2020 has been really weird with no racing... but I’ve been keeping myself fit and ready for when we do start. So today this happened. Got to say I’m pretty chuffed with the outcome.
Evening all, this year has been like no other. But it’s all starting to ramp up now. We are doing trackday at brands next week, Then racing at Donnington in few weeks with Thundersport. Cannot wait to get going now! Massive thanks to all my loyal supporters and sponsor me, even through this tough year! Let’s go racing!!!
2020 has finally started. Please see below my first race report of the season! Ducati Trioptions Cup, Round 1 - Donington Park After the long wait, we are back! I gave myself 24hrs to write this report as had lots to think about. Racing this weekend was tough, and was a shame there wasn’t any spectators to watch either. Free practice - Went well building confidence and pace through out, getting head up-to speed. Qualifying - Friday night qualifying was hot hot hot. With unpredictable weather for Sunday, we opted to do an out lap and a couple of flyers then save tyres for the races over the weekend. On what was set to be a fast lap, a rider in front missed a gear and we had to scrap the lap as tucked the front in one of the fastest corners (Hollywood). So with 5 laps completed, we sat at 11th place which is one of best qualifying positions we have had. We watched TSL in the pit lane, rehydrating and cooling down. Paul from Suffolk Motorcycle Suspension went through my issues and made bike changes. With 8 mins to go we went for another go. The bike worked better but and the one lap was quick but we dropped to 13th. Great step forward and felt good for race 1. Race 1 - Sitting in the grid, starting from 13th, we were aiming for a good start and to get stuck in. The start went well, but we got swamped into turn 1 and dropped many positions. I fought hard for first 3 laps to chase the pack but as the laps rose, so did the bike temperature, tyre temp and suspension temperature. This made the bike really hard to ride and was like a bucking bronco. But keeping an eye on pit board, I was able to maintain a good gap to the race behind me. Finishing the race in 12th taking points was good, but we knew we had more in the bag! That evening we had the rear shock serviced and gained some advise. We made some pretty drastic changes and felt we had gone the right way. With no warm up, we were unable to test the changes. So on to race 2... Race 2 - Starting 13th again on the grid. We got our head down and got in the mix for the first few corners. But ran wide into the grass at craner curves, having to roll off. Places were lost but pushed hard to get back onto the pack. The bike was handling better and felt we could push on. We had a good few lap battle with another rider, but we were dropping off the pack. Knowing this rider has previously had the pace, I decided to sit behind and hope we’d catch the pack. It wasn’t to be, the pace was too ‘comfortable’ and the gap was then too big to close. We ended race 2 again in the points in 14th. I finished the race some what deflated as I felt we could have gone with the pack and come home with top 10’s. That is now the focus and goal for this season. We cannot knock what we have done though. 2 races, 2 lots of points... it’s the best start to the season we’ve had in the Ducati Trioptions Cup. Massive thanks to all sponsors and supporters that make this happen. Also massive thanks to my dad, Roy and Paul at Suffolk Motorcycle Suspension for all the help and support over the weekend. The look forward now is to round 2 at Snetterton! Chamois Consulting GMR Projects Mackinnon Construction ARMY Motorcycle Road Race Team Army Sport Control Board Motul UK Rst-moto Eazi-Grip Tank Grips Profibre Motogear Nolan & X-lite UK Conquest Racing Ltd - Motorcycle Performance Parts Sprint Filter UK - Motorcycles Fullsix Carbon UK Quality reflections EBC Brakes Sublime Designs K-Tech Suspension HEL Performance CeraCarbon Racing Race bike Bitz - Samco Photo credits Camipix Photography
Great write up Spence, also, unwittingly, nice to have met you, I was opposite you in the garage at the DUK day, you were going well, keep it up.
Good results. I watched the races, and your progress, I'm sure you will be in the top 10 this season before long. Is Dave (Scrawn) not racing this year?
Ducati Trioptions Cup Round 2 - Snetterton. Having done some practice in recent weeks at Snetterton. Setting new Personal bests and smashing last years times we were feeling very confident and looking forward to what used to be a bogey track. Free practice - Having got a setting from previous weeks we went to try and improve on that setting changing a few things. It wasn’t to be, the gusting winds were so inconsistent into every corner we struggled. Also felt like a problem with the bike as was struggling to power out of the turn and felt flat. On finishing the session, we found the rear brake had been binding and has cooked a set of pads, disc and further more damaged the calliper seals and the electric traction wire. So it was back to repair all this in readiness for Qualifying on Saturday morning. Qualifying - The wind was still there, not as bad as previous, but we had to use the session to see if the suspension changes would work come race time. We managed to complete 8 laps and came 14th place. Race 1 - Sitting in the grid, starting from 14th, we were aiming for a good start and to get stuck in. That we did! chasing the pack round for a good few laps, but with a slight missed gear in Corams we lost the tow. Sitting in 12th, watching the pit board with laps going down and the gap going up to the pack behind me, I had to manage it. Then it happened, going into final lap the front tucked in last corner. It was a really weird crash. Still don’t understand what happened. The team and I were gutted as the race was going so well. Got to thank RST for the Air bag suit it done it job, with me able to walk away without any injuries, and also to xlite for keeping my head safe. There was a long night ahead now to get bike stripped and repaired. Thanks to all that helped with parts and repairing bits. With no warm up, we were unable to test the bike, so a quick run on dyno to make sure engine and shifter all works ok was only thing we could do. Race 2 - We moved up the grid to 12th due to lap time from race 1. We got our head down and got well in the mix inside the top 10. Every corner though whilst powering on the throttle the back end was sliding out, felt like oil or water down. It was then a race to finish. Battling for positions every corner with a few other riders made it exciting race. Finishing the race in 12th was not what we planned for, but we finished. It’s been a tough weekend for us, but finished again with points in the bag so not all bad. Massive thanks to all sponsors and supporters that make this happen. Also massive thanks to Luke Mitchell and Paul Cook at Suffolk Motorcycle Suspension for all the help and support over the weekend. The look forward now is to round 3 at Silverstone! Chamois Consulting GMR Projects Mackinnon Construction ARMY Motorcycle Road Race Team Army Sport Control Board MOTUL UK Rst-moto Eazi-Grip Racing Products Profibre Motogear Nolan & X-lite Helmets UK Conquest Racing Ltd - Motorcycle Performance Parts Sprint Filter UK - Motorcycles Fullsix Carbon UK Quality reflections EBC Brakes EBC Brakes Racing Sublime Designs K-Tech Suspension HEL Performance CeraCarbon Racing MotorcycleRaceParts.co.uk Spider Racing Parts Moto Rapido Ducati Photo credits Camipix Photography
