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Bridewell, Oulton Park 2019. 

Donington Park Ducati Cup Rd3

The national circuit at Donington isn’t unknown territory for me. I’ve been there every year since 2012 when I started racing with NG Road Racing. I’ve won there, crashed there and everything else in between. 

The BSB powers that be decided that the shorter circuit at Donington would be a good enough replacement for Brands Indy. I’m inclined to agree. The slightly longer lap, by 15 seconds or so, seems to suit most. I certainly enjoy it. 

The weekend started on Friday with free practice and as I’d been there two weekends prior to the BSB I was set-up and on (my) pace straight away. I have mentioned before about setting goals for a race weekend and I wanted to achieve a 1:11 lap time and score some points. I finished FP with a 1:13 on old tyres so was happy enough. Thankfully I had no issues with the #22 bike because the technicians were busy with my teammate’s bike after he had a little off. I mention it because it would have repercussions in qualifying for myself. 

Having worked all day to get my teammate’s bike turned around we rolled out for qualifying. Whilst sat waiting at the end of pit lane he mentioned to me that his bike temp had just jumped dramatically. Having been on the receiving end of a bike dumping water onto my own back wheel I urged caution if he saw the temp creeping up. 

Leaving pit lane I was determined to get a good lap in and qualify well so tried to get going straight away. Within two laps Salty, my teammate, had caught me. He passed me going into the Roberts chicane and on the exit I saw water come out of his belly pan. I knew straight away his bike was overheating. I was torn between trying to pass to let him know and staying well away for fear of getting caught up in either a crash or going down on his fluid. I found myself cringing every time he tipped into a corner as I genuinely felt he was going to crash. The marshals had seen it too and little did I know the radio traffic was communicating that a black and orange flag should be deployed to get the offending machine of track. After following Salty for a few laps I made the call to come in and get IN put on his pit board. Race control had beat me to it and I saw the meatball flag at Coppice with my number on it. 

I knew immediately what had happened. I had been confused for the #61 bike and as I rolled down pit lane I was stopped and told my bike was smoking. It wasn’t but I had to go to technical regardless. I insisted that the officials at least flagged Salty too as I knew it was his bike that was spewing fluid out. Following nearly six minutes in pit lane for myself, Salty finally pulled over at Mcleans and I was allowed to resume my session. I never really got going again due to cooled tyres and a bit of traffic and my last lap was my quickest. Only good enough to qualify 19th. At least nobody went down but there was clearly more work on for the team to sort the #61 bike for Race one the following day. Turned out that the water pump had failed but thankfully someone had one in the paddock. It got replaced and he got out for the race, only to crash again and end his weekend completely. 

My weekend also got worse before it got better. Admittedly not as bad as Salty so mustn’t grumble. 

As I headed out for Race one on Saturday I knew I had some work to do if I was to score points. Passing the marshals at the end of pit lane I saw what I thought was the five minute board for pit lane closing. Turns out it was three minutes. I’d already decided that I was going to do two laps before going to the grid and figured I had enough time. I was wrong. I got stopped at the end of pit lane and told I missed the grid and had to start from the back. After a discussion with the officials it turns out that there isn’t a five minute board at all and three minutes can mean two minutes and one second. Go figure. 

No point in arguing and I accepted the challenge. The flag dropped for the sighting lap and I joined on the back of the pack. I had a little scare as I left pit lane. I did a full on race start from pit lane to test my new clutch that had been fitted and didn’t expect the safety car to be there braking for Redgate. Missed it, gave them a wave and cracked on. 

I went from back of the grid, P30, to where I should have been within a lap so it made little difference really. I then got stuck into catching and passing the little group I was on the back of. I was feeling good and progress was tangible. I had already formulated a plan for getting by Lee Devonport, Dan Couzens and one other in one go. I was catching them all out of Coppice and felt I was stronger on the brakes into Roberts chicane. All three on the brakes next lap?, a plan for sure but it didn’t come to fruition. 

