#ducaticup

Cadwell BSB 2019.

Round Six of Ducati Cup. Two top ten finishes again so happy with my weekend. Race report to follow. 

Donington Park 2019.

Season done on the 959. Two crashes, a club championship and plenty of points at the British. Time to plan for 2020.

Flat out, Snetterton 2019

Cadwell Park Ducati Cup Rd6

The Lincolnshire circuit with its undulations and mix of corners is one of my favourites. The conditions also suited me. A damp free practice and less than ideal conditions in qualifying meant I was where I needed to be straight away. 

I have been putting the miles in this season and it appears to be paying dividends. Confidence in the bike is high and I feel like I can push that little bit harder knowing I can trust the set-up and tyres. I had a little tumble at a club meeting test day a few weeks back but if I am honest that’s exactly what I needed. I pushed a front tyre to the limit of wear and beyond, down I went. I now have a good idea of how hard I can really go with the front before it lets go. It also meant that I could show the current technicians how to replace a Giamoto rearset and a full set of R&G crash protection on the right hand side of the bike. Positives from Negatives and all that!

Free practice was exactly as it suggests so no pressure to perform. Thankfully I had a set of well worn wet tyres on some rims so chose to use those. The track was pretty wet but a dry line was increasing as the session progressed. I went as hard as I felt was appropriate but with everything to lose and nothing to gain I saw no point in crashing just to be up there on the time sheets. P11 with plenty more left if conditions were similar for qualifying or a race. 

As it turned out the weather played a part in proceedings on Friday and our qualifying session got moved to Saturday morning in place of our warm-up. The right decision to make as the surface water for the Superbikes was terrible and clearly riding in those conditions was unsafe. This meant we finished fairly early on Friday and I had chance to fit a new Lighttech adjustable brake lever and give the bike a good once over. Decisions on gearing, fuel load and suspension all made. All we could do was wait and hope the weather improved by morning. 

The rain continued into the early hours and with our qualifying being the second session on Saturday it was always going to be a tough decision on tyres. I had a walk to look at the track and it was still very wet in places but I knew it would dry fast. My instinct was telling me to put wet tyres in the bike but from experience I knew that the right call was otherwise. Brand new Pirelli Supercorsa dry tyres went in but I stuck with my wet gearing. Conditions were difficult so I took a while to get going, as did most of the other riders. As the track started to dry the lap times came down. My fastest lap came on my penultimate circulation and had it not been for another rider backing out of his lap at an awkward place right in front of me I think my fastest would’ve been my last. P11 yet again and I knew I had more left at race pace on a dry track. 

 Race one and I got a reasonable start and managed to draw up level with my teammate by turn one but it wasn’t quite enough to get by. I made up one place off the start but it didn’t last and at the end of Park straight I got passed by both Cheetham and Couzens in one go. It unsettled me a little and I lost a bit of ground to them both which meant I had a lot of work to do catching them. I could see by my board the gap to the bike behind was growing so I concentrated on catching Dan Couzens. The gap to Dan stabilised to around three seconds in the early laps and it seemed like a huge undertaking to reel him in. By lap ten I was within half a second and I could see back markers coming to us. I knew that I could capitalise if it went wrong for Dan so tried to get as close as I could. We caught Andy Booth through Halls Bends and we both got by between the Hairpin and Barn. By now I was on Dan but couldn’t quite work out where to pass. As it happened he made a mistake exiting the bottom chicane before the Mountain. Wrong gear for him meant a split second for me to get by. I made it stick and and got my head down to get clear. 

I tried to ride defensively onto Park straight to force him to ride around the outside at the end. Even so, he squeezed in on the right in the braking zone but I knew he would have to work hard to haul it up and not run too deep. I waited a little then cut back on the inside before Chris curve. I knew he wouldn’t get another chance before the end of the race so concentrated on hitting all my marks to keep him at bay. P10 after a lot of hard work was rewarding and to get it after catching and scrapping with Dan made it an enjoyable race. 

