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ThundersportGB Donington Park - Race Review (2015)

30/9/2015

ThundersportGB hosted our visit to Donington Park this season, a one-off two-day event at one of our favourite circuits. The circuit layout being used was the 'Grand Prix' layout that includes the Melbourne Loop. When we thought back, we realised that the last time we raced this particular track layout was during the British Grand Prix (now rebranded as MotoGP) in a British Superstock 600 race in 1999!

A packed Donington Park paddock

Earlier in the year when we planned our visit, a test day was scheduled on the preceding Thursday with a 'quiet day' planned for the Friday. We didn't fancy that so decided to just do the Saturday/Sunday instead, but when we arrived at the circuit we discovered that the test day had been moved to the Friday!

So the Saturday morning qualifying was our first opportunity to get some laps around the fantastic Donington Park circuit. The 2010 changes to the Foggy Esses and Goddards have made those particular corners quicker and less bumpy which just made the track even better.

Going around the Melbourne Loop for the first time in 16 years!

Before the qualifying session we thought that a lap time of around 2 minutes may be a good starting point - based upon our 1999 lap time and the circuit changes - but we went faster than that on our first flying lap! Going faster and faster every lap, we ended qualifying with a lap time of 1'50.75 which put us 11th in class on the packed grid.

The first race on Saturday allowed us to get more laps in and refine our lines. We finished 7th in class and reduced our best lap time to 1'49.65.

100+ mph through the Craner Curves

The second race on Saturday (the last race of the day) proved a bit more difficult as the rear tyre suffered from some hot tear due to the tyre pressure being too low (24psi cold) but we managed to finish 9th in class with a new best lap time of 1'49.14.

Sunday morning fog delayed the start of the practice sessions. Having fit some new dry tyres overnight, we used the practice session to scrub in the tyres ready for the race (now using 26psi cold tyre pressures).

The resurfaced Goddards corner

The Sunday race showed that the new rear tyre pressure setting was working well and after a good battle with some ThundersportGB regulars, we finished 8th in class, setting another new best lap time of 1'48.38 on last lap of race! This made us think that with a bit more track time we might be able to circulate even faster - but that will just have to wait for next season!

Our next race meeting is the last meeting of our 2015 season, at the Darley Moor "Stars at Darley" meeting on Sunday 11th October.

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Photos from Darley Moor Rounds 7 (2015)

30/9/2015

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Here are some photos from the seventh Darley Moor meeting of 2015, taken by official Darley photographer Tony Else...

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Darley Moor - Round 7 Race Review (2015)

24/9/2015

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Sunshine welcomed us when we arrived at Darley Moor for Round 7 of the championship. Arriving on the Saturday, we setup the caravan and awning and got scruitineering and signing-on completed early, then ventured over to Stuart Hall's caravan to enjoy a BBQ before later visiting Tim Poole's caravan to watch some of the finest international talent perform on the X-Factor.

Baby Lucy awoke once overnight for feeding but a decent nights sleep was had otherwise, awaking to a clear sky that provided dry tracktime throughout the coming day. We changed the wet front tyre for a new tyre as it needed a refresh but it wasn't to be required today - Stu Lacey (tyre changer & sidecar racer) was injured in a crash on the final sidecar race of the day, so we'd like to wish him all the best with his recovery!

With the tyre warmers on our Kawasaki ER650 Supertwin nice and early (and working fine), we took them off to perform noise testing, then after passing the noise test popped them back on. Around ten minutes before our qualifying session we checked the tyre warmers (as we often do) and the front was not working, so we quickly swapped to our spare front tyre warmer and decided to take a few laps in qualifying to make sure the front tyre was nice and sticky.

In the Formula Darley qualifying there was a lot of traffic and it was only on the very last lap that we managed to get a clear lap in - but that lap was good enough to qualify us in 2nd position on the grid. The Mini Sound of Thunder qualifying provided more clear lap time but again we qualified in 2nd position in class (11th on the combined grid).

The first race of our day was Formula Darley Race 1. A decent start saw us third into the first corner. In the race we moved up to second after passing Keith Shepherd, then fell back to third when Brad Vicars came passed, before passing early race leader Stuart Hall to take second position on the last lap. But Stuart made a lunge on the last corner and pipped us to the line by 0.07 of a second, so we crossed the line in third place.

