Finally, a relevantly smooth weekend without any major issues…if we ignore the major down pour on Friday afternoon which cancelled FP2 and almost flooded our awning! Although I should have been able to pull x2 top 20 results out of the bag this weekend, I couldn’t quite make it happen. Yet I’m happy with my performance and feel we finally have a base setting to work from.
ROUND 10 – Donington Park GP TOMMO21 RACE SUMMARY
2022 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Quattro Plant Hire British Supersport 600 Championship
Overview
Saturday: - Qualifying - P25 - Sprint Race (12 laps) – P21
Sunday: - Feature Race (17 laps) – P23
Best Lap: 1:35.8 (PB) Ideal Lap: 1:35.6
Event Sponsor: Nil
Friday:
FP1 / FP2 FP1 was a wet / damp track so I spun some laps on a set of scrubbed wets and called time on the session with 5 minutes remaining. Getting up to P13 mid-session was a great effort. FP2 was cancelled given the torrential rain and wind which hit Donington Park.
Saturday:
Qualifying This was the first dry session of the weekend, so the whole grid was guessing with set up. The team with help from K-Tech Suspension did a good job for a base setting and after coming in half way through the session for some changes and a new rear tyre, I pushed as far as I felt was worth it and set a 1:36.8, good enough for P25. The bike was still very lively, so I was happy that I’d have more in the back pocket for the race.
Sprint Race: Finally getting a good start, I jumped up to P19 come lap 3 making up 6 places before settling into a fast but ‘comfortable’ pace. Moving down to P20 mid race, I thought I had a big enough gap to get a top 20 finish so with only a couple of laps to go, I managed my lap times. However, De Vries unexpectedly closed the gap and out of no where, got past going into Fogarty Esses on the last lap. I frantically dove up the inside of the Melbourne Hairpin but ran in too hot and went wide. It was incredibly frustrating end to an otherwise very good result.
Sunday:
Feature Race Having made some minor set up changes from warm up I again got a good start and made up places in the opening laps. Setting my PB on lap 3, I then started to struggle for grip come lap 6/7. The bike become extremely lively both into and out of corners and I had a string of 3 very average laps, almost losing the front and rear on multiple times at various places around the track which caused me to tense up on the bike. This allowed the group of three riders behind to catch me so for the final 7 laps, so had to battle with Max Ingham before Jamie Cringe & Tomas de Vries. I put pretty much everything into getting back past, but after some very close racing, I just didn’t have the bike under me to keep ahead and slipped to P23. Great racing all round, but not the result I could have had given my early pace.
Thank you to Louise, Jay, my old man, Calum, Mum, Stu, Laura Neil & Ricky who were all involved in helping over the weekend. Couldn’t do it without your help and support. Big shout out to my sister whose Birthday it was on 1 Oct and still spent both Saturday and Sunday with us! Happy Birthday Sis!
Also a special mention to say it was great to host Blackbird Corporate Ltd, SharePoint Consultancy and Training Specialists on Saturday. Little Rachael helped with babysitting, Carl got involved during qualifying and Lisa got onto the grid for the sprint race. Pleasure having you guys with us.
Take away from the weekend...I need to start using the rear brake. If there's anyone out there who can let me borrow a dirt bike over this winter to practice, that would be awesome!
There’s only 1 round remaining and I’m more motivated than ever to give it everything I have and a bit more. So come join us at Brand Hatch between 15 – 16 Oct 22.
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