| Donnington Park Trackday – Tuesday 27th September - HOTTRAX
I must admit I had reservations about going to an ordinary trackday on my own, when my usual comrades couldn’t make the midweek event. Things were not made any easier on the day after finding out that the brake lights on my trailer had failed due to a poor quality socket connection, the cause being that some of the pins had pushed too far into the socket (cured by zip tying a plastic ring behind the pins). Start delayed meant I had to drive non-stop to Donnington to get there before 7pm; otherwise I’d be putting up my newly acquired tent in the dark. The security guard laughed when I asked if there was much room left for camping, “loads, mate! There’s only you”, was the reply I didn’t really want to hear.
Following the road right around to the Coppice area did indeed reveal that there was not only nobody else in sight but, no toilets either. Thankfully, there was a concrete wall on the entry to area so I decided to make a wind break with my car and quickly put up my tent and started to settle in for the night.
I don’t think I need to go much further with the camping theme apart from the one small item I was advised about but chose to ignore –EAST MIDLANDS AIRPORT!!!
At one point I timed the separation between aircraft take-off’s at six minutes – very impressive considering most of them appeared to be 757’s, to my ears anyway!
Needless to say, I had the first car to turn up at the security gate at 7am the next morning. Surprisingly, there were still a lot of vans and equipment left over from the previous day’s trackday and the BSB round from the weekend. So, although the garages were all available, not all of them were easily accessible for anyone with a van or trailer. Bike and basic equipment unloaded, I had signed on by 7:30 and decided to take a quick walk around the track for the first time in 17 years!
I was quite surprised at finding various nuts and bolts, cable ties and pieces of plastic on the track but not as much as when the grass cutters came out and started trimming both side of the track! (Thankfully a sweeper truck did come and get rid of the worst over spill – but it didn’t do my confidence much good).
Even walking down into Craner curves felt awe inspiring and walking up the sharp rise into Coppice made me realise that getting around at almost any speed meant being leant right over well before the blind apex appears. I was just starting to get a bit concerned when a bird launched some droppings at me that missed by an inch and splattered on the edge of my shoe! A good luck omen that I would need for later!
I had to cut out the Melbourne loop to make it back in time for the briefing and could not believe how full the paddock and the Diner were by the time I had returned. I was in the novice group which was to be out last, after the fast and inters had cleaned the track for us. The damp track had dried really well and I got my leathers on and went back to the garage to wait for my session to start. Four or five bikes could easily be accommodated in either side of the split garages and I had chance to chat with the guy next to me on a lovely looking Cbr600rr – he was taking the tyre warmers off his slicks and I wondered if there was a fault with them as I had already heard him answer someone else’s question that the ‘Ten Kate’ tuning stickers on his bike WERE for real – I then saw that the group sticker on the bike was the same as mine – novice!!!
Oh no, the ‘fast rider in novice group’ discussion thread flooded right back into my thoughts once more, as I started to get the impression there were some pretty serious equipment in my group. I decided to get right to the very front for our first session anyway and couldn’t believe that when I looked back – I could not see the end of the group, it was that large, a group of more than forty riders easily. The Ducati roll-call was interesting for the group, only three that I could see, a lady on a monster, a 998 and a 999 fila running race bodywork and slicks!
Big mistake number one and I should of learnt from my last TD, is that my little old RF600 feels terrible with a full tank of petrol, which is sadly, exactly how it was as I’d been told about the high petrol prices on site (which was not that bad really at £1.10 / L). The instructor for our group was a bit of a mystery for the first session of a novice group – he disappeared into the distance! Thank goodness I’d walked the track and at least had an idea of where I was going, as I couldn’t see his lines at all. As soon as the three no-overtaking laps were completed I was passed by multiple bikes at the start/finish line, R1’s and Gixers of various sizes being the most popular. I can’t say I enjoyed the first session, as I was tottering around too much and didn’t feel comfortable but at least I was getting a feel for the track.
During the break, I decided to have a word with the lady riding the monster. It was her first bike TD ever, even though she been around Donnington driving a car. She seemed to enjoy the session but was surprised by how fast bikes were overtaking her, which I could easily sympathise with.
