MIST Suzuki Racing

Donington Park, UK – Race

Posted on September 7, 2008 by matt

Matt Bond, 05/09/08 – 07/09/08
FIM Superstock 1000 Cup
Round 8

Friday – First Practice

Just like last season the opening practice was soaking wet, although this year it was slightly warmer, even if the puddles on circuit were slightly larger! The track felt like it had a lot more grip than last year also.

My opening laps were pretty good, smooth and consistently improving lap after lap, as I tried to find the best line and sort out my reference markers for braking and turn in. It was very similar to all the points id use in the dry, just with a lot less aggression.

I pitted just to make a few adjustments to the rear of the bike to help it grip on acceleration and it seemed fairly positive after we made the change. I didn’t get much chance to try it however as a few turns later and I was sliding down the track on my backside.

I’d high-sided out of Redgate and although I tried to save it I couldn’t and ended up facing the oncoming traffic. I picked the bike up but it was too bent to carry on and I’d slightly tweaked my shoulder again which began to hurt a few minutes after. Luckily the bike wasn’t as bad as first thought and the team got it back together in no time at all.

Friday – First Qualifying

The rain hadn’t gone away, and neither had the winds, which were now stronger than the opening session, especially down the lower end of the circuit by the old hairpin and Schwantz curve.

I started well, feeling confident in the bike and in my lines, with the bike giving good feedback thanks to a softer spring in the rear of the bike. It gave more traction and when accompanied with the new engine map, provided more drive. It was noticeable out of the Melbourne loop section, where the bike would now pick up and carry the front wheel.

I made a few more changes to the bike in the pits after completing three laps, just to get the front end to give more grip and a better feel, done by softening up the compression and taking a couple of turns of preload off.

It felt a lot more positive on the out lap and through the first sector on my flying lap I posted the ninth fastest sector time, only to fall for the second time of the weekend on the entry to MacLean’s turn. I’m not sure exactly what happened but again after picking the bike up it was apparent it had rolled over and thus I couldn’t ride it back to the pits. I hadn’t qualified at this point because of the crash.

Saturday – Second Practice

I was feeling a little bit beaten up after the previous day, and I just wanted to get round for the session, for all our sakes!

It didn’t start well, with the tyres stone cold I just couldn’t get any feeling, and it soon became apparent my confidence had taken a bigger knock than I first thought. I just focused on trying to be smooth and progressive and not do anything silly, unlike the last two sessions! The bike began to feel good and better than before, but with my relative lack of pace I was still struggling, and it seemed that no matter what I tried, I didn’t go that much faster.

It was a frustrating session, but I stayed on and got some good feedback for the team, ready for second qualifying in the afternoon.

Saturday – Second Qualifying

I was going to have to dig deep to get through the session and get in a decent time to get on the grid. The track was drying, but still wet enough to command full rain tyres, so it was just a case again of being smooth and building it up.

My first run made me feel a lot better. I’d gone a lot quicker than all previous sessions and was settling into a nice rhythm. I pitted just to make a few small changes to the bike to help on turn in stability.

I got back on track and just told myself to keep calm, relax and just ride. Next thing I know, I’m sliding down the back straight on my arse after another high-side. I remember swearing at myself and just saying “That’s it”, knowing it wasn’t going to be enough for me to qualify.

I was in tears when I got back to the truck, knowing what had just happened, and was mentally beating myself about, it wasn’t good, but I felt like I’d let the whole team and myself down. Fortunately the guys understood how much I’d struggle and just put it down as a bad day at the office.

Sunday – Race

It was only the second time I’d ever been forced to watch my race from the sidelines, and once again I was gutted not to be out there, but without a good enough time to qualify and realistically no bike to ride, it was just one of those things.

After a good night sleep and watching the race I’d calmed down and forgotten about the troubles. It’s the first time I’d ever had that bad a weekend, and for once, I just let it all go. I’m just looking forward to Magny-Cours and Portugal over the next couple of months. Fingers crossed it stays better and I get back up to where I know I can run in the field.

Posted in 2008, Donington Park, Matt Bond, Race Report | Leave a comment

Donington Park, UK – Race

Posted on September 7, 2008 by Gareth

Gareth Jones, 05/09/08 – 07/09/08
FIM Superstock 1000 Cup
Round 8

Round 8 of the FIM Superstock 1000 Championship at Donington in the UK finally came around after a month long break. The weather forecast was for drizzle, fog, rain, wind and thunderstorms, and that’s exactly what we got. The only relief we had was a brief moment on Thursday during setup, and intermittent parts of Sunday afternoon. I was confident of a good result, not deterred at all by a full wet weekend.

Friday – First Practice

Unfortunately the start of my weekend didn’t go as planned. In the early laps of first practice, on Friday morning’s rain soaked track, I highsided coming onto the straight out of the final hairpin. Not only was I then missing a lot of track time, but I also sustained an injury, in the form of a fractured scaphoid to my left hand.

Friday – First Qualifying

I headed into the afternoon qualifying session feeling worse for wear, however I was determined to put it out of my mind and start afresh. The pace was getting faster and I was still learning the track, so becoming familiar with the conditions was the most important thing. There were parts of the track that were very grippy and others, such as the final hairpin, that were catching riders out all day. 77 riders actually crashed on Friday alone.

Saturday – Second Practice

With the data we had gathered from the Friday afternoon session, I was feeling more confident with the conditions. This reflected in Saturday morning’s session, where I found quite a lot of time and more feel with the bike.

The weather conditions remained much the same all day, so at the very least the track was fairly consistent going into the final qualifying session, but with a glimmer of the rain easing, Saturday afternoon was the best the track had been all weekend.

Saturday – Second Qualifying

By this time my left wrist and hand were quite stiff. We are extremely fortunate in the WSB paddock, to have the services of Clinica Mobile, a tremendous group of very professional medical staff, who do an amazing job with the riders (and paddock crew) attending to all injuries, aches, pains and complaints. They operate, suture, x-ray, bandage, massage and whatever else is needed to keep the riders safely on track. On each occasion, prior to riding, they injected the area with several doses of anesthetic to numb the majority of the pain.

I went into the final session feeling cautious.. The rain had stopped but the track was still completely soaked. I felt my way around for most of the session before putting my best time in on the last lap. I qualified 19th. I wasn’t concerned at this stage as we were working on my pace through the last sector of the track, where I was losing most of my time. I had a lack of feel from the rear end of the bike when opening the throttle hard off slow turns, however my first 2 sectors were reasonably on pace.

Sunday – Race

I was 14th in Sunday morning warm up. By the time we were taking our grid positions the rain had stopped and there was much less water sitting on the track, and a couple of riders gambled for intermediates. We opted for full wets. The first lap of the race was carnage, a few riders went down right in front of me and I had to brake heavily to avoid them on more than one occasion.

By the time I came over the start finish line I had lost a lot of time and the race had spread out quickly. I crossed in 16th and the riders immediately in front of me were holding me up so I pushed hard to make a pass out of the old hairpin at the bottom of craner curves. Disappointingly, I pushed just a little too hard too soon and highsided out of the race.

It was a very frustrating moment and although I tried to rejoin the race, the brake lever had lost pressure so continuing was impossible. It was my first DNF this year. Over to Magny Cours in France in a couple of weeks for next round. I look forward to speaking to you all soon.

Posted in 2008, Donington Park, Gareth Jones, Race Report | Leave a comment