Ducati Sporting Club UK > DesmoDue Race Series > DesmoDue - General Questions and Chat > race report from a bit tender Dom class B

[Dominic Clegg]

Thought id give it a go and write a race report from my view on board 46

Got there Saturday drove the 250 miles from Bradford it was hot and sunny hardly any traffic I was in a very good mood. Went to bed around 10.30 ish but couldn’t sleep due to the noise from the A20 got a little sleep.
Sunday weather was looking good and I was hoping it would stay like that did it hell. For some reason I was in a really bad mood probably due to lack of sleep, qualifying went okay but that was the first few laps id ever done at brands. So got a 1.13 wasn’t fantastic but I knew I could get a good start.

Race one
After several red bulls (at £2.50p each) id woken up and was real looking forward to it. Got a fantastic start, the bikes front wheel just leaving the ground. Got stuck in the middle going into paddock so had to back it off. Riders were every where, got a good drive down the hill and up to druids. I was on the back of kev #88 going in to druids but over cooked it and went wide found my self behind glyn then lucie came past me as I gathered myself up saw glyn go past lucie as well. I know glyn is a good racer so if I could get on his back wheel he could take me up to the leaders I thought. Just had to get past lucie. I was a lot faster than her going into mclarens so the following lap I past her there turned well so got a good drive on to the start/finish. But lucie came past as I was still braking too early for paddock hill. I was getting confident into druids. The back end of the bike was coming around (iv just done a supermoto school and I love it when that happens now). So I was right on her tail glyn was still close. I was taking a very different line into graham hill bend than everyone else but it felt right to me. It meant I could get on the power faster. I was also getting fast through suttees and was finding just a roll off the gas was all that was needed, and once again got lucie at clearways and she didn’t come back past. By now my confidence was high and I was really pushing the bike and I was catching glyn fast and pulled the same move at clearways as I did with lucie but glyn came back at me around the outside as I was on the inside, and I found it hard to keep putting on the gas and keeping it leant over so ended up pushing glen wide onto the straight. I found my race speed to be very fast and put in a 1.06 lap. And I could see the group of riders in front it looked like I was catching them. I didn’t know how many laps were left so I decided to chase them, when very hot into druids the back end came around a lot and this unsettled me. So I leant into the corner and pushed the bike onto the inside white line though I didn’t realise it at the time. Got on the power and the bike came around on me high siding me I couldn’t believe it, all I wanted to do was get back to the bike get back on and race so I went to pick up the bike (big no no) anyway my race was over, gear leaver was bent.

Race two
Thank you to everyone that got me going again. I got a good start but then again everyone else did it seemed very slow into the first corner for me but I was blocked and had no where to go once again found myself behind glyn he passed kev #44 I once again wanted go with him but the crash meant I had lost my killer instinct and I sat behind kev for a while and I knew I was faster than him. Paddock hill was too wet to pass him there and every time I tried I found my self-braking on the pit exit line. Nearly lost it a few times doing that I was also fast into druids but couldn’t get up the inside as he was blocking so I was showing him I was there by driving around the outside. Could have had him into graham hill bend but my line into that bend meant if id tried something there, I could of taken both of us out. Again I was fast into clearways but kev had more confidence in his bike and could really get on the gas. Glyn was gone by this point. So I got a rhythm going and got right on kevs tail going into clear ways and the bike really turned well got on the gas at the same time. I was right on his back wheel going down the straight got a slipstream the bike just got faster and faster. Pulled out of the slipstream and I shot past went hot into paddock the bike stuck and I was off again. Put in some fast laps, couldn’t see anyone in front of me so looked behind and couldn’t see anyone so I eased off a bit as I didn’t want to crash again. Saw the last lap flag and then Kyle came flying past me into paddock so I didn’t brake into the corner to keep up I saw his front slide then so did mine he got a gap on me but I wasn’t worried as I knew I was fast into clearways I was really pushing it but the gap stayed the same id put in my fastest lap of the race but Kyle was faster. And I was kicking myself for slowing after I had passed kev.

Conclusion

Need to get some practice in as I cant afford to be learning the track and qualifying at the same time. and watch for white line in the wet!
Saying that iv lost my hatred of the wet now and found some real confidence in the bike even in the second race.
I was so annoyed with myself for crashing and don’t want to do that again, its meant iv slipped down in the points table and that the wrong way to go.
Had a fantastic weekend and cant wait to be back on the bike and be racing again, I have every confidence in my ability now just got to sort qualifying. And just may be I mite be able to run with the front runners.

(sorry if my English is a bit bad never been my strong point)

[Edited on 25-4-2006 by Dominic Clegg]

[Edited on 25-4-2006 by Dominic Clegg]