8 hour endurance race at Donington with BB racers!
Discussion
As above this is running this coming Saturday with qualifying from 9am and the race at 11am.
I know there’s a thread for the members who race on here, but just though this might get a wider audience. We have four teams containing members on here racing there, Lucking Fast (me and hebegb), Tunnocks Teamcakes ((mckeann), Team 113 (graeme4130) and GDH Racing (george29). There’ll also be a few playing at Crew Chief, teamaker and other critical roles.
We all have a fair amount of free tickets, so I’m sure that there’ll be some free spares floating around for those who get there and want to watch, or put faces to names.
It should be a cracking day and there are some bigger names racing too from the Superstock paddock, a couple of them from last year are even in George’s team! Could be a good watch, as there will be constant action all over the track as the field of c40 teams spreads out as the race progresses.
You’ll see a lot more overtaking and racing than you would at most top level race meets. As the saying goes, if you want to see the best racers then go to MotoGP, if you want to see the best races, then go to a club meet.
Everyone’s welcome.
I know there’s a thread for the members who race on here, but just though this might get a wider audience. We have four teams containing members on here racing there, Lucking Fast (me and hebegb), Tunnocks Teamcakes ((mckeann), Team 113 (graeme4130) and GDH Racing (george29). There’ll also be a few playing at Crew Chief, teamaker and other critical roles.
We all have a fair amount of free tickets, so I’m sure that there’ll be some free spares floating around for those who get there and want to watch, or put faces to names.
It should be a cracking day and there are some bigger names racing too from the Superstock paddock, a couple of them from last year are even in George’s team! Could be a good watch, as there will be constant action all over the track as the field of c40 teams spreads out as the race progresses.
You’ll see a lot more overtaking and racing than you would at most top level race meets. As the saying goes, if you want to see the best racers then go to MotoGP, if you want to see the best races, then go to a club meet.
Everyone’s welcome.
I'll be at Donington on Sat. Don't know how long for but a mate is taking me to watch some moto gymkhana thing. Won't be riding as I've broken my neck! (look out for a tit in a neck brace!)
Bit of lurker on here but would be good to put faces to names so i'll try and pop over if I
get chance...
Cheers,
Adam
Bit of lurker on here but would be good to put faces to names so i'll try and pop over if I
get chance...
Cheers,
Adam
Well done everyone yesterday, it was a tough old day with constantly changing weather, and stupidly heaving wind.
Team 113 had a somewhat crappy day, but that's racing.
Qualifying had wet patches to start with, so we sent myself and no2 rider out on wets to put in the minimum 3 laps, and rider number 3 (Who's the fastest of our team) out on dry tyres towards the end of the session as Quali was fastest lap counts format due to the rain. Our bad luck started there, and he had fuelling issues and we ended up in 25th of 33 teams.
I did the start as i quite like the elbows out bit of the first few laps, and we were up to 2nd in class and 8th overall after my 45mins (We had a little help when one of the other Club1000 teams, who are a bit quicker than us - Not mentioning any PH names
- Crashed on the formation lap)
After that, we settled into third for a good few stints, and then our luck went down hill.
Our number 2 rider had a good sized highside at around the 4.5hour mark, and this brought out the safety car, so we lost around 4 laps putting us back to 4th in class, and then not long after that, number 3 rider did pretty much the same thing and that was our day over. Our number 2 rider was looking at needing hospital, and I didn't have enough tyres or energy to do 3 hours on my own, so we sacked it off and had a beer in the bar and waited around for the end.
On that note - Did anyone see how decent the nurse was in the Med centre ???? Almost worth crashing for
It was a tough day on tyres as until nearer the end, it didn't really ever get wet enough for full wets, but it was like rolling the dice on slicks.
Well done to Georges team for having a great battle for 1st and nabbing 2nd in the N1 class and overall, and Neil's team for fighting on with just 2 riders, and getting a well deserved 2nd in the C1 class
I'll get some pics up when they come available
Next outing for us is going to be the Oulton 3hr round, and the Club1000 sprints for me
Team 113 had a somewhat crappy day, but that's racing.
Qualifying had wet patches to start with, so we sent myself and no2 rider out on wets to put in the minimum 3 laps, and rider number 3 (Who's the fastest of our team) out on dry tyres towards the end of the session as Quali was fastest lap counts format due to the rain. Our bad luck started there, and he had fuelling issues and we ended up in 25th of 33 teams.
I did the start as i quite like the elbows out bit of the first few laps, and we were up to 2nd in class and 8th overall after my 45mins (We had a little help when one of the other Club1000 teams, who are a bit quicker than us - Not mentioning any PH names
- Crashed on the formation lap)After that, we settled into third for a good few stints, and then our luck went down hill.