Sunday was a long day. Our race was the last race of the day so we had been given a warm up. I wanted to try a few things and warm-up was the ideal chance. I had a fairly new (to me) technician so a full gearing change meant he got to see how to change a front sprocket and measure swing arm length. My dry gearing was 14/42 but I wanted to run a slightly shorter swing arm to help with direction changes so a change to 15/45 was required. Same ratio and shift pattern but hopefully slightly more responsive on changes of direction. 

No issues in warm-up except I was unsure of gearing. I still felt like I wasn’t quite riding quick enough to make 14/42 or 15/45 work. It felt a little lazy in places. I had all day to make a call so left it until about an hour before the race. 

Last race of the day is always tricky. Mindset changes slightly over the course of the day. As a team we try and pack up as much as possible prior to the race so the sense that it is all over before we even race often comes through. That said I made the call on gearing and went to 14/43 so was keen to try it and see if I could put in a better lap time. 

We spent a fair while in pitlane prior to our race due to the formalities after the Superbike race. Podiums and winners parade laps in the car all have to take place before we are allowed out. 

Away for the green flag lap and I got the sense my teammate had a bike issue. That was confirmed when he pulled up at the bottom chicane to look down at his bike. Further tinkering on the grid from him had me worried and I could only hope it was nothing too serious. 

Away well again and I held 12th from 12th on the grid. What was promising was keeping the leaders in sight. Middlemas went down on the opening lap at the bottom of the mountain so I crossed the line in 11th and more importantly, in front of Couzens. I could already sense it was going to be a long hard race so I did my best to not make any mistakes. I could see my teammate a little way in front of me so I was relieved his bike issues weren’t too significant. 

My board was telling me Dan was closing me down. Half a second as we crossed the line to start lap five. Exiting Charlies two I made a mistake and got on the throttle a little too early, pushing me wide and heading for the grass, I had to roll the throttle for a split second. That was enough and I knew Dan would pass me. The gap increased to just over a second but again I knew back markers were coming to us so I grafted to get back on his wheel. We caught Booth between Mansfield and the Chicane. Dan committed to going under him into the Chicane but backed out at the last second. This meant both he and Booth were slow on exit whereas I had run in to the Chicane fairly quickly. I went for it and squeezed between them before the bottom of the Mountain. I knew Booth was on my right and getting ready to tip into the corner. Turns out Booth did tip in behind me and almost had Dan off as he followed me through. 

Dan fought back of course and I think it was the end of that lap he tried to pull the same move into Park Corner on the brakes. Again I anticipated he would run a bit deep so cut back under him. I think he was expecting it on that occasion and he tried to pull it back to block me. Very close racing but great fun. Next challenge was another back marker into Mansfield. This time it was me being indecisive. I went to go under Thrower into Mansfield but felt it was just a little too late to go for it so backed out. Hard on the brakes and down an extra gear to get the drive out of the corner to pass him before the Chicane. I kind of hoped Dan wouldn’t get through so I had a little breathing space but he made it too. He then proceeded to chase me for the whole of the last lap and true to form he dived under me on the brakes into Park. He made it stick and although I thought about pulling a move at the Hairpin after he made a mistake over the Mountain I decided that a top ten for both of us was better than ending up in a heap at the second to last corner. Discretion the better part of valour, as they say. 

A good weekend of racing with Dan and another two top ten finishes to my tally. Tangible progress and to be within 35 seconds of the winner is a big thing for me. I didn’t quite get into the 1:33 lap times but a PB with a low 1:34 was still good. Chipping away getting closer to the front with a bike that is sorted makes a difference. The two technicians that worked on the bike this weekend left nothing to chance and that showed with the results. One hundred percent confidence in the bike means I can focus on what I need to do out on track. 

Assen next and another circuit I like, hopefully keep the momentum and try and get into the top ten in the main championship.  

One from this weekend. Few more pictures and a report to follow later in the week. 

Deer Leap, Oulton Park 2019. 

Richard Spencer-Fleet behind me. If you read my previous post I mentioned someone trying to pass me here in race two. I have worked out from the timing sheets and position charts it was Spence who tried to sneak past on lap two of this race. 

