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Friday 15th Feb - Day 1 Had the van loaded on the Thursday night, and was taking everything that I would need for the next month, as my plan was to leave my van on the mainland at a mates house so that I could go just as a foot passenger on the ferry for the rounds at Brands Hatch on the 9th and 10th March, Mallory Park on the 17th March, and The Race of the Year at Mallory on the 24th March, then bring the van back for Jurby Rounds 1 & 2 at Easter (30th & 31st)…. To try and keep the travelling costs to a minimum…… So a busy time ahead, and no mistake…… There were 3 of us going on this trip…… myself, Juan Kinnish and Chris Sammons of Team CSR Ltd, who's services Juan has obtained for the British Championship he's contesting this year…… Sammo, (as he's known), is ex British Championship himself and is a damn handy rider, and all round top bike fettler, spanner twiddler and spares getter-er…… so a handy man to have in your corner. Met Juan at the Sea Terminal for the 0900hrs Barge to Heysham…… He looked a tad tired, as he'd just returned from racing in New Zealand the previous night, cutting it a bit close I thought…… and here he was joining me for another trip and he had only been on the Island for about 12 hours…… A bit keen, not like your average Laxey Boy…… (you listening Nigel Beattie). The ferry crossing was flat calm, which was great, especially since it was February, and as soon as we got off the boat, my phone rang and it was Sammo……… Drama before we had even begun……… The plan was that we were going to drive to Sammo's in Chesterfield, take all that we needed from my van and load it into his, which would already have Juan's bike and kit in it…… the reason we were taking Sammo's van was that it's got a towbar and his tyre fitting gear, compressor etc…… and we were going to take that along with a caravan Juan has been sponsored for the year from North Wales and drive down to Portsmouth and catch the ferry to Cherbourg in Northern France…… but the clutch in his van was slipping…… Disaster!…… so we couldn't take that…… Juan and I rang about 50 van hire places from Heysham Port and tried to hire a decent sized van with a towbar……… We found that this was not going to be easy as every van company that we tried didn't hire vans with towbars (for insurance reasons…… Apparently the van is insured, but not to tow anything) …… had no joy…… The yellow pages we were using was only for the Cumbria and the like area we were in… so we decided to go to Chesterfield through the Manchester area which would have a bigger choice of van hire companies ……… to make matters worse on the way to Manchester the exhaust broke on my van…… Christ! what next…… we pulled into Charlie Brown's Exhaust Centre in Salford, Manchester to get the exhaust fixed…… got it up on the ramp and found that the whole system was buggered……… bollocks…… got them to order one which they said they'd have within the hour, not much choice so I ordered it…… While we were waiting we used the yellow pages to phone some more van companies……… We eventually found a company that would hire us a small wheel based Transit with a towbar, not ideal, but we had to have our own Fully Comprehensive Insurance and to top it all they wouldn't let us take it out of the country anyway……… So that was that job F****d. The exhaust arrived for the 'Benz', so we went for sommat to eat, then arrived back at around 5pm-ish hoping it would be ready………… No such luck!…… an exhaust bracket that holds two of the pieces together was a special (which they didn't have) and it had broken…… They had also been sent the wrong tailpipe!!!!!…… I reckoned somebody was trying to tell us something………… they eventually got it all together (including the old tailpipe) by around 6pm and while I paid for it they said they thought that the manifold gasket was on its way out.…. started it up and it was still noisy…….. drove to Sammo's and it was pretty loud inside the cab……. It was decided when we got there that we had no option to take my van to France minus the caravan, as mine has no towbar…… I said we had to look at the manifold then……… turns out there was a pinhole in the actual manifold so I bought some Holts Gun Gum and repaired the hole…… After we loaded all the stuff in the van, I started to get a little worried, because there was that much stuff in it I didn't think it was going to move!