Our number 2 rider had a good sized highside at around the 4.5hour mark, and this brought out the safety car, so we lost around 4 laps putting us back to 4th in class, and then not long after that, number 3 rider did pretty much the same thing and that was our day over. Our number 2 rider was looking at needing hospital, and I didn't have enough tyres or energy to do 3 hours on my own, so we sacked it off and had a beer in the bar and waited around for the end.
On that note - Did anyone see how decent the nurse was in the Med centre ???? Almost worth crashing for
It was a tough day on tyres as until nearer the end, it didn't really ever get wet enough for full wets, but it was like rolling the dice on slicks.
Well done to Georges team for having a great battle for 1st and nabbing 2nd in the N1 class and overall, and Neil's team for fighting on with just 2 riders, and getting a well deserved 2nd in the C1 class
I'll get some pics up when they come available
Next outing for us is going to be the Oulton 3hr round, and the Club1000 sprints for me
Edited by graeme4130 on Sunday 29th July 08:08
thank you, mucho respect to all.Here’s the report from Lucking Fast. Grab a coffee as it’s a long one.
We all arrived at Donington to a fairly laid back paddock with little panic over scrutineering or garage allocations, as every team had their own garage so loads of space and loads of time to get everything done.
The team was three of us, me, hebegb and another mate (Jay) who isn’t on here. Although the team has completed a lot of races, this was our first time together as a trio, so something new.
Qualifying as has been said was a mixed bag. There was a torrential downpour about an hour before qualifying, which left everything soaked, but then the sun was trying to break through and it was slowly drying. Very slowly. We decided to play it safe of sorts and I volunteered to go out first in the wet and do one outlap, one flying lap and one in lap and then hand the transponder over. The transponder decided it didn’t want to log my flying lap though and only logged an in and an outlap, not that I was that bothered. Hebegb went out last on a dry track and had a good run to build some familiarity with the track, as he hadn’t been there since the 1000km race last year. He put in our fastest lap at 1:51 and that put us in P26 (12th in class) on the grid.
Onto the race and it started dry. hebegb won the raffle to start the race and off he went putting in some solid 1:46 - 1:48 laps with a best of 1:45.
I was out second and after an hour we’d got up to P16 (7th in class), thanks to the work dome by hebegb and a few other teams takignto the gravel and needing to run / walk the transponder back to their garage. My 40 minute stint seemed to be over in flash and pretty much without incident. Laptimes varied between 1:47 and some 1:43s, but were mainly 1:44s which I was happy with, as although it was dry the wind at the top of the circuit and the back straight was seriously gusty and made holding a line very difficult.
Teammate Jay, went out third stint and sadly it was clear he had an issue with his bike. Having just had the engine and gearbox rebuilt there was a problem, as it wouldn’t rev beyond 12000rpm and that’s not great for a revvy 675 Triumph. Despite being limited to laps in the low to mid 1:50s at the end of his stint we were still doing well and only lost one place overall to P17 and somehow managed to gain a position in class to 6th, thanks to another team crashing and dropping laps.
Hebegb then went out again and had his best stint in the dry getting into steady 1:44s which was great given the previously mentioned weather conditions.
I was out for my second stint with us staying put in P17/6 and again just got my head down and tried to build some consistent laps. A few laps in though, the first rain came and I was tiptoeing round on slicks doing 2+ minute laps. I wasn’t sure if the rain was due to stay or not, so kept going and sure enough a few laps later it was bone dry again and back to 1:43-44 lap times.
Jay was out on his sick Triumph then and had a dry session. Somehow we gained a place though and were up to P16/5 at the halfway point.
Hebegb out again and the rain started again of sorts in his session. It was really tricky though as it was too dry for wets / inters , but quite tricky on slicks and the rain was only on one small section of the track. It was quite a masterclass in how to ride on a tricky surface.
I was out next amd the tricky conditions meant laptimes were shifting to the high 1:40s / low 1:50s. We held our overall position at the end of 5 hours and things were looking good. And then it really rained. I was out on track on slicks and the rain started. At first it was a bit heavier but just about manageable and then the heavens opened, it was bouncing down on the back of the circuit and going into Macleans I slid across the track, over the kerb, onto the green painted concrete but somehow stayed on. There was no way I could continue as laptimes were nearly 2:30 and I couldn’t guarantee I’d get round any corner, alongside this there were fast riders on the right tyres and I was a liability out there. Sadly my pit entry first off caught the team out and secondly coincided with the Safety Car which meant we were held in pitlane and lost nearly 10 minutes. In my defence if I’d stayed out, then I’d have been the cause of the Safety Car.
