Donington Park GP; Trackday Report (21st June)

Silver · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Oct 2004 Karma :

Well, yesterday I did a trackday at Donington Park on the full GP circuit. I've done the National twice so it was nice to finally get a crack at the rest of the track too.

The alarm went off at 4:50am, which was a lovely start to the day Shocked

Four hours sleep didn't seem the best preparation... For the first time in the history of my trackdays (and for anything else come to think of it) Jeanette actually got out of bed before me and with no nagging! Anyway, got ready and left at about 5:30am; bike safely secured to the trailer. Arrived at the circuit at around 7:15am after a minor detour for a Sausage and Egg McMuffin.

Then we met up with Simon (a bloke I know through work) who'd ridden his Blade up from Reading in less than an hour and a half. Just don't tell the police... Also met "bath of kylies" briefly a couple of times, although I didn't know which garage he was in.

Anyway the day started off pretty cool and cloudy, but began to warm up. The first session was wierd trying to get the hang on the additional corners; it's not just like adding a couple of corners into a track because going from National to GP messes up your braking point coming down the back straigh (Starkeys). I saw a couple of people outbrake themselves there and run straight on. Although the Melbourne hairpin is tight and not the favourite amongst racers you cannot help but deck the bike out there Very Happy

. The left hander (Goddard's) coming back onto the start/finish straight is strange; it seems to drop twice as you go round it and it's very wide. This meant that there are about ten different lines going through it. Took me 'till lunchtime to get any kind of rythym through there. Not sure if the GP circuit's worth the extra money it costs (over the National), but you have to do it at least once I would say.

Some time around mid-morning Kickstart arrived with the obligatory expensive camera equipment and several terrabytes of compact flash cards! I think Jeanette was just grateful for a lift to the far side of the track for pictures, since our car was boxed in!

The weather kept getting warmer. The reports had forecast 23 degrees C, and it was certainly warm enough to have us sweating buckets under our leathers.

No incidents to report, which is a good thing, aside from Simon running hot into McCleans and going for a trip through the travel. No damage done, which is the main thing, although I did get some of it on film Twisted Evil

All in all, a very good day. We covered about 130 miles on the track, had no incidents and no red flags. The biggest challenge was not falling asleep on the drive home!

The photographer was from somewhere called Trackphoto (although all their paperwork just had Focused Events written on them) and he was very good. I know Keith was talking to him for a while and said he was a nice bloke, but his pictures were excellent. He got 22 of me in total and I've posted a couple below.

Reevo8 · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Karma :

Silver · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Oct 2004 Karma :

M1ke · Ped Boi Joined: 11 Jun 2002 Karma :

Nice one, what happened to the srad though? Not enough power? Razz

Silver · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Oct 2004 Karma :

Kickstart · The Oracle Joined: 04 Feb 2002 Karma :

Hi

I have posted a few pics in outings and excursions, but here they are again:-

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Silver_1.jpg

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Silver_2.jpg

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Benelli_1.jpg

All the best

Keith
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