Code Zero Racing
Round One: Donington Park 28th & 29th March 2009 Moto Six
Desmo-Due Class B
Qualifying: I got out front and had a very clean run but I was tense on the bike and was cramping up and I was a bit disappointed with the times that were coming up on my lap timer. Thankfully my lap times were good enough for a second row start and second overall in class B. My lap time was 2:02.2. Looking at the timing sheet Sam West was on pole. I felt confident going into the race and I knew I could run lap times under two minutes because of the test day the team had at Donington Park.
Race one: It was very cold but thankfully the sun came out before our race. I got a good start and tucked into second behind Harriet. I then started to battle with Tim Howard on a class A bike and we were slowing each other up badly. I could see Harriet getting away so decided to stick behind Tim and use him as a tow down the back straight to get back on terms. However, Tim ran over the curve at the loop and the bike slid from under him. As I was only inches from his back wheel, I had to take avoiding action and missed running over Tim by less than an inch. This let Sam West catch up and get past. Every time I went past him he would pass me right back at the next corner. When racing so close to someone like that you need to trust them and some of the passing moves I was pulling were hard but Sam gave just as good back and we did not touch once. I lost count as to the number of passes that were made but it will look really good on TV. I finally put a good pass in to Goddards to make it stick and put my head down to try and close down Harriet, I pulled my lap times down to the two minute mark but by this time I had run out of laps and could not close her down. What a fantastic win for Harriet and what a comeback race for Sam. Looks like I’m not going to have it my own way this year!
Race two: I made a poor start and slipped back but was able to run up the inside of the first corner to tuck in right behind Sam who was leading the race. Having battled hard with Sam in the first race I stuck to his back wheel and found out where his strengths and weaknesses were. I found that I had the best of him throughout the first part of the lap, but Sam was much faster around the loop at Goddards. I stuck behind Sam as I didn’t want to show my hand to early. However, Sam made a mistake in to the old hairpin and ran on to the grass on the outside and I took the opportunity with both hands and took the lead. I put my head down and with six laps to go I had a 6 second lead and put in a low 1.59 lap. As I got on the power out of Redgates on the next lap, the bike flicked me out of the seat but I kept the power on. I should have seen this as a warning, but then as I was going down craner the back let go in a big way. Somehow I kept it together but it felt like there was little grip left in the tyres and on this lap I ended up three seconds slower than my last lap. William Charters came past at Goddards on his class A bike and I had a look over my shoulder to see Sam West right on my tail. At this point my tyres were completely gone and I just tried to be smooth and somehow I stayed ahead of Sam. By the time the last lap flag came out I had got on the back wheel of William and my bike was sliding all the way around coppice. I got on the gas before William and managed to catch his slip stream. Knowing that Sam was right on my tail I knew I had to pass William and put him between us before the last two corners where Sam was strong. I braked so late for the esses and the back wheel was waving all over the place in the air, thankfully it settled down and the back wheel landed before I threw the bike into the esses. I had done it, I passed William! I was then slow into the loop and blocked the line. I did the same into Godards as I turned in early and tight and the front moved a good foot. I put my head on the tank and powered to the line finishing one tenth of a second in front of Sam for the race win.
Over the two races I had never pushed the bike so hard and never pushed an old set of tyres. They were on the very limit of what was left in them.
I have now got a new set of tyres on order for Anglesey and I am going to need them as it looks like I’m going to have my hands full again this year with Sam and Harriet.
I would like to say thank you to my sponsors; Viva Moto and Dickinson Harrison as I wouldn’t have been on the grid without them.
I was also amazed by just how well my team mates Dean and Shane did, as just over a year ago they had their first trackday at Donington. Well done Code Zero Racing!
http://www.theresults.co.uk/theresul...sults_0328.pdf