……… Stayed at Sammo's the night, (we had planned on driving down to Portsmouth and sleep in the caravan and wait for the ferry)…… Went to bed knackered ready for an early start in the morning……… Saturday 16th Feb - Day 2 Got up early (6am-ish) Juan had a go of driving 'The Benz' to Portsmouth, its not the easiest van in the world to drive, and it was made harder that it was frosty and the windows were steamed up…… (it had no heater blower to clear the windows, as it had burnt out a few days before we went…… another reason I didn't want to take it)…… Had another small problem on the way down…… In our haste to fix the manifold in the dark with a torch the previous night, we had damaged the wires to the radio cassette player…… great, no sounds…… Made great time and arrived in Portsmouth at around 11am and while we waited for the ferry, I fixed the radio…… cool. The ferry journey was about 5 hours and was uneventful (thankfully) arrived in Cherbourg at 6-30pm (7-30pm local time)…. Juan was still driving, filled her up with cheaper diesel and started South……… set the stopwatch to see how long it was going to take us…… Drove for nearly 3 hours, and arrived in Rennes, where we decided to stay the night…… Booked into a hotel in the centre, with the help of my French phrase book, twenty Euros each (about £13) not bad…… Juan was well tired, so me and Sammo went to a small bar across the road for a couple of swift halves…… really bizarre place… Pretty freaky these French you know…… didn't stay long and went to bed soon after midnight. Sunday 17th Feb - Day 3
Monday 18th Feb
- Day 4 Got up at 7am, it was bloody freezing, had been awake loads in the night, my nose was numb it was that cold, it was still dark, damp and misty…… Signing on was from 7-15am went to do that at about 7-30am…… Was the first one there……… so not too punctual then……… wasn't bothered, was thinking of the lie in I was going to have tomorrow…… We were supposed to be out on the track at 8-30 but the mist didn't lift till around 11am…… While we waited fettled the bike ready, took a note of all the suspension settings, so that I can have a reference point and replaced the split link in the chain to a rivet type one on the advice from Sammo (and with his help)….. had one ½ hour session before the 2 hour lunch break…… Just tootled round on the damp track trying to get my head round being on two wheels again as this was my first go for over 4 months, with an unfamiliar bike…… pulled in after 7 laps as my hands were that cold they were numb and my visor was steaming up……… Juan had the same problem with his old helmet, (he wrecked his good one in NZ) so he borrowed the spare one I had brought for the week……… we looked like 'Team Helmet' if you know what I mean……… During the lunch break I changed my gearing from 14/48 to 14/47 as it was revving out in top down the long back straight, so it would be worse when it dried and I was going quicker. Had my new Lap Timer on for the first time, but hadn't set it up (didn't know you had to) but Sammo had a stopwatch on us both, only got me for one lap and I clocked a 2'03.1 in the damp conditions for the 2.259 mile circuit….. Juan had done a 2'00.5 Sammo nick-named the R6 'The Banshee' because he reckons it wails like one……… you can hear it coming, that's for sure…… After lunch the sun came out, but it was still cold and there was still plenty of damp patches on the newly re-surfaced track which made it pretty slippy. In my first afternoon session I had clocked a 1'51.2 and Juan had done a 1'46.5 wasn't too bothered at being a lot slower than him as he had just done 12 days racing in New Zealand and was 'On it' as they say…… It all felt pretty weird to me, but knew that I would get faster. Second session faired better and I managed a 1'46.3 as I started to get the hang of the track, Juan had gone faster again with a 1'43.8……… then on my final session of the day I had managed a 1'45.7 (Juan 1'43.4)…….. For the last session I let Juan loose on my ex Jim Moodie V&M Yamaha R6 to see what he thought of the suspension set up etc etc……. and Sammo was having a go of Juan's ex Kim Ashkenazi's Kawasaki ZX-6R…… both bikes had competed in the British Championship. Was just a little bit gutted (but not surprised) that he went quicker on the R6 than I had managed on his first go (1'44.5) and Sammo had done a 1'51 on the Kwacker first (and only) time out. Juan reckoned the bike set up was pretty much 'Bob On'……..Fettled the bike ready for tomorrow with a new set of Pirelli Super Corsa's that we had brought with us, changed the footpeg settings to a more comfortable position and changed the gearing, as it was revving out in top halfway down the long back straight again, so now I was using a 14 front tooth and 46 rear tooth sprockets…… Sammo had suggested I try and hold a gear longer round some of the corners as I had been screaming the nuts off it, as the bike revs like hell and is really peaky…… Feels like a 2 stroke. Our mate Dan turned up (he works in Toulouse) for a few hours, hadn't seen him since Christmas, cooked some pasta on the little stove that I brought (good job I did or we would have been buggered as we thought that we would have had a caravan) Had a few beers, then it started raining….. Had a good yarn, then Dan left after a while, so went and got showered, water stunk of sulphur, but at least it was hot……… crashed out at around 11pm.