This knocked us back a bit and we dropped to P18/6
Hebegb had to go out at this point as his was the bike we had on wets and he did a sterling job for a few laps until the track once agin dried up. That put me out again for a long stint, but again it was a tricky surface and the rain kept falling in different parts of the track. Laptimes were all over from 1:48 to 1:55s, but it was all about trying to keep the bike shiny side up.
I think Jay went out then, then me for a long stint, that was nice and dry amd we clawed back some time on the teams above us. We got within one lap of a team that had only got ahead of us due to the earlier rain pitstop and we definitely had the beating of them. End of 7 hours and my race was supposedly done with Jay and hebegb looking like they could see the race out. We had a great strategy mapped out with the predicted rain and a class podium was looking a distinct possibility.
Then disaster.
On his in lap Jay lost the front at Coppice in the rain on slicks and we lost 7 laps whilst he and the transponder were recovered. 5 teams unlapped themselves and got past us and our race was effectively over. Undaunted though hebegb went out and pulled back some time very nicely in the wet, got back past two of the teams and left me the chance to get the others in an unplanned 25 minute stint to end the race.
Then double disaster, once again on the inlap. Hebegb lost the rear at Starkeys and by the time he got back, despite his best efforts we had little left to ride for and called it quits.
So near yet so far.
Looking back there were a few things that with hindsight we could’ve done differently and it could’ve been an amazing result. If I’d somehow stayed out and done the laps behind the Safety Car then the track would’ve come back to me on slicks and we could’ve gained a huge amount. Sadly, it wasn’t to be and the good news is that there were no injuries to any of our riders.
Thanks to Jazoli who came down to help out and enjoy the post race BBQ and beers
A big well done to george29 who finished a superb 2nd and was pretty much robbed of victory.
Commiserations to graeme4130 and his team, hope the injured riders are OK
Commiserations to mckeann as well, who suffered a crash, but I’ll let him tell that story.
We all arrived at Donington to a fairly laid back paddock with little panic over scrutineering or garage allocations, as every team had their own garage so loads of space and loads of time to get everything done.
The team was three of us, me, hebegb and another mate (Jay) who isn’t on here. Although the team has completed a lot of races, this was our first time together as a trio, so something new.
Qualifying as has been said was a mixed bag. There was a torrential downpour about an hour before qualifying, which left everything soaked, but then the sun was trying to break through and it was slowly drying. Very slowly. We decided to play it safe of sorts and I volunteered to go out first in the wet and do one outlap, one flying lap and one in lap and then hand the transponder over. The transponder decided it didn’t want to log my flying lap though and only logged an in and an outlap, not that I was that bothered. Hebegb went out last on a dry track and had a good run to build some familiarity with the track, as he hadn’t been there since the 1000km race last year. He put in our fastest lap at 1:51 and that put us in P26 (12th in class) on the grid.
Onto the race and it started dry. hebegb won the raffle to start the race and off he went putting in some solid 1:46 - 1:48 laps with a best of 1:45.
I was out second and after an hour we’d got up to P16 (7th in class), thanks to the work dome by hebegb and a few other teams takignto the gravel and needing to run / walk the transponder back to their garage. My 40 minute stint seemed to be over in flash and pretty much without incident. Laptimes varied between 1:47 and some 1:43s, but were mainly 1:44s which I was happy with, as although it was dry the wind at the top of the circuit and the back straight was seriously gusty and made holding a line very difficult.
Teammate Jay, went out third stint and sadly it was clear he had an issue with his bike. Having just had the engine and gearbox rebuilt there was a problem, as it wouldn’t rev beyond 12000rpm and that’s not great for a revvy 675 Triumph. Despite being limited to laps in the low to mid 1:50s at the end of his stint we were still doing well and only lost one place overall to P17 and somehow managed to gain a position in class to 6th, thanks to another team crashing and dropping laps.
Hebegb then went out again and had his best stint in the dry getting into steady 1:44s which was great given the previously mentioned weather conditions.
I was out for my second stint with us staying put in P17/6 and again just got my head down and tried to build some consistent laps. A few laps in though, the first rain came and I was tiptoeing round on slicks doing 2+ minute laps. I wasn’t sure if the rain was due to stay or not, so kept going and sure enough a few laps later it was bone dry again and back to 1:43-44 lap times.
Jay was out on his sick Triumph then and had a dry session. Somehow we gained a place though and were up to P16/5 at the halfway point.
Hebegb out again and the rain started again of sorts in his session. It was really tricky though as it was too dry for wets / inters , but quite tricky on slicks and the rain was only on one small section of the track. It was quite a masterclass in how to ride on a tricky surface.
