For those of you who came to Brands Hatch you might be interested to read the full race report via my website: Ducati TriOptions Cup Round 4 – Brands Hatch GP - Wilson 48
I will be at Silverstone this Thursday so hope to see some of you there! Who's going? Also don't forget there is only a few days left to enter this months competition!
I'll be there in the Snells area. I had a brief chat with Dave in Snells on saturday and mentioned you. It would be good to pick your brains a bit about racing the 899. I'd like to have a go myself if I can good enough with my riding (insert random time period here...).
Cool, cheers. On an 1199s and a 2003 R1, but depending on how expensive the 1199s ownership pans out I may look to add an 899 to the collection. Fortunately the Italian girlfriend is even more obsessed with Ducatis than me so there's no one to suggest any more sensible ideas than spending all our money on red bikes She's considering getting an 899 for herself as well.
I have a couple of passes which are not being used for Oulton Park this weekend. First comes first serve basis.
Well I think I've now fully dried out after a weekend of ups and downs. Overall I'm pretty happy with my pace in race 1 and another points finish without any testing at the track this year. Race 2 was a disappointment however, the bike was feeling good but I just needed to believe in it (and me) a bit more and push harder from the start. On another note I'm pleased to announce the winner of July's prize as @comesunt ! - Congratulations. If you'd like to contact me directly and @Conquest Carbon we will sort out your prize. On sad note, that was the last prize draw for the foreseeable future as the scheme is not breaking even. I'd like to thank all the forum members who have helped thus far - you are all legends! THANK YOU Nick
Nick, maybe I am suggesting too much, but I don't feel you have involved your 'sponsors' in what they are sponsoring. A bit more of what you are doing, when you are doing it and how you have done would I'm sure get you more sponsorship from the forum. You can't expect people to throw their hard earned at you and give nothing back in return. I'm personally not interested in the giveaways as nice as they are, I sponsored you to try and help you succeed, not enter a prize draw. I appreciate you are busy testing, riding, rebuilding etc, but try giving something back on a personal level. Best of luck!
Appreciate your comment @AlfG - What more involvement would you like to see/hear? I'll continue to post on the Forum and will offer prizes on an ad-hock basis but I just wanted to make clear that I can't commit to a regular prize draw. Of course if members would still like to 'sponsor' then that would be great.
Thanks to @emsquared for your latest donation - received with thanks! I was planning on posting some updates live from Oulton Park on here as the weekend progressed but I had no internet signal! To cut a long story short, I have a bit of love hate relationship with Oulton. I love Oulton, but she hates me. I haven't ridden there since this time last year and I've had a few crashes there in the past so I really wasn't looking forward to it all to be honest. So I was quite happy in the end to get into the 1.45's in race one and finish inside the points. The weather on Sunday was shocking, as it was for most of the UK I'm guessing. We put in a wet setting which I hoped would be a step change on what we had a the beginning of the season. - It was, and the bike felt great. But I was just too cautious on this occasion so I ended up 18th. I've written up my full race report which you can read here if you're interested. Here's a couple of nice shots from Bonnie Lane (C)
I popped in on Saturday, was told things weren't going well, not many laps done prior to race weekend I can appreciate the difficulties and costs having become a sponsor of a road racer. Hats off to those who work to support their passion, I am tied to sponsorship so can't really afford to help out but wish you luck Nick. Prizes aren't of interest personally and I would guess most decent folk who do help you financially aren't bothered either. Having those people in around your paddock would be good, BBQ on and just enjoying the buzz of being back stage certainly appeals to me. Like I say wish you luck mate.
Sorry I missed you @thespionkop. Thanks for the nice comments. I'm up for getting as many like minded bike and racing fans involved as possible. If anyone needs discounted tickets for race weekend or Ducati Hospitality then I'm happy to help out. I'm also happy to have people along to help out or just hang about the awning for the weekend and experience racing from a different aspect. Just get in touch - I don't bite! :Smuggrin:
Hi Nicky, how's the bike going ? I was at a track day Monday and heard about a few reliability problems with the 899, seized engines, gearbox probs & cracked crankcases (seems to be the usual Duc probs) Must be a worry as most of the bikes haven't done a lot of miles. It's a competitive championship, with some fast lap times from the 899's Good luck with the rest of the year. AL.D
Hello! My bike is good thanks for asking. There have been a number of issues with the bikes so far the year, but it is a new bike and the first time it has been used in such anger. This is probably showing up a few issues which wouldn't otherwise have been seen by the factory I guess? I can't speak for the other riders but my bike (so far) has been very good. I know there have been several engine failures (two at Oulton Park alone) but as to the cause of them, I've no idea. I think one seized and I'm guessing Rob's bike out a rod through casing judging by the amount of oil it spewed out. I would think most of the bike have done no more than 2-3k miles but I can't vouch for how they have been maintained. One thing I would say is the 'Pani' engines are built to a lot tighter tolerances than the old engines so perhaps people are pushing their luck?
Good luck with the rest of the season Nicky, "Enjoy Cadwell" and can you say Hi to Den Hobbs from me "Alan Davison" if you see him !! Thanks
Thanks to those of you who have made recent donations! It's only a few day now until Cadwell Park so are any of the Fourm members coming along? I'm hoping for a couple of point scoring races and to beat my PB of 1:36.00 if the weather is kind to me!