Didn't bother getting up till 8-30am, had been awake loads again in the night, as it's not that comfy in the van, it was misty again but this time it was really wet…… decided not to bother going out till it dried. Jumped on the scooter and headed into town to buy some croissants etc (while in France………) The scooter conked out while Sammo was on it and he had to push it back to the paddock…… stripped it down and couldn't figure out why there was no spark, although the spark plug cap fell to pieces so we pinched the one of the generator and it still didn't work……… Baffling. Missed the whole morning sessions because of the weather, but loads of others had gone out in it…… we didn't for more than one reason…….. NO fun in the rain at the best of times and there was nowhere we could dry our stuff when we got soaked. During the 2 hour lunch break (these frogs can eat!………) The boys in the paddock next to us (from Phoenix Motorcycles) had a go at sorting the scooter…… they found that the ignition switch was knackered, and hot wired it…… so at least it was working. Got ready to go out for the first afternoon session and started the bike to 'warm er up'……… Disaster!!…… It was making a hell of a weird noise……… It sounded like a load of pigeons in the airbox…… Bloody Hell. Sammo recommended that I didn't use it, because it could be a tight cam or something that might cause permanent damage……… So I rang Jack Valentine on his mobile (the 'V' in V&M)…… told him what was going on, and he said to ring Steve (Steve Mellor the tuning guru…… the 'M' in V&M)…… He was out so I spoke to the head race mechanic, Paul. Let him listen to the bike over my mobile phone, because the noise was hard to describe, and he said it sounded like the bike was either blowing out air or sucking it in…… He suggested that I check that the spark plugs were sealing properly, check all the breather hoses to the cylinder head and carbs and the valve clearances…… Had to miss most of the sessions while I stripped the bike down. Had most of it stripped down by the time Juan and Sammo got back…… Sammo whipped the plugs out and we found that the sealing washers on two of them were blowing, so replaced the washers, banged them back in and started her up……… it was still doing it…… bollocks! Next up was to check all the breathers, and Sammo discovered that the Vacuum balance pipes to the carbs had gone really soft, were sucking in on themselves and the inside walls of the pipe were rubbing on each other making the noise. So we used the stiff braided hose from my brake fluid bleed kit to replace the rubber ones…… and problem solved!……….. yeee haarrrr. Got the bike back together and went out in the second last session of the day (my first one) and managed a best lap of 1'44.2 so quicker again my first time out. Juan had his time down to a 1'42.2 …………so 2 seconds slower, which I thought was not bad…… seeing as how I felt that I was still all over the place and not very smooth, was taking more than one bite at a few corners which was obviously slowing me down. Juan decided that was enough for him, but I went out in the last session…… so he and Sammo decided on watching me on the straight behind the pits……… Had a dice with a couple of blokes, one on a GSXR1000, and one of the track instructors on a Fireblade, they looked like they were having a play, while I was trying hard to keep up…… and they soon buggered off. After about 10 laps I was approaching the corner where the boys were watching and I noticed that there was an oil flag out……… Went round three corners and spotted nothing so got my head down and carried on………… unbeknown to me the oil had been dropped at the corner I was tipping in to…… Both Juan and Sammo were jumping up and down waving their arms for me to stop, but as I was watching where I was going I didn't notice them……… First I knew something was up was when I saw 4 bikes had crashed into the gravel trap, then I saw the oil……… but it was too late I was already committed to the corner, but I straightened up a bit and ………… whoooooooop……… the bike slid on the oil, but thankfully I managed to save it (more luck than judgement)…… pulled in straight after and called it a day. Started to get blisters on the toes of my gear change foot, which didn't help your concentration…… It's a bit of a clunky box on the ol' R6……… or maybe I've got china toes! In that session I had clocked a 1'43.6 which I was well pleased about and to get into the 1'43's had been my target for the day…… Only 1.4 seconds slower…… have to be happy about that. Have done 75 laps on the bike already, its not long racking the mileage up on the bastard and have to keep my eye on it. V&M recommend a total strip down and check every 750 miles, and a total rebuild every 1500 miles………… Ouch!…… and 75 laps equated to 170 miles already……… Ouch again! Didn't take long to fettle the bike ready for tomorrow, made some more pasta, then quoft a few beers in the hotel across the road. Got my head down at around 11pm and was really aching under my arms and in my legs……… was surprised at this as I've been training pretty hard as well, just goes to show why all the top riders train on motocross bikes…… there's no substitute for being on the bike, you use muscles you didn't know you had, especially when you start going faster.
