So i managed to bring the bike back from Donington Park in 1 piece and with a 3rd place trophy!
(Saturday)
At the start of the weekend I struggled to get any decent track time due to a couple of jetting issues that I wont go into (ChowderV4 was trying to sabotage my race
) once that was all sorted I had only done half a lap at full speed before the first qualifying race.
I went into it fairly nervous knowing I'd have to learn the circuit at race speed real quick. I went about doing this and managed to get myself a 9th place and a 1.26.9 lap time after a good battle with a few of the f400 boys. Onto the afternoon and i was fairly confident on dropping my lap time and trying to run for top 6, then 10 minutes before our race the scheduled thunder storm hit and the heavens opened. I scrambled to get my wets on and went out for my first taste of wet weather racing. I started off fairly cautiously and almost high sided coming out of Coppice but didn't let that put me off, I got my head down and started riding real smooth, coming into the last corner in 7th, 6th place out braked himself and I got really good drive and managed to beat him to the line by 0.002
.
The newcomers race was one of the last of the day and we (5 400's) were mixed in with a number of 600'/1000's, which proved to be very challenging. I got a fairly good start but due to me being a little too cautious and the guys on bigger bikes not having the same corner speed I lost touch with the front 2 on the first lap, I maintained 3rd place all race and was matching the leaders lap times. I had a good battle with some guys on the bigger bikes, beating an r1, MV and an RC8 to the line on the last lap. With that result came my first trophy and knowing I had the pace to run at the front was nice as well.
(Sunday)
Fortunately the weather held out and Sunday was absolutely glorious weather, I went out in my practise session with the aim to run at race pace and up my lap time, straight out the pits and 4 people are off down at Craner Curves and its red flagged. In the pits we come, back out again 5 minutes later, 2 laps in another red flag!, back in and back out again. I then got some clear space and hooked onto the back of a quicker F400 rider and started nailing some good laps, i came in 9th fastest with a 1.24.9, i was more than happy with this but I was still a good 4 seconds off the leaders.
Onto the qualifying race, which started so well as I got a good start, I was braver into the first corner after advise from ChowderV4 (He then came barrelling past into Coppice) and latched onto the back of the quicker boys and started catching then up. then came probably the worst lap I could have imagined, braking late into the first corner I managed to keep the throttle on slightly whilst braking, tipped in and realised I was travelling fairly fast still, I had to brake quite hard whilst leant over, bounced over the curb and did a little grass tracking. I brushed that off and carried on then coming out of the old hairpin I hit 2 false neutrals, a few people came past who I then went round the outside of through Coppice, tried braking a little too late into the last corner and followed someone in really deep and bounced across the curbs again, lost about 10 seconds and ended up finished 10th. Not the best of races at all but a good lesson in how to not panic and crash when shit hits the fan.
Onto my final race of the day I started from 14th on the grid, my old man adjusted my clutch and the biting point wasn't were it usually was so i started as usual and it just revved and didn't move, I lost a good few place so knew i had to be brave into the first corner to not lose too much time on the top ten. This race became really frustrating as we were mixed with guys riding Bandit 750's (Basically as bad as Harley's) and they were barrelling past in a straight line, almost taking each other out, stopping mind corner then flying off again. numerous times I couldn't run the corner speed i wanted as they were all elbows and knee's out, honestly I should have been braver and just made a move stick but every time I got past after they ran wide I'd lose out on the straights. I was battling with the bloke I beat by 0.002 who was riding a blue RVF400. We were having a good battle, changing places a number of times, I managed to get past him on the last lap into the first corner as he got pushed wide by one of the Harley riders. I tried nailing my last lap, then coming into Coppice one of the Harley riders almost stopped mid corner, I went up the inside over the curb, which really unsettled my bike so I had to shut off, the RVF then came past down the straight and gave me a swift thumbs up. I braked late into the last corner and aimed for good driver out, unfortunately again all the Harley riders tried taking each other out and were all off line trying to get back on so I had to swoop around the outside off a few but couldn't get the drive I wanted and finished in 10th. A little disappointed as I thought I could up my pace but its all part of racing and learning how to deal with traffic. I'll aim to get the footage up of the race soon, in case the guy on the RVF is on here I believe he was called Aaron Mellish.
All in all it was a cracking weekend and i improved my riding leaps and bounds, my Brother (Chowderv4) Managed a 3rd place in the final F400 race as well after some engine trouble the day before, hopefully by next season I'll be up to his pace. Now I've got to give the bike a good clean and change a few parts before the next race at Oulton Park in June.
I currently sit 5th in the F400 Championship and 6th in the Newcomers.
Edit* - Video Links Below
10th Place F400 -
https://youtu.be/0n-gM9m-Lkk
3rd Place Newcomers -
https://youtu.be/MEIMfNsOHp0
(Pictures)
