Donington has never been one of my favourate tracks but I know it quite well and I had been looking forward to it as Don was going to be racing too.

As Saturday was not part of the SuperClub championship I was using it as a test day so qualifying was my first time round Donington on the re-vamped bike. It felt very good despite the gearing being way off and I qualified 4th just a few 10th's off Lee Reveley on the 1098 but with Simpson on pole and Marcus 2nd on the Triumphs I knew I would have my work cut out. Don was black flagged for an oil leak and only managed a couple of laps but was still 9th.

The rain had come down for the first race so we were all on wets and I was hoping a tyre change had cured the handling problems of Brands Hatch. Don had fixed the oil leak but the bike developed a misfire and he did not start the race. As we set off I managed to get myself up to 2nd behind Marcus but the front end felt very vague and although not as bad as at Brands it was obvious the problem was still there. Marcus was pulling away from me up the front and I had no answer with the bike feeling the way it was. With no one close behind I kept going and brought it home in a comfortable 2nd ahead of Simpson.

For the 2nd race it was drying fast which had made the problem with the front end of my bike worse in the past, luckily some suspension tweaks had cured it and we were back in business. I knew on the warm up lap the problem had gone so was feeling good about the race. I got another flyer off the start and again slotted into 2nd this time behind Simpson. I followed him for the first lap but I knew I could go quicker as the bike was feeling good. I passed him on the 2nd lap and went into the lead. I pulled a little but with the track drying by the second the wets were starting to overheat and move around alot. I had plenty of warnings to slow down from just about every corner on the track so I tried to just smooth out and not give the tyres to much abuse. Then on lap five the inevitable happened and I lost the front going into Coppice. Bugger. Don with an intermediate in the back struggled for the first half of the race whilst it was still wet and finished 12th.

Huge thanks to Don and his wife Lou who set about fixing my bike whilst I licked my wounds and recounted the story a dozen times to different people. Luckily it had escaped serious damage, as had I. Phew, a stupid accident I needn't of had in a race that didn't count for points in my championship. I should have just slowed down but my pride got the better of me.

Sunday qualifying was a strange affair. It was dry so I set about putting some good laps in and was keeping Lee Reveley in sight ahead of me when the session got red flagged. I pulled in quite confident I had done low 1.15's only to be told by Barb, I had only done late 1.17's. Hmmmm 'I had better pull my finger out' I thought. When we got out again just as we rounded Scwantz Curve the rain came down, so alot of us pulled in, including Don. I had gone into my pit and taken my lid off when Barb announced it had stopped raining and to get back out there. So I did and good job too, I went quicker than I had previously and got 2nd on the grid! Don had qualified 4th so it was a double front row for Southern Cross.

It was bone dry for the race and I got a fairly good start but was overhauled by Lee on the run down to Redgate so slotted into 3rd behind lee and Marcus. For the first lap or so the two at the front pulled a little but I was sort of holding my ground, then I made a couple of silly mistakes and they cleared off and Joey Reding came past. O.k I thought this is not a disaster as Simpson was still behind and it was him I wanted to take points off. Then Barb gave me signals to say someone was catching so I tried to push and as I did it started to spit with rain. I noticed that Joey up ahead had slowed a little due to the rain and I was gaining on him. I caught him and was right on his rear wheel when he then upped the pace again. I finished 4th 39 secs down on Marcus upfront. Still I had fared better than Simpson who finished down in 7th. After the race I realised it had been Don that was catching me. He had put in a faster lap than me and would have caught me if it had not rained. And he says he's out of practice and unfit! There was three Aprilia's in the top 10 and all of them have Southern Cross engines. The other one being Scott Adam who was fastest novice too!

So on to Castle Combe this weekend. I think catching Marcus up the top of the points is way out of the question now so i'll concentrate on getting 2nd back. Castle Combe and Snett should suit my bike better than the Triumphs so I expect big things from this weekend and the last rounds at Snett in September.

No pressure I just gotta stay on and WIN.

Russ #45