Darren Thomas - Race Report Donington Park Test Day - BSB 14th March 2004

Saturday 13th

It was a little weird packing the van up ready to go racing after a 6 month lay off as you forget the process in which everything is packed, until you realise that the bit you forgot goes in first and you then have to unpack and load it all back in again so it can fit in, rather than just have it balance on top of something which would be launched like an exsorcet missile if I were to brake hard.

All that said and done, the other weird thing is my beloved Penny (she paid me to print that Hee....Heee...) will not be with me this year as college has taken a priority and I will have to fend for myself. This involves cooking which is fine.....and...um...washing up which isn't.

As some of you may know (if you read MCN) there were so many applications this year for the Superbike Cup had 42 applications for just 16 places on the grid. Due to reasons were could not quite understand as we had beaten many established Superbike riders when we finished, we were placed on a reserve list of 4 riders thus to date we do not have a permanent start number. This news was a terrible shock to us after all the hard work over winter getting sponsors and the team on board and means we may have to look at competing in the MRO Championship until a place becomes available through a team pulling out, or an injury. Personally I would prefer the first option.

We decided not to broadcast this devastating news until we had been to the practice day at Donington Park.

As a reserve, we were invited to participate in the Public Day at Donington Park, so to show we are serious, we accepted and hoped that not only now is the bike is better prepared, but I too am far fitter than I was in 2003 after the gallbladder operation (OK, I might not be reduced to skin and bones like a race jockey, but underneath there is a finely tuned specimen of fighting energy) we ought to put on a good show and make some people take note that we are not too bad at racing these big 4 strokes, even though our experience is limited in this area so far. 

Jack Sim (mechanic and MRO racer (see NEWS section of web site)) met me at my place and we both travelled up together on Saturday afternoon.

We arrived at a fairly empty paddock and unloaded etc. My old sparring partner, Mike Walker and the crew were just unloading so we parked near by........not too near as he must be the World's unofficial record holder for the loudest snoring.....let alone pie and custard eating. I knew at this distance my pies were safe. Hee..Hee..

The wind had picked up and Bridgestone, who were parked next to us, had to tie their huge awning to our truck to stop it blowing away. We were a bit concerned that ours might not be there in the morning as it's fairly lightweight.

Sunday 14th March

After a sleepless night listening to the shaking and thudding of the awning bashing around we awoke at 7am and got the kettle on for that morning wake up cuppa. I wandered off to Race Control and signed my name against a makeshift entry list (actually I was the only one on it) which perhaps was an indication that I was not expected to turn up, given that I am a reserve. I parted with £25 for the insurance for the day and felt good that this was probably the best value track day that I have ever attended for that kind of money.

First thing we did was change the rear tyre as I had a 60 profile rear on a needed a 70 profile on the 16.5" rims as that is what the bike is set-up to run. This took a while as every man and his dog were getting new tyres for the season from Dunlop. Lots of shiny new wheels with shiny new discs all over the place. Good to see Pat, Anthony and Phil there though as Penny normally takes care of the tyres so I actually hardly ever see the Dunlop crew. In fact I am amazed I remember the names.

The wind was even worse now and the constant beating against the awning when you are working on the bike is like some form of Chinese torture. I almost felt shell shocked after a while and just wanted to seek a nice quiet spot to get my thoughts together for the first session. Sitting in the van was just as bad as the wind makes it sway like a boat (even complete with rigging straining noises) and you keep looking outside for the horizon to stop feeling sea sick.

The first session was at 10.25am for 50mins so the warmers were put on and we made our way to the cafe for breakfast. Upon our return there was a minor drama as the awning had moved in and knocked a jerry can of fuel over. This then emptied it's entire 20lt guts all over the floor which was not only a massive fire hazard, but a real slippery, messy, hallucination experience. Wow Jack man, these fumes are crazy dude. Yea...sweet, party on dude. Fortunately we carry a huge paper dispenser for lifes little mishaps so this was used to mop up. My hands looked like I had some form of skin disorder as the fuel melted the tarmac slightly and that's now pigmented into my hands. No nookie for me when I get home with hands like that........Hmmm, where did I put those gloves?

I went out on track and it was empty. Not a sole out there. Was it the right day? Had aliens beamed everyone up and taken them away for experimentation? Nope, I was just the only keen one. 

Travelling round Redgate felt a bit weird, then down Craner Curves and into the Old Hairpin.....Yipes!.......Yipes! the bike would not turn and every time I tried to induce a bit of lean to turn the bike the front started to tuck. This was a little scary even though I was going slow with hardly any lean angle as this was a sighting lap to see the new track surface and note any strange changes. By the time I exited this section I was almost at 10mph and right next to the rumbles. Any spectators/marshalls at the point must have wondered why I was taking so long to get through the turn and also what was I doing? Had I lost a contact lens or dropped something?