Mini Sound Of Thunder Race 1 was our second race of the day. We managed to get the holeshot (in class) into the first chicane but were passed by Brad Vicars into the second corner. We spent the rest of the race in second place which we held until the flag, eventually 3.4 seconds behind the race winner.

After the lunch break we had Formula Darley Race 2. An average start saw us entering the first chicane in fourth position. A lack of aggression in making passing moves meant that we got involved in a battle between Nick Anderson, Michael Brookes, Keith Shepherd and Brendan Brown. By time we had made our way through the pack and got clear the leaders were in the distance. We finished in a lonely third place, 11 seconds behind second place and 12 seconds ahead of fourth place.

The final race was Mini Sound Of Thunder Race 2. We again got the holeshot (in class) but couldn't keep in touch with eventual race winner Brad Vicars when he came passed and remained in second place until the chequered flag.

After some solid point-scoring finishes, we remain 2nd position in the Formula Darley championship (22 points behind the championship leader) and 2nd position in the Mini Sound Of Thunder championship (9 points behind the championship leader). With the final round of the championships having a single race with quadruple points available (a maximum of 36 points available per race), both championships will be decided at the final round on Sunday 11th October.

Before then we have a one-off meeting with ThundersportGB at the Donington Park GP circuit this coming weekend (26th/27th September). If you come along, please pop over and say Hi :-)

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Darley Moor - Round 7 Race Preview (2015)

10/9/2015

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The end of the 2015 season is approaching and it comes with a rush of meetings, with the last three race meetings taking place over a 4-week calendar period.

Our next meeting is Darley Moor Round 7 on Sunday 20th September, followed the next weekend with a visit to the Donington Park circuit with ThundersportGB, with the season finale at the Stars At Darley meeting at Darley Moor Round 8 taking place two weeks after that.

We are all prepared and ready to go! But with another week until the next meeting (and the next update), here are some new photos from throughout our season to keep you going in the meantime...

A very wet Darley Moor Round 6

On the brakes at Darley Moor Round 5

The dry part of Darley Moor Round 6

Early in the season at Darley Moor Round 1

Trimming the grass at Darley Moor Round 1

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Activities during the Summer Break...

3/9/2015

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With a break in our racing calendar over the summer months, the Two Daves found other activities to keep themselves busy - but naturally, they still involved bikes! It was decided that restoration projects were a good way to pass the time :-)

For Dave Snr, the project involved his 1978 Honda CB750 F1, which he has owned for 20+ years.

Heading off to the MOT station (it passed!)

The Honda CB750 F1 was a regular runner until Dave Snr went working in USA, so it was put into storage (thanks to Steven Doyle) until Dave Snr returned many years later. The CB750 F1 is now in a roadworthy state (thanks to a full service, new chain and new carb rubbers) and has a full MOT certificate, so is now infrequently buzzing around the back roads of Cheshire.

Parts being stripped in the background

But... With this being a project there are plans for improvement!

A twin disc brake conversion is at the top of the list, which will be achieved by swapping the entire front end to a CB750 F2 version. A change to ComStar wheels, the fitment of some flat handlebars and a restyling exercise will (probably) give the CB750 F1 more of a café racer look. It might even be given a "Two Daves Racing" style paintjob...

For Dave Jnr, it's another sentimental journey to the past - with a replica of the paddock bike we had in the late 1990s - a 1989 Yamaha CG50 Jog.

The same age as Taylor Swift but much better looking

With only 3 previous owners, 3266 miles on the clock and a colour scheme that is identical to our old paddock bike, it was too hard to resist this slice of nostalgia.

When the bike arrived, it was in a great overall condition for a 26 year old moped/scooter and even came with a full MOT.

Dave Jnr has decided to renovate the parts that are letting the bike down - mainly the rear racking and wheels. But with new parts no longer available for this model, we are keeping an eye out for New Old Stock (NOS) parts to help with this quest.

We'll make sure to provide an update of the progress of both bikes (when we have any to show!) :-)

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ThundersportGB Donington Park - Race Review (2015)

Photos from Darley Moor Rounds 7 (2015)

Darley Moor - Round 7 Race Review (2015)

Darley Moor - Round 7 Race Preview (2015)

Activities during the Summer Break...

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