I was out next amd the tricky conditions meant laptimes were shifting to the high 1:40s / low 1:50s. We held our overall position at the end of 5 hours and things were looking good. And then it really rained. I was out on track on slicks and the rain started. At first it was a bit heavier but just about manageable and then the heavens opened, it was bouncing down on the back of the circuit and going into Macleans I slid across the track, over the kerb, onto the green painted concrete but somehow stayed on. There was no way I could continue as laptimes were nearly 2:30 and I couldn’t guarantee I’d get round any corner, alongside this there were fast riders on the right tyres and I was a liability out there. Sadly my pit entry first off caught the team out and secondly coincided with the Safety Car which meant we were held in pitlane and lost nearly 10 minutes. In my defence if I’d stayed out, then I’d have been the cause of the Safety Car.
This knocked us back a bit and we dropped to P18/6
Hebegb had to go out at this point as his was the bike we had on wets and he did a sterling job for a few laps until the track once agin dried up. That put me out again for a long stint, but again it was a tricky surface and the rain kept falling in different parts of the track. Laptimes were all over from 1:48 to 1:55s, but it was all about trying to keep the bike shiny side up.
I think Jay went out then, then me for a long stint, that was nice and dry amd we clawed back some time on the teams above us. We got within one lap of a team that had only got ahead of us due to the earlier rain pitstop and we definitely had the beating of them. End of 7 hours and my race was supposedly done with Jay and hebegb looking like they could see the race out. We had a great strategy mapped out with the predicted rain and a class podium was looking a distinct possibility.
Then disaster.
On his in lap Jay lost the front at Coppice in the rain on slicks and we lost 7 laps whilst he and the transponder were recovered. 5 teams unlapped themselves and got past us and our race was effectively over. Undaunted though hebegb went out and pulled back some time very nicely in the wet, got back past two of the teams and left me the chance to get the others in an unplanned 25 minute stint to end the race.
Then double disaster, once again on the inlap. Hebegb lost the rear at Starkeys and by the time he got back, despite his best efforts we had little left to ride for and called it quits.
So near yet so far.
Looking back there were a few things that with hindsight we could’ve done differently and it could’ve been an amazing result. If I’d somehow stayed out and done the laps behind the Safety Car then the track would’ve come back to me on slicks and we could’ve gained a huge amount. Sadly, it wasn’t to be and the good news is that there were no injuries to any of our riders.
Thanks to Jazoli who came down to help out and enjoy the post race BBQ and beers
A big well done to george29 who finished a superb 2nd and was pretty much robbed of victory.
Commiserations to graeme4130 and his team, hope the injured riders are OK
Commiserations to mckeann as well, who suffered a crash, but I’ll let him tell that story.
ks and energy that most people including myself don't have to achieve something like this . 
It was indeed a proper hoofing below the belt..... great effort by all those who entered and incredibly rewarding ....and ultimately unimaginably disappointing all in one fell swoop .
Well, “ that’s racing “ as the saying goes , and despite sitting in the top half of the 33 starters for some of the day , hovering mainly between 17th and 14th on occasion , we still came 24th in effect on laps completed by the 8 hours elapsed , with approx 40 mins unridden ...
Ah well , as I’m sure George is thinking , next time .......
Well, “ that’s racing “ as the saying goes , and despite sitting in the top half of the 33 starters for some of the day , hovering mainly between 17th and 14th on occasion , we still came 24th in effect on laps completed by the 8 hours elapsed , with approx 40 mins unridden ...
Ah well , as I’m sure George is thinking , next time .......
Edited by hebegb on Sunday 29th July 21:06
Gavia said:
Thanks to Jazoli who came down to help out and enjoy the post race BBQ and beers
No worries, although I have never changed so many bloody wheels over the course of a day, a minor mishap occurred on a rear wheel change for HB but no harm was done and the changing weather helped as he had to come in anyway, it was a shame to end the day with two crashes but the bikes weren't too badly damaged and the riders were ok which is all that matters really.
Post race BBQ was fab, although it was freezing through the night, first time I have camped in a tent 20 years and it will be the last time, no sleep was had and I ended up trying to sleep in the car, which I didn't want to start as it would have been unfair on others sleeping and I was stuck as I'd had a few bottles of beer so couldn't drive until the morning, I've slept most of the day today
Thanks to Hebegb for the extra jacket, I'll return it this week at some point.
Presume you can switch riders or bikes to a wet bike set up if it rains, ie out on slicks, come in and let another rider go out on a wet bike? How about if you were flush enough, to have a wet bike also and come in and swap bikes a la MotoGP? Is that allowed, or if you come in, does another rider have to go out?
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