Alarm went off at 8-30am (no rush) jumped back into my quilt after I had a look, and saw that it was pissing down…… eventually dragged myself up an hour later and went on the 'croissant run' on the scooter the the Hyper Marche (Supermarket). Had brekkie and sat in the Awning. It didn't look like it was going to clear up, was thinking about putting my wet tyres on and going out in it, with a few other of the brave souls who did, but I thought………… Na! Missed the whole of the morning session and by lunch break it looked like it might get better, but after lunch it started raining again……… bollocks, I felt that I had it in me to go a lot faster today, I felt I was eventually getting my head round it. It rained all day and never let up. Made some more pasta in the awning, then Juan tripped the electricity in the whole paddock, when he dropped water on one of the sockets we had……… oops!…… so there we were siiting in a draughty awning in the dark, in the pissing rain……… Oh happy days. Had to take the spark plug cap back off the scooter and put it back on the Genny and started that up to give us some leckie. Jumped in the back of a van of one of the other lads and went into town to a pub. A few hours later came back to the Awning to find my mobile phone swimming on top of a box where I had left it……… the awning guttering had leaked!……… phone stopped working…… Surprise, surprise…… It was too wet and windy to let Sammo sleep in the Awning, as there was the river of Babylon running through it, so we all jammed in the back of the van……… there wasn't much room, good job it's a handy size.
Got up, the sun was shining, but it was still piss wet through……… the boys from Phoenix motorcycles had gone, as the forecast for today had been the same as yesterday, but it looked like it was going to be wrong…… they must have thought the same as me, because they turned round and came back again. Jumped on the scooter and did the croissant run, while Sammo put the kettle (pot) on…… Tried to buy a spark plug cap while I was out, but this is definitely a 'one horse town' you have to dodge the tumbleweeds blowing through it……… and the language barrier didn't help either…… I knew what a spark plug was in french, but didn't know what 'cap' was, so there I was doing charades…… The sun was out, and there was a slight breeze blowing, was hoping that it would dry the track, and sure enough it started to. Went out in the last morning session before lunch, but it was still too wet to try to hard, Juan had waited a couple of times for me to tuck in behind him, but I wasn't getting any feed back from the super corsa's that I had on, it felt like I was going round on roller skates (maybe should have changed to my wets) and I pulled in after only 4 laps after I had a slide onto the start/finish straight…… went back out, but only did 2 more laps and pulled in again…… Didn't want to push my luck, decided on waiting to see if it dried up… Juan stayed out and me and Sammo watched from pit lane. After dinner the track was nearly completely dry, apart from a damp patch on the first corner, just on the point where you tipped in…… Followed Juan again in the first afternoon session as we were first on to the track, but he went too fast too soon and I couldn't get my head round it…… as soon as I upped my own pace he had gone…… settled down and did 15 laps and dipped into the 1'42's for the first time with a 1'42.8 not before having a bit of a fright when I went around the outside of some geezer on an R1 on a fast 4th gear left hander and he went wide and nearly had me on the grass, I think he shit himself more than I did when he saw me…… Juan had managed his target for the day when he got into the 1'40's with a 1'40.3 even though neither of us got a clear run as there was quite a bit of traffic on the track. Had bandaged my toes up for this session, but could still feel the blisters, but had my knee down loads of times and thought 'Whay-Hay' first time that's happened in a while, not usually my style, but for the first time I felt comfortable with it happening. The half hour session ended and it was back in the pits, was pretty glad as I was starting to suffer from a bit of 'arm pump'. Sammo had been watching from out at the back of the track (courtesy of the scoot) and he said I was as fast as anyone on the fast 4th gear left hander and the first right hander that followed it, but was losing time on the next right hander, which I already knew, so he gave me a few pointers, which I took on board. I had been concentrating on shifting my bodyweight and being smooth more than anything, but its at tests like these you have to try everything together. Second session of the afternoon, we decided, would probably be our last, as we wanted to get packed up while it was still daylight and get a good start