Into Redgate right on Lee’s back wheel and I think I was as surprised as he was when he got launched to the moon. Highside for him and some decisions for me. In such a situation deciding where the fallen rider and his machine is going is critical. Another factor to consider is whether riders behind have seen it and reacted. All done in a split second.

I made the call that getting on the gas was the right thing to do. Sounds counter intuitive but I needed to miss Lee and avoid getting collected by Paul Slade and Craig Currie. I squeezed by on the paint but ran out of hardstanding at the top of Hollywood. I just kept it pinned and managed to stay on. All those years on dirt bikes paying off that day. Paul Slade got by but I fought back out of the Old Hairpin just as I saw the yellow flag at Starkeys. I handed the place back going up to Coppice but the reds came out just as I did so. 

Into pit lane and I figured they would call it a result but that wasn’t the case. Quick re-start, once they had scooped Lee up, and a five lap sprint race to decide the result. I also found out at that point Salty had gone down at Redgate early on in the race. I remember seeing the cloud of dust but not much else. He was a bit battered and bruised but ok. Pretty good considering the speed he came off. 

The quick re-start takes grid positions off position when the red flag came out so I was on P14 for the re-start. Much better, and not bad going from the back of the grid. I got a mediocre start when the lights went out but managed to get up into P12 for a couple of laps. I got passed by Craig Currie and Scott Pitchers at the start of lap three and that’s where I finished, P14 and a couple of points. Bike was fine but I think I just need to work on my initial pace rather than building up to it. 

Sunday turned out to be a completely different story. Wet Wet Wet. Problem was it rained hard just as we were due to go to the grid. I made the call to go to pit lane on dry tyres with my dry helmet on. We were made to do an outlap on the dry tyres to get to the grid where we were allowed time to change. Someone fell off on that outlap at Old Hairpin and I just pottered around with my feet out just to get round. Some riders chose to change to wets before coming to pit lane and they were penalised as I had been the day before. They had to start from the back of the grid. 

I always plan for a wet race if conditions are dodgy so I had my wet helmet and knee sliders good to go in the trolley. Whilst I changed my lid and sliders the team changed the wheels on the grid in good time and I was sat on the bike waiting to go whilst others were still finishing up. That’s the beauty of having a strong team around you to get stuff done and get bikes out there. 

P14 on the grid and I was feeling confident. I like the wet and it’s a bit cliche but it certainly is a leveller. Away we went and I was in amongst it going down Craner for the first time. I like to build up to speed in the wet and feel for the grip. It’s so easy to try too hard early on and end up on your arse. That said, Sam Middlemas came through into Mcleans on lap one and I remember thinking he wasn’t going to last. He did. Actually managing to lead the race at one point from the back of the grid. Perhaps a lesson to be had there that if you want it you’ve got to risk it. On the flip side Cheetham went down with a three second lead at Coppice a few laps later so what do you do?

I chose to keep smooth and try and chase down whoever was in front. Sounds obvious but chipping away seems to work in the wet and often it’s about attrition rate as much as it is going quicker. I was in P12 on lap two but as we came onto the start straight on lap three I returned the favour from the dry race to Couzens and Pitchers. I did them both in one go before Redgate. Couzens had a go back on the exit of Redgate and I heard and saw him on the outside but just kept it pinned. I didn’t see him again. 

Neary came through from the back and I tried to run with him to get up to Shoubridge. It helped initially but by then I was watching my pit board for the gap to Couzens behind. I noticed he had closed me down by .5 on one lap so had to up my pace again to keep him away. The gap to the bikes in front seemed to come down for a time but it was short lived. Neary went down at Old Hairpin with two laps to go and that, along with Salty jumping up and down on pit wall telling me to slow down was all I needed to realise that I had to settle for 7th. I kept pushing to a degree to maintain my concentration but my best finish ever at the British was done. I managed to crack a big wheelie over the line to finish with what was a much needed result for the team following Salty’s woes.