Race Report - Donington Park 3rd October
2004 (Derby Phoenix)
I
really enjoyed my last meeting at Donington in April.
The circuit went from being one I didn't really click with, to being one of my
favourites as I worked my way around it and learnt that smoothness is the
key. It flows one turn after the other and when you get it right it's
fantastic!
| I booked up a track day
on the Friday before to get in some practice and having spent the first
session getting the gearing set up right, I then set about seeing what I
could do with my laptimes. My fastest lap in at the NG meeting in
April was a 1:21.99, so I was more than happy when by lunchtime I was
putting in consistent low 1:21's. I was also happy that there was more to
come, so having changed the front tyre for the afternoon and scrubbed that
in nicely, I gave the last session a miss and we packed up and headed for
home looking forward to the Sunday.
We went to the circuit Saturday
afternoon and having booked a garage, attempted to get the van and caravan
near it. The paddock was packed with track day riders and
we had to wait for well over an hour before we could get cars and vans
shifted so that we could get close. We eventually got set up and
took the bike through scrutineering, before settling down for some grub
and a few beers. We actually spent the whole evening in the caravan
watching TV and chilling, before I fell asleep about 10pm! Bit of an
early night then.....I must be getting old. |
|
The forecast for Sunday was heavy rain
and gales, with severe weather warnings issued for most parts of Britain.....not
good for racing motorcycles! I woke up about 7.30am and took a peak
outside to see it grey and overcast, but at least it was dry and it didn't look
that threatening either. In fact, it stayed dry for most of the morning
save for a bit of drizzle before the start of the first practice session
(resulting in a couple of riders being caught out on the first bend.....although
they were held for a while so probably a combination of cold tyres as well), so
I went out on intermediates and just took it steady to do three or four laps and
come in.
My first race was the Allcomers Heat 2
and I was allocated an enviable 4th place on the grid. This is the race
where the format is 3 or 4 heats of any bike and any ability, all shoved into
their respective heat (by proxy) and then see how you get on to decide where
you're placed in the final. Now given that I'm on a RVF400 and most of the
grid is 600cc or 1,000cc bikes, it doesn't make a lot of sense for me to be
throw into the middle of them all to get beaten up. So, I took the grid
place for the warm up lap and then did the sensible thing and put myself at the
back of the grid for the race proper to use it as practice rather than to get
any serious placing. As the lights went out, I actually gave them all a
few seconds before I went away, but it wasn't too long before I caught them and
I was just taking it steady picking a few riders off. I eventually
finished 24th (I think) with a leisurely laptime of 1:23's.
The next race was the Formula 400.
Now because the weather had dried up after the practice sessions, I was still on
dry tyres from the previous race and happy with this choice until about 5
minutes or so before this race, when it started to drizzle steadily. I
went out to the holding area and looked at the other bikes, the majority of
which were on intermediates of varying sorts......the wise choice! I
rolled out onto the grid and saw that the track was starting to get a film of
water on the surface. We went off for the warm up lap and I just rode as
normal to see how much grip there was, but as I went through McLeans I had a big
slide from the rear tyre as I put the power on to tell me that it was getting
wet and slippy! We lined up on the grid for the start (I was allocated a
good 9th place) and I didn't get too good a start when the lights went out, but
worse was to happen at the first corner as I tip toed around and got passed by
lots of people. Lacking confidence, I slid around the first lap and ended
up somewhere around 15th as we went over the line for the first time. I
got a bit of confidence back, but people were still passing me and it wasn't
helped that I got hit up the rear through Coppice on about lap three.
Overall, a disastrous race and I finished a lowly 17th....my worst of the season
in a Formula 400 race.
For the second Formula 400 race, it was
raining proper and it was a straight choice of wets. Now, I quite like the
wet and I had high hopes of a good result as I got myself prepared for this
one. A bit of a last minute rush to get the bike ready (it was nice and
warm in the caravan, so I left it until the last minute to put the wets in!), but
I was in the holding area and happy that the conditions would probably suit me
more than most. I was 17th on the grid from the previous race so 5th row
wasn't good, but a decent start would see me work my way up.
Well, I didn't get one and I got mugged by quite a few people going into Redgate
and through Hollywood, so the first lap was all about settling down. Once
that was out the way, I started to pass a few people and carried on passing
bikes for the next few laps until I recognised the bike in front of me as Ady
Warrant (2004 F400 champion). It was the last lap and I passed Ady very
quickly down Craner thinking I must have done ok to be near him, but not knowing
where I was as I'd passed so many and never really saw the leaders after Redgate
on the first lap. I went over the line and saw Lesley jumping up and down
going mad, so knew I must have done ok, but I then started seeing marshals wave
at me and clap, then the flag marshal into the paddock winked and smiled.
I got back to the garage and Lesley was going hyper, but I still didn't know
where I'd finished. It was then she told me I was 2nd! I'd passed all
those riders and got myself onto the second step of the podium without knowing
I'd done it!!
Needless to say I was delighted.....this
is my best ever result in a Formula 400 race and my first ever podium (got a
huge trophy for it) and I came from 17th on the grid in the wet to do it!
Fantastic result!! I was more than just happy and we decided to call it a
day there and then to get back home and crack the champagne Lesley had been
saving all season......well I'm not likely to get a win now, so we may as well do it
for second!
A good finish to the year and it's put my
confidence up for Silverstone, albeit I only really need to finish top 10 there
to keep my 5th places in the NGRRC championships. Roll on next weekend!
Click the picture for the full size
trophy!
Home