on the journey home. We also wanted to change our boat tickets from Saturday at 0815 hrs to Friday night 2245 hrs, wouldn't have bothered, but didn't have the caravan to sleep in when we got to Cherbourg. This time out I asked Juan not to go so fast early on and build up to it, he said no problem and off we went………… warmed the tyres up for a lap and then the pace upped……… over the start/finish line my lap timer indicated 1'44.11…… Thought that was not a bad lap to get started, followed him through all the corners and was no more than five yards behind him at any one time……… noticed all the lines he was taking had been different than mine, as I've got an awful habit of apexing a corner way too early, these lines of Juan's were obviously a lot better because over the start/finish line my lap timer indicated 1'41.70……… Brilliant! My fastest lap of the whole week…… was well pleased even though didn't get a chance to look at it till we were on the back straight, it didn't feel like I was going that much quicker, but I'd just knocked 1 ½ seconds of my previous best. Kept following…… again no more than 5 to 10 yards behind, was learning something every lap and had the old knee sliders working at nearly every corner, which still surprised me, but I was enjoying it…… this is what I'd come for……… Next lap round it was 1'41.09 …… so faster again……… and it still didn't feel like it…… Passed a couple of bikes on the brakes at the end of the long straight, and going over the line it was 1'40.86 Great, I'd dipped into the 1'40's, next lap, was still tail grabbing him all the way round till we got to the last corner before the start/finish……… it's actually two corners taken in one (normally)…… we caught up with two blokes, Juan tried to go around the outside but I could see he was going to be blocked so I went up the inside and passed them all, was thinking not the best idea I'd had, because nearly every other time I had passed him before, man and machine had parted company, but seeing as I was ahead, I decided on having a go at staying there……… was trying pretty hard, but felt really smooth, crossing the line my lap timer said 1'39.57……… Jesus H Christ!…… wasn't expecting to see that, still felt really smooth and felt that I could go quicker…… had a quick look behind when I got to the back straight and couldn't believe I was about 100 yards ahead of Joo… (unbeknown to me his battery was going flat)…… was telling myself not to get carried away and keep concentrating, and over the line it was 1'39.37…… faster still. Juan had pulled in, and had posted his best lap of the week chasing me (1'39.60), I thought he was still behind and was expecting him at any time to dive up my inside, next few laps, I knew that I had gone slower after I had the back end stepping out once or twice……… knew that it was the tyres going 'off', confirmed with the next few laps being all 1'40's…… was surprised at myself for knowing the times I had posted before I had looked at the lap timer, I knew if it was going to be a 1'39 or '40 or '41……… decided before I have another go at it I would need new rubber on so decided enough was enough……… until I rounded the last corner and saw Paul Wilson (The instructor for 100% bikes) on his Fireblade rounding the first corner…… Decided on having a go at catching him for one lap, and half a lap later I was right up his chuff…… Down the long back straight, his Blade had the legs on my 600 (no substitute for cubes…… as they say)…… wanted to have a go at him on the anchors, and was committed to doing so when he pulled across right in front of me because he didn't know I was there………… I braked that hard the back wheel lifted off the deck, and the front number plate on my bike hit the exhaust on his and down I went……… I went over the handle bars in fact…… he stayed on. I'm pretty sure the bike landed on my leg as I landed on my left elbow, then watched the bike slide down the track…… was gutted! The bike slid on its crash protector mushrooms until it nearly stopped, then the tyres gripped, the bike stood up and fell on its other side!!……… I couldn't believe it, I was waiting for Jeremy Beadle to jump out……… Got to the bike and picked it up……… and gave it the old once over……… First thing was, that it had snapped the left hand bar off, and damaged the fairings, but luckily, not that much……… was well relieved, it could have been a lot worse, but was annoyed that I only had 4 corners to go till I pulled in, was also pissed off because I was sure I was on a 1'38 lap (you know when you know)…… pushed the bike to the pits, passed the 100% bikes garage on the way, stopped and spoke to Paul…… he said the first he knew somebody was there was when he was knocked sideways, had a quick look at his bike and saw that his micron end can and bracket were well squashed. I said