Phew! That was a very close crashing experience. Even though it was close, I was fortunate enough not to have any warm feeling making it's way South to my boots. The new track surface is still very 'Green' in that the oils in the tarmac are still finding their way to the surface and in these damp conditions it was lethal on slicks. Even mild acceleration induced wheelspin. I tried this a few times just to make sure it was as slippery as suspected. Well, Ok it does feel cool spinning the rear wheel near 100mph.

As you can imagine I came straight back into the pits and back to the awning to change the tyres to full wets. Funny enough everyone else was already going out on wets.

I only have one set on AP discs at the moment to suit the new calipers, so I had to remove the discs from one wheel and put them on the other which was time consuming. Jack was sorting the tyre pressures and getting the rear wheel changed to save time. I was so glad he was there to help as it's just too much for one person.

Time was running out and I said to Jack that perhaps we ought to sit this one out and just be ready for the 2.25pm session, rather than rush the job in hand for the few remaining minutes on track.

As it turns out, hardly anyone went out on track and all the factory boys also sat it out, apart from Ryuichi Kiyonari on the super fast Honda who was sideways exiting Goddards onto the start finish straight and still wheel spinning for 2/3rds the length of the track. We never witnesses this but everyone said it was mighty impressive to see. Very Moto GP.

During the interval Simon of R&G Race Products popped in to say hello and it was great to finally meet him and thank him personally for his support in 2003 as well as 2004.

A couple of mates had turned up to watch and despite the howling wind and rain they too appeared to be enjoying the day, although I had to dig out the book of excuses for why I only did one lap. Well...um..what happened was....me and Denzel......

Jack and I took a wander up pit lane to see all the new bikes and I have to say that the Virgin Mobile R1 looks beautiful. I stood and stared for ages, taking in every bit of detail. I can honestly say it's like a sculpture of a beautiful woman and I want one........no the bike, I already have the other. Hee...Hee...Brucey bonus points in the bag for that one.

It rained for quite a while so the wets were fitted for the second session and I was looking forward to it. I actually like the wet these days and could almost put money on the fact that I would do well on the time sheets. Sounds like trumpet blowing, but even on the 250 which I knew very well, has whizzed around the Donington Indy circuit in 1.22's in the pouring rain.

One thing I will mention is the horrible ripples at various parts of the circuit have now vanished. Goddards is no longer the potential falling place it always was with front end slides caused by the ripples going in. It's very smooth and will be great for the years to come, providing they don't bring back truck racing again.

Out on track and a few slow laps to get into it and I started to make progress. I passed quite a few riders in this session and had a little battle with Warren Scott after I rode around the outside of him exiting Coppice. I guess it rattled his cage. He managed to pass me back going down the straight on the Green ZX10, but that was me backing off a little with a huge sideways gust rather than the bike being much more powerful. I followed him for the next lap and thought about passing down Craner Curves, but I did not wish to put him off line in these tricky conditions as it's only a practice. Fortunately he pitted after this lap.

I did another two laps an pitted too. There was a dry line appearing and I did not wish to wreck my wets on a day that had no prizes for crashing.

Jack rushed over and said I was the fastest out there.........no, not in his opinion, it was official !!! So much so that Fred Clarke who commentates was lost for words as I am not on the official entry list so he had no details of our team to hand and eventually opted for "He must be one of the Wild Card riders" angle. That was really funny. Who is that mysterious faceless man?

I just had to laugh as I was not even pushing it at all. Riders were coming in and changing tyres as the track was now drying so we wandered back to the truck to start packing up as I felt I had proved a point as far as why I feel I ought to be on the grid.

I finally ended up 11th fastest on the time sheet at the end of the 50 minute session which is respectable, although I was feeling very smug that I had been the fastest out there for around 20 minutes in the wet conditions until it started to dry and obviously the times would drop as the grip improved and riders changed to dry tyres, or intermediates to suit. To give you an indication, I was only 2 places lower than Stuart Easton on the ETI Racing Ducati and ahead of Dean Ellison on the Dienza Ducati. Not too shabby at all.

Shortly after this session I was called to Race Control where I met Stuart Higgs and he informed me there was a place available if I wanted it. Well, as you can imagine I was well pleased. I was like a cheshire cat that got the cream. Claire Fennell and the girls in the office said I looked well pleased, so I replied, "Pleased? If I could, I would jump over there and kiss you all!".

What a great end to the day. All the worry is over and we are finally in. Thanks Stuart and Co.

Many Thanks go out to Jack (see picture below) who performed brilliantly and I hope we can do the season together in the same fashion as it really takes the pressure off when you have confidence in the people working on the bike and a bonus is we get on well.



Silverstone is the first event on the calendar on 26th to 28th March 2004.

Don't miss it!