Race Report MRO Championship Donington Park 11 March 2001
Courtesy Darren Thomas Racing

Pre-Meeting
As you may have already read on our site, we had been invited to race the Jack Lilley Triumph TT600 for this first round of the MRO and had also been to Lydden Hill for a test session.

This test session had been well worth the money, however due to unforeseen circumstances (Cheers Dad) I never had chance to test the 250, so I was arriving at the first race without even having sat on the 250 since October 2000. Well Ok, I had sat on it after a few beers and pretended to be Mick Doohan if that counts.

Saturday 10 March
We had heard that there was a practice day on the Saturday, however like everything in this game, we heard it too late and it was fully booked. I decided to put my name down on the reserve list as there was bound to be a few crashers (like any track day involving road bikes) and I hoped to be out in the afternoon. That sounds terrible really, but for anyone who did crash, thanks for making space for us and I hope you and the bike are OK.

I spoke with Clive Wood (Jack Lilley Racing Team Manager) and we agreed to meet up Saturday morning. Since our sponsor pulled out in January we are back in the trusty transit which is a little less powerful than the Yankee Doodle Dandy van we had so I was a little late in arriving. Well 2hrs late in fact. This van has no clock, just a sun dial.

I rushed up to Race Control to sign on and after a bit of smooth talking they allowed us into the red group for the afternoon session (Many Thanks), so I started to get into my leathers while Clive, Paul and Jill prepared the bikes.

Out into the first session and I was surprised how quickly I settled into a reasonable pace, although there were a few quick lads out there too and one or two R1's with a huge amount of power which left the 600 in their wake on the straight bits, only to be stuffed on the brakes at the end. Good clean fun.

We tried various things and I asked if there was anything we could do to stiffen up the rear as the bike was drifting wide under power and also the bars were weaving slightly along the straights which points at the front being unloaded while the rear sags under load.

This was catered for with pre-load and the bike was instantly better behaved. If we had the time etc it may have been good to try a stiffer rear spring, but we will look into that.

By the end of the day I was certainly in the ball park (rather than the local park) of being able to do consistent 1:18's, but I knew I could get into the 1:13's on the 250 so a 1:14 ought to be possible under qualifying conditions.

After five sessions we called it a day and I started to prepare the 250 for Sunday. Actually we just polished it as I had spent may hours of an evening getting it ready............well, Steve and Penny did the polishing while I waltzed about the paddock chatting to other riders and making up for lost time over the silly season (winter). It's a riders right you know.

Sunday - Race Day
Up at 7am to get two TT600's scruitineered and the 250. Clive and Paul dealt with the Triumphs and Steve sorted the 250, then I whizzed up to Race Control to sign on and get the appropriate practice permits for the two classes of bikes.

After looking at the programme I was filled with dread. The 250GP race is straight after the 600 race! Aaaaaagggghhh!!!

After 18 minutes of 600 qualifying, it's 8 minutes of free practise on the 250. What a busy day I was in for. Thank god I have been in the gym on a regular basis as I was going to be knackered by the end of the day with 2 x free practices, 2 x qualifying sessions and 2 x races back to back).

I decided a team plan had to be worked out.

Who would be where and with what, at which stage. Big thanks go out to Tim Levy who let me borrow his pit bike so that I could park the 600 in park freme after the race, jump on his paddock bike and shoot over to the Melbourne Loop where Steve would be there with the 250 warmed up and running and Penny would be at hand with a fresh helmet and a drink (soft drink).

It may get complicated from here, but I will try to keep it simple.

Free Practice - 600 Supersport
This went without any problem being that the circuit was wet. The nice thing about the Triumph (and I suppose 4 strokes in general) is that it's so easy to ride in the wet. The power delivery is smooth and fairly linear, with the Penske suspension soaking up the bumps with ease. It all works rather well and is very confidence inspiring.

By the end of the 8 minute session I was overtaking numerous veteran 600 riders and I was still a virgin 600 racer. (virgin in the sense of rookie, rather than the other type).

After a brief chat with Clive, we decided to lower (take a tooth off the rear) the gearing by one tooth as the head wind was not so much of a problem as yesterday on the back straight where the bike was just hitting the rev limiter when a late braking manoeuvre was required.

Qualifying - 600 Supersport
Again, the heavens opened and it rained.

I was quite pleased as I felt good in the wet yesterday, plus it is a good leveller for those riders on faster, more powerful machinery.

Apparently there were 58 riders out in the qualifying session for the 38 places on the grid. With this many riders and the fact that the track was wet meant that getting a clear lap would be very difficult.

I set my fastest lap near the end of the session, where I managed to get past three riders who had been fast along the straights, but I was almost ramming them in the corners. In fact there was one chap I rode around the outside of exiting Goddards onto the start finish straight and I clipped his bars. Sorry about that, but you would have trashed my lap if I had slowed up.