that I braked that hard to avoid him I nearly head butted the seat unit on his bike the back wheel was so high! He wasn't bothered in the slightest that his bike had been damaged and I think it was just one of those things that happen when your racing. Sammo saw me pushing the bike in pit lane, and he and Juan arrived on the scooter, they pushed the bike back to the paddock while I rode the scoot back, I could feel my ankle swelling…… While I got my gear off Sammo put a spare bar on the bike (had me spares with me)…… Dismantled the Awning and packed (literally) everything into the van, couldn't believe it all went in again. Paul arrived on his 'go-ped' and to say ta-ra and said he'll see me at the MRO round at Brands Hatch…… he's riding a NSR500 Honda. Had a shower then we headed off north. Got a bit lost around Bordeaux, which put us off track for half an hour, and three hours later we decided to stop in a place called Saintes in a Formule 1 Hotel…… cheap and cheerful (£15 per night per room…… Bargain!) The rooms in these hotels are small with a double bed with a single bunk bed above it. Didn't have the most comfortable night sleep, my whole left side was aching…… mainly ankle, elbow and hip……… Ouch!……… and I'd drawn the top bunk!…… took me five minutes to get up the little ladder! Friday 22nd Feb - Day 8 Got up at around 10-15am, still aching……… jumped in the van and headed North, decided on going the Tours, Le Mans route this time rather than going up the West coast. (Had a lap of the Le Mans course they use for the 24 hour race…… while we passed through) Juan did most of the driving in the M.Benz, he said he'd rather do it than sit there doing nothing, I didn't complain, ankle was still too sore to use the clutch anyway. (but Sammo had the odd go at crunching the gears). Phoned P&O from the back of the van and changed our tickets to the Friday night sailing. Got Juan's girfriend, Dawnio to change our boat tickets to go from Liverpool on the Saturday at 1900 hrs via the text on my phone. Got on the boat after a slight delay and booked a cabin as it was a force 8 blowing. Had a few beers, Sammo was looking a bit green under the gills, so told him to get his head down as it works for me when it's really rough……… wasn't long before we joined him……… it was pretty choppy. Saturday 23rd Feb - Day 9 Was up for 5-15am
for breakfast, and if I knew what it was going to be like, I would have
told them to shove it up their arse…… it was disgusting, only
reason we went was because it was included in the price of the cabin……
got pulled by customs when we got off and they held us for a good half
hour…… kept asking us if we had any ciggies in the van, we were
dreading them asking us to unload it…… we had bought some wine,
but had no fags… so they let us on our way…… and we headed
North again to Chesterfield. It was bloody freezing and it snowed a couple
of times, mainly on the M1 motorway, where we came across a few crashes………
thought Juan was taking the piss when the van started to lose power………
pulled in and stopped, could see air going up the fuel pipe to the injectors
and that the in-line fuel filter was black…… Struggled up the
motorway, while Sammo phoned a mate of his who replaced the fuel filters
and bled the system. Got to Sammo's house, unloaded all Juan's stuff,
and noticed me poor scooter had been damaged, all the weight on it had
snapped the rear indicator off it and broke the front indicator panel…..
shite! Left Sammo's after the best shower I've had all week and drove to Liverpool for the ferry. When we got there it was really windy, they asked us how high my van was and said there was a maximum height limit of 2.2 metres…… I said my van was 2.2 metres…… so we got the tape measure out and it said………… 2.5 metres……… oops! So it was off up to Heysham to catch the 0215…… Bollocks. Both of us slept in the main lounge nearly the whole way across we were that knackered, and arrived back in the IOM at 0600 hrs Sunday morning…… couldn't wait to get in me own bed…… and dived in it at about 0730…… All in all a good trip, definitely worth going, would have probably taken me 3 or 4 meetings to get up to the pace I'm at now……… just hope that I can keep it going…… might do it again next year, but we might go further South and go to Valencia in Spain, get the ferry to Bilbao or the like for that one though……… Next up, Brands Hatch on the 9th and 10th March……… Have to give the Benz the old once over as well…… we did 2,114 miles in it, and there'll be a lot more to add to that the next few weeks…… I'm getting back ache just thinking about it…… So, tune in next time for another very exciting, bits falling off, faster than Kinnish episode of……………… Tommy Clucas Racing. |
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Nogaro
Trip - Winter Testing Programme