Well my troubles with the wet stuff became apparent this morning. The jet washer will not be used again the day before a track/race meet again. I spent the morning pulling the loom apart and drying out all the connections then charging the battery. At least I got out in the afternoon and enjoyed the track sessions.
You've hit the "nail on the head" there Freak. I hadn't done a TD since WDW2007 at Misano, so would've been great to get out. However it was not the right day for it sadly, but we had great banter and there was plenty going on if you wanted it. Both inside the Paddock Suite and outside (especially hiding a certain 999XXS in a van and watching Nik Nak aka Mr C walk from 1 end of the Paddock to the other in search of it. "Priceless" The food was better than I expected and a pleasant change to the overpriced, greasy and fatty ugly burgers usually on offer. Heard some horror stories whilst walking referring to quality & costs paid over the weekend @ WSBK. The only 2 disappointments was the weather (standard for the UK nowadays) & Alstare Ducati had decided to bugger off because of there shite weekends racing. T'was nice to catch up with some peeps though.
As you can see clearly from that video, it was only a little bit damp! That does capture it quite well actually. It was unbelievably wet, there were rivers in places, and a little swimming pool on the esses - fabulous! There was only one section that wasn't actually submerged, on the run into the melbourne loop, the rest was actually under water so that the rider in front make a track through the water (but don't ride behind as visibility was bad enough without his spray too!).... Anyway, I had a good time nonetheless as I found some race wets in the tyre place first thing and thought "let's give it a go"..... am glad I did. It was the first time on those for me the amount of grip you get is quite startling once you learn to trust them a bit. But don't trust them too much. Every session I had, one or two guys would come through noticeably quicker than the rest of us, and then two or three turns later, they were in the gravel! I didn't have a single session today that didn't have a red flag. And one bump at the end of the day was a bust collarbone. But everyone was OK aside from that I believe. Hope you are all in one piece too. Sorry I didn't get to make too many hello's today, but in between the swimming sessions I was drinking tea to keep warm! Hope at least a few of you got out, I enjoyed it anyway, but clearly it was a very different experience to riding in the dry, which we would have all preferred.
You need WD40 all over the tyres. Supposed to dispel moisture. Think I would have gone home after seeing a Cormorant chasing a Chub down the track !
Some more Also spotted a few New Ducati models I haven't seen before, didn't look particularly quick though :biggrin: Think he might have heard me
Hey, no7 thats me TBH I have ridden in wetter on track and race weekends on road Dunlops. And I was first round the corner with the guy glatout and unconscious on the track...was enough for me for the day
oh, the irony! AndyB, The Garage Queen :tongue: Apart from the weather, what a great day. Never done Donny before and loved it! Thanks to everyone who made the day special
Great pictures considering the conditions. I don't get that far over even in the dry. Big respec' to the Donington Trackday Massive innit.
Freak .......spot on mate I do / would / did expect it to be cancelled / re-scheduled and yes at DUK/FE's expense, if I'm paying top dollar for a service I expect that service to be worth it and I expect to given in exchange for said dollar everything that I was sold clearly yesterday that was not the case! No Alstare No Track Time Rubbish Food I was not aware of any Q&A sessions so that was well advertised? nor did I see any Corse staff and I spent a lot of time looking for Tim Maccabee who was clearly in hiding probably out of embarrassment for this shambolic event. My bike did not come out of the van, others made it into the garage but no further, I like others do not have a truck load of spares and special tires for differing conditions or a surgeon on standby for Wednesday morning just in case, Neil Hodgson and Niall Mackenzie agreed that it was pretty much un-rideable for all but the very experienced so bloody right they should have stopped the day. Further to that when talking to one of the organizers from FE I do not expect rude aggressive and quite frankly unprofessional behavior form somebody whose wages I am paying, I do agree with you that it was good to catch up with friends old & new but should I have to pay £175 + travel+ Hotel the night before+food and receive a big fat ZERO in return. After the abysmal event Ducat put on at Silverstone 2011 I did not think they could sink any lower, how wrong could I have been.
Some of The staff were pretty rude tho...when we came in for lunch a woman challenged us that we were on seconds as peolpe were passing around passes and "there will be no food left to feed the staff" then got upperty when we pointed out we had just come in from group 3 which had stopped 5 mins before...and the intimation was dont take too much! TBH I enjoyed riding when I had the wets fitted, never felt unsafe and was beginning to get a little more speed and angle. Just like Ohlins forks converted me recently, so have wets
You seem like a man that is never happy. I thought the food was pretty good considering it was cooked on a truck trailer. What did you expect? A-la-carte, Michelin starred catering? As for the conditions, yes they were hideous, and seeing how the day panned out I do agree that it should have been cancelled. But with the fat money grabbing twat Healy there that was never going to happen. He's trying to get his shoes well and truly under Ducatis table. And how would they refund it? Total ticket price or minus the food? The option was there to go on track, you chose not too, so who wasted your money? I don't have a truck full of spares, or mechanics on hand to do everything for me, and too need to work. I just stumped up for some wets and treated it as a learning experience. Spent the day happily pottering round with group one. ( most of which went out every session) To say the day was a complete shambles is a bit harsh I think. DUK did their best, FE staff were their usual abnoxious selves ( apart from Dave hailwod) and those that wanted to ride, did. If the weather had been glorious sunshine all day I don't even think we'd be complaing about the lack of alstare or anything else as we'd of all been thrashing around the track all day. its quite hard to factor in a wet weather program for an outdoor event. If you want hot and sunny, go abroad.