2019 Ducati Cup underway. 

Another season started with this amazing group of people. I have handed over the THR instagram to another member of the team so that will free me up a little at the meetings to concentrate on the task in hand. It will also mean that the instagram feed will be a little more real time rather than images being posted retrospectively. You can find it here: 

https://www.instagram.com/trueheroesracing/

It also means I can put a little more time into my tumblr to keep everyone updated. 

The first race meeting of the year is always a bit manic with finishing touches falling into place and everything settling in. Our team is all voluntary so we never know until the weekend starts who we are going to get. This season there are plenty of new faces joining us which is a good thing. A race weekend is a big production so having plenty of hands on deck (team manager is Royal Navy so that’ll keep him happy) is essential. There are quite a few people missing from this team image, they left a little early before the final tear down. It’s always a challenge getting everyone who helps out into a group photo but this will probably be the biggest number we manage to get in one place at one time. 

From a racing point of view it was a mixed bag for myself and the other riders. We ran three bikes at Silverstone for the opening round. Two Ducati 959 Panigales in the Ducati Cup and a GSXR1000 in the Superstock 1000 class. Myself and Dave “Salty” Sellers are pretty much guaranteed a race so our qualifying is more about grid position than actually getting to race. Jim Walker who rides the SSTK1000 bike has a tougher time. The early meetings are always over-subscribed for the amount of grid slots so qualifying is the order of the day. Jim has had bike issues the last couple of outings so never really got up to speed on the new bike. This meant that by the time the niggles were sorted it was his qualifying session. Needless to say, without valuable track time prior to his qualifying he was on the back foot. He didn’t qualify to race but at least the bike issues are solved and we can look forward to the next round at Oulton Park. 

In the Ducati Cup qualifying session I never really got my finger out and only managed to secure 24th on the grid. A good 1.5 seconds off my pace from last year. Salty was up to speed straight away and managed a good solid 9th on the grid. 

Race 1 of the weekend didn’t quite go to plan for me. Having done one outlap and two green flag laps I was all fired up to make a bit of progress and get up to the riders I usually run with. I got a cracking start and passed quite a few riders before turn one. That’s when it all went a bit pear shaped, as I pushed the right handle bar to turn in there was very little resistance and I had to sit up and run wide off the track. Turns out the bar had sheared half way through at the clamp end. With it hanging on by a thread I limped back to the pits and that was my race over. Although it was disappointing I count myself very lucky it happened where it did and how it did. We will never know why the component failed so there is no point dwelling on it. Salty had a better time and ended up finishing 8th which is the best result the team has ever had in a National race. 

Race 2 Grid positions go off fastest lap time for race 1 so Salty dropped down to 10th on the grid and I was relegated to 33rd and had a lot of work to do. This time fortune favoured me but Salty went down early on in the race with a high side just before coming onto the Wellington straight. Big hit to his head but he got up and staggered away. I remember seeing his bike and visor lying in the track as I went by so I knew he’d had a knock. Bike was ok(ish) and he was fine. I got a good start again and managed to pass nine riders on the first lap. Things then settled down and the work started to catch the group in front of me. All were riders who I would normally be battling with but they were just out of reach. Prior to the race I knew that if I didn’t get near them early on I would struggle as we are all on the same bikes and running roughly the same lap times. I was mindful that to crash would be a blow to morale so the urge to push was somewhat diminished, especially having seen my team mate go down. Perhaps the wrong mindset to have but a finish was required to set me up for the next meeting. P33 to P19 was ok and although I was .5 second a lap slower than last year I was happy to bring it home. 

Next round is Oulton Park in two weekends time so preparations have already begun. The team vehicles are stored in different locations so depending on where the next meeting is dictates where they are stored. All have gone to the respective locations and once our shop stock and victuals are replenished we should be good to go for a little visit to Chesire. Oulton Park is also the first meeting for our Sidecar so the workload will increase slightly. 

Action shot by Barry Clay. 

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.