Our update from Jamie’s latest meet, which was at Donington Park and was a Hottrax Motorsport race.
After a few weeks off from racing (the last meet was the 24th/25th May) Jamie was looking forward to getting back out on the bike.
Saturday 28th June
The Saturday morning qualifying was first up and although the track was busy it was dry. He managed to set the 6th fastest time out of all the 35 riders, and with 3 riders per row on the grid this put him on the inside of row two – so it was a good start all round.
Race 1
By the first race the heavens had opened and the rain that had been forecast was bouncing down. This meant Jamie had full wet tyres on the bike and from setting off the grid, lights out he held onto his 6th position only for the red flags to come out before the riders had chance to complete the first lap.
All the riders reformed on the grid for the restart and this time Jamie had a better start making his way up a couple of places. Clearly feeling comfortable on the bike he made a couple more passes on the brakes and managed to progress up to 3rd position, only for the red flags to come out again just after the third lap of the race.
The riders reformed on the grid to try again, and once the lights went out Jamie’s start didn’t go as well this time and he found himself boxed in, but it didn’t matter as before the riders even had chance to complete one lap…. you guessed it RED flags again.
All riders returned back to the grid to a final time, but with only 14 riders left standing (from the starting 35) the organizers postponed the race to the Sunday morning – which meant that Sunday was going to be a busy day with four races now planned for the day.
Sunday 29th June
Qualifying on the Sunday was first up, and again the track was dry, however as Jamie hadn’t had much track time on the Saturday he finished the session in 7th place.
This also wasn’t helped also by the fact that some of the other riders had raced in a six hour endurance race which was held on Saturday afternoon, so they had had even more track time which Jamie felt put him at a slight disadvantage.
Race 1
Race 1 was the re-arranged race from Saturday, and to start the race the track was still dry.
Fast forward to four laps in, and it was all a bit hectic… rider places were swapping at every corner, and Jamie started the last lap in 5th place. He got good drive out on to the back straight and went for the pass on the brakes only to go wide and get passed back.
He took a different line into the last corner and got the power on early and managed to get to the line just in front to take 4th place by just four hundredths of a second.
Race 2
Race 2 remained dry and the team made some changes to both suspension and the gearing. Grid positions were from Saturdays qualifying and with a bad start Jamie found himself boxed in again in the first corner and went down to 9th place.
Two passes on the brakes into the chicane and he was up to 7th and right behind 6th place who was good on the brakes so Jamie struggled for a couple of laps to get past finally getting up the inside into Mcleans and making the pass stick.
Unable to make any more places up, as he was lapping at the same speed as the next man, he had to settle for 6th at the finish.
Race 3
By race 3 the track was very wet, and there was a nearly 2 hour delay because there was so much water on the track.
However the race started and Jamie started in 7th place. He got a much better start being on the outside and was soon up to 5th place.
The track was very greasy however after all of the rain, and after spending a couple of steady laps getting used to the conditions he made a move up to 4th.
On the next lap round, and going in to Coppice, Jamie had