

It was a good job that Shimy is a trained Mechanic and that he also has friends in the trade that were at hand to help him change the engine, as by this time it was Thursday and Saturday’s qualifying day was fast approaching.

When Saturday came (the day of qualifying and the Superpole Race), so came the bad weather it was freezing cold with weather changes constantly, it went from snowing to raining to hale stones to being sunny then back to snowing again.

Most of the racers ‘Shimy included’ were trying their hardest to keep warm, most sitting inside their Vans drinking hot drinks etc.

“The weekend was a real struggle. Due to the engine failing only a few days before, it left me no time to set the suspension up and make the bike handle properly. After a disappointing Saturday (qualifying in 21st on the grid) we finally started to make some progress with the handling and the lap times started to come down. Come Sunday, still not perfect but a country mile ahead of where we were at the beginning of the weekend. The main concern for Sunday was staying on the bike given the fact that there were 15 crashes in just the first 2 hours of racing, probably due to the sub zero temperatures.”

On the Sunday Shimy came 12^th & 13^th in the two races out of a total 25 riders, this is a solid start to his first season and has given him a good boost of confidence as staying on the bike was tricky in such harsh weather conditions.

The 2nd round of the Triumph championship is the 26th and 27th of April at Cadwell park one of Shimy’s favourite tracks, he’ll go there filled with confidence knowing that his fastest time is up there with the best of his field.

“I’m really looking forward to the coming round. I've raced at Cadwell Park more than any other track and now we’re finally at a good point with the bike's set-up I’ll be able to bring a stronger fight to the track! I just hope for better weather than we've seen so far this month.

Shimy will be racing this Saturday (19^th April) at Cadwell in 2 different championship's (The Sound Of Thunder & Formula 600) to gain more time on the bike and get a bit more practice in before the next round.

Generated: 24/04/2008 | Modified: 25/06/2008 by Editors FRF

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