Forty minutes almost passes as quickly for me as the track time, once a bit of fruit and drink had been taken on board. Second session felt better as I started mid-pack this time and had someone in front for the first two compulsory steady laps and beyond. I could already see good and bad parts of the track for me, I was running wide out of Redgate but, still managed to have lots of fun down Craner and the old hairpin. Schwantz curve was a bit trickier than I thought with plenty of riders having different lines (including myself) but, at least I found the rumble strip at Macleans easy to aim for. Coppice was just as much of a hoot as I thought it would be and I was pleased to be able to say I was going quickly enough to have the front end go light at the Dunlop bridge. After being a bit cautious with a new master brake cylinder (Cheers Chi, it worked great) – I was starting to brake harder and later into the esses and the Loop. The mad dash to Goddards and the finish line were always interesting, especially with two guys battling each other in one session (I dubbed them the naked dudes as they were riding a Fazer 1000 and a Tuono factory) – but they were good and safe.
At the next break a nice lady from the fresh orange photography team came walking around the pit taking some ‘candid’ pictures. She did sadden me a little after telling me they had found a Travel Inn motel a few miles away that only cost £26 for the night and I paid more than that for my one-man tent!!! Third session for the morning ended with a problem appearing on the bike, under acceleration there was an occasional ‘banging’ noise starting that I could actually feel was wrong. I check the rear tyre and the back end generally and couldn’t see anything amiss. The last session before the dinner break was probably the one I enjoyed most as the fuel load was getting lighter and I was able to work on the poor areas of the track for me and improve a little. The only marginal move by anyone on me the whole day was on this session, a guy on a track bike who didn’t care to wait until after the foggy esses decided to overtake me on the outside at the end of Starkys straight, and cut in front of me for the esses. I was a little surprised, more by the fact that it’s the one place I didn’t expect it but, after my last Cadwell experience, it certainly didn’t shock me. Sadly, what did was that the banging noise was much worse this session. I pulled off early and missed the last few minutes of the session. I was convinced it was something to do with the suspension but was surprised to eventually find out that a side plate on one of the chain links had snapped completely through! At least I had an hour and forty minutes to sort it before being back on track again.
Sadly, a scour around the paddock showed that any spare chains had been sold already. There was a Honda dealer reasonably close by but, help was at hand and a big thank you, to the guy running ‘Ladysnoots’ TD bike hire for the day. He had soft and spring links for both 520 and 530 chains and told me to just bring back what I didn’t need. Thankfully, I had my chain riveter with me but of course, things were not going to be that easy. Getting the broken plate and link out while using the garage floor proved to be a nightmare, I’d just to say managed this by the time the inters group were going back out. I realised there was no way I would make it out in time for my next session so, slowed down work and put the chain back on at a leisurely pace. I was starving by this time (2:40pm) and some pasta and a rest was very welcome.
I had time for a quick wash of hands and face before the next session. I must say here that the paddock facilities I saw on the day were terrible, no hot water to be found anywhere, basic toilets in the main block and the one in the blue pointed roof buildings were even worse – for a ‘world-class’ motor facility, its just not acceptable.
(Note: I understand the full block is being rebuilt now, along the start/finish area).
Having missed the first afternoon session, I only managed the final two of the day and took the first one a little gently with a ‘cobbled’ together chain. I decided to start from the back of both sessions and was quite pleased to overtake a few people and only get ‘lapped’ a few times by some really fast guys. I started to wonder what monster lady was making of the day but interestingly, couldn’t find her at all.
What a mixed bag the day had been, the weather had been kind with just a light shower around dinnertime, the wind had blown up to keep the rain off but sadly, continued to get stronger and make riding ‘interesting’ on the fast bits. The speed differential here between my bike and the fast boys was even more noticeable than at Cadwell. There were a few ‘offs’ but certainly the ones I saw in the novice group were only the fault of individual riders with no-one else involved. Many of the riders in my opinion in novice should have been in the inters group with one or two even belonging in fast. If I had been a raw novice, I certainly would have been put off trackdays for life – I wonder if this is the way TD’s will go, as there were many more people turning up in vans and with trailers than there were just turning up on bikes and having a go.
Even though I rate my riding ability somewhere between novice and inters, I’m finding it hard to enjoy my recent TD’s, given that I seem to be being passed by about half of the group, as an estimate. I understand that riding a track should only be about one’s personal goals and experience but I think its difficult when people are constantly blasting by. The one thing I do know is that I enjoyed the two DSC trackdays I’ve done, much more than I have all of the other track events I’ve attended this year! The upshot of this being that I’m seriously thinking of selling my little trackbike, getting my 900ss back on the road and just using my Ducati if I really want to do a trackday and, of course, there’s always plenty of good track bikes to hire as well, if it came down to it…..does anyone hire a 749R out yet !!!
Cheers – Frank.  |