I managed to qualify in 9th place with a time of 1:24.25s which I was well pleased with. Not knowing who's who in the 600 class was weird as I did not know who was fast and who wasn't, so I just took it as it came.

The only rider I knew was Scott Smart on his GSXR600, however he only just qualified in 38th spot. I bet he was gutted as rumour has it that the bike is pretty quick.

Unfortunately some riders had an early bath and would be on their way home as there were more riders than places on the grid. At least this ensures the grid is as competitive as it can be, although one poor bloke had an engine blow and did not have the time to change it which killed his day before it started.

Free Practice - 250GP
Lots of new names in the programme and also some more familiar names, especially from the BSB Championship. There were 54 riders going for it in this class which again is superb to ensure the class is competitive.

Just before we were due out on the 600 it pissed down, so wheels were changed on the 250 before I went out on the 600 and I asked Steve to have the bike warmed up and ready for the exchange when I came back from the 600 qualifying session.

As soon as pulled into the pits I realised the bike was not running. Steve had a problem getting it to start, however I managed it pretty quickly (I guess that's just experience and bump start procedure training has been scheduled for Silverstone) and made my way down to the collecting area. The green lights were given and as I went to go out onto the circuit I noticed the temperature gauge was indicating that the bike was stone cold.....Shit!

I waited for it to get to around 40 degrees and decided it was warm enough. Not ideal, but a long way from a cold seizure possibility. This had wasted about 4 minutes of an 8 minute session so I shot out onto the circuit and tried to get in some good laps. The wet riding on the 600 has paid off as I was shooting past most riders like they were stationary. I managed about 4 laps and the session was ended, however I was feeling pretty confident for the qualifying session and prayed for more rain.

I must admit that getting off the 600 and onto the 250 was a really weird feeling. It's like being sat on your favourite reclining armchair and then being forced to sit on a bench with limited leg room. I felt really scrunched up on the 250, although it did feel incredibly low and light compared with the 600.

After this session we had a TV interview which I can only assume that they had my name detailed from the Mallory Park round we won last year. This was great for the team and I said that I was feeling quietly confident and had my fingers crossed that we would qualify well................talk about tempting fate!

 Qualifying - 250GP
The circuit had started to dry out and although there were some damp patches it was good for slicks. We fitted a new soft front and a semi-soft rear as the track temperature was very cold and the normal 501 that we select for Donington would probably not get up to temperature would and cold tear too early.

 This proved to be a good choice as after 13 laps I had gone fast enough to get Pole Position!

My time was a 1:14.97s lap and I was the only person to get into the 14's which was a great morale booster, especially considering the conditions were far from ideal. Again it was difficult to get a totally clear lap in, but I must have managed a pretty clear lap at some stage to get that time, although I have been in the 1:13's at BSB under good conditions with no traffic.

I now had a long wait for the races and had made a consceous effort to drink as much water as I could handle, along with the occasional banana as I would need as much stamina as possible later with two races back to back as this level.

Race - 600 Supersport - 14 Laps
We gathered at the Melbourn Loop a little later than anticipated as the 125GP class was stopped and restarted, plus other stoppages due to weather and crashes put the approximate start time out by around an hour. This was not a problem for me as I relished the rest time.

 Again the rain had fallen and the track was the wettest I had seen it all weekend. I felt better about the back to back race situation as a wet race is far less physical and just demands acute concentration, which in itself can be draining as there is no time to relax fully.

I had been advised that the 600 will take off from the line without giving it the same abuse as a 250GP start, so I had a quick practice on the warm-up lap and thought.....mmmmm, not so sure about that.

When the green light's went I went backwards................In fact by the Redgate (Turn 1) I was in 21st place. Think I will stick to my own way of getting off the line from now on.

As you can imagine I was desperate to make places up, however when the track is three abreast with 600's there's not a lot of room left to slip past like in the GP class.

I got into the groove pretty quick and started making my way back up through the field. The higher I got up the more patient I had to be with making a pass, but I was a demon on the brakes and through the corners which is just as well as a few bikes out there are very fast in a straight line and there was a few occasions where I made a pass in the twisty bits, only to be zapped along the straights.

I found that if I hung back a little and then charged at the corner I could sling shot out past a slower rider, rather than having them slow me up in the corner and bugger off along the straight bits. This also enabled me to carry enough speed to make the gap big enough to stop them powering past along the straight. Anyone lucky enough to get alongside was soon disposed of in the braking area as the Triumph has superb brakes and this is where I made up a lot of ground.

I must apologise to the other riders in the race, but as yet I am not familiar with names/bikes etc and can't remember who I passed and when. All I know is I had a good fight with Karl Nicholson who I eventually kept at bay and when I closed in on Ricky Chadwick on lap 12 I found it difficult to pass as his bike was pretty fast.

Eventually I got on the gas early exiting Goddards on lap 13 (last lap) and this helped to reduce the gap at the end of the straight and as I moved in onto the rear of his bike, I knocked it down into 3rd for Redgate, but it jumped out of gear. I frantically stabbed at the gear lever to get it into gear but it appeared to be between gears and before I could shout 'Oh Shit!' it appeared to have selected 2nd and threw me to the ground in a low-side.

I slid through the gravel and got back to my feet pretty quickly. A quick look at the bike confirmed it was pointless jumping back on and I made my way back to pit lane.

I felt like Chris Walker at the end of the BSB season walking back, but minus the tears. I was then confronted by a 12ft barbed wire fence and thought, "How the fuck do I get out of here?".

Fortunately some guys in the near hospitality units shouted over and let me walk through their box. Thanks Guys!

I frantically made my way over to the Melbourne Loop where Steve and Penny were waiting with the 250.

Here I changed helmets and tried to get the gloves clean as they were covered in mud, however I was being ushered to get out on the grid by the officials and had to just get on with it.

 To say I felt under pressure was an understatement.

I made my way through the grid to Pole Position and tried to get the mud off the gloves by rubbing my gloves over the leathers, which were also very dirty.

By the reaction of some of the people on pit lane they were surprised to see me out so soon.

Race - 250GP - 14 Laps
Again we were on full wets.

I sat there full of adrenaline from the 600 race and waiting to get on with it. We were given the nod to do the warm-up lap which was fairly uneventful. I just tried to get my head back in gear for riding the 250 again.

There was a fair wait while the grid assembled, but when the lights went Green I was confronted by Lee Dickenson totally sideways wheel spinning all over the place. He forced me to back off (rather than ram the tit) and I went from Pole to about 18th by Redgate. As you can imagine I wanted his scalp big time for that.

As I frantically tried to get through the traffic on lap one I could see Stuart Easton and Jeremy Goodall slowly moving clear of the rest of the pack. I got the hammer down and closed in on Lee, who in turn was closing in on the two leaders. He made a pass on Jeremy and managed to get through.

After another lap Stuart cracked under pressure, loosing the rear exiting McLeans and went grass tracking (again - he did this in qualifying too). Then Jeremy departed us and went off into the kitty litter.

I took Lee on the brakes into the chicane, but his bike just blasted past me down the straight. Pretty quick that TZ.

I was again right on Lee's case and took the lead back down Craner Curves. Unfortunately for me I really screwed up and clipped the curb on the inside at Starkies Bridge (5th gear, flat out left hander). As you can imagine the wet curb did not grip too well and the front tucked big style.

I can't tell a lie, but I shit myself for a split second until I landed back on the bike heading for the grass. I just managed to push it left and stay on the track, but Lee shot past in all the excitement and while I was unloading.

I regained composure and chased him down again. Within a few laps I was back on his case, but now we were heading into back marker country. The next lap screwed my race completely. As we approached Old Hairpin Lee managed to get past a group of 6 riders, but as I was behind I had to settle for squeezing into the middle of the pack and had to wait to get through the corner before blasting past.

As we exited the corner they all fanned out and blocked my progress allowing Lee to break away. I was well pissed off by now and was in severe danger of misting up the inside of the visor from all the shouting I was doing. Blue flags were being shown, but everyone was ignoring them.

I was hoping that at some stage Lee would be slowed by the back markers and I would regain the gap, but the situation just got worse and I had the bum deal every lap.

To cap it all, I was suddenly in an out braking battle with Sajay Sharma entering the Old Hairpin and it was then I just snapped and made it almost impossible for him to get any drive through the corner. I was now fired up even more to get the lead back, but as luck would have it on lap 12 I entered McLeans at such a rate that the rider I thought would be clear of the corner by the time I arrived was still there and I almost rammed him.

I had to hit the brakes pretty hard and in the panic to stop me loosing the front end I missed my gear selection and had to take several stabs to get the right gear back as my rhythm was lost.

This allowed Jeremy to close right up and now that my rhythm had been broken I was easy pickings. He blasted past along the back straight as my exit speed from Copice had been severely compromised and there was nothing I could do about it. I decided to settle for 3rd at the line, but felt robbed of a win by back markers not respecting the flags.

I pulled into pit lane where I was asked to go to the podium which was quite a buzz. I congratulated Lee and Jeremy on getting 1st & 2nd. On the podium, we all had a brief interview for the spectators before Lee cracked the champaign open and the photo's were taken.

Apart from the last few laps it was a great race and I was well pleased with a 1:21.35s lap time for wet conditions.

Big thanks go out to Steve and Penny for getting me out there and also big thanks go out to the crowd of people on pit lane who asked for my autograph, shook my hand and really appreciated the feat of getting on the podium straight after a race where I ended up on my arse and covered in mud.

It's been a great start to the season and I am sure the best is yet to come, once I am up to speed on both bikes and have a few more miles under my belt.

We will be at Silverstone for the next MRO Round on April 7/8 where we will be entering both the 250GP and Supersport 600 races in another frantic episode.

It should be a blinder.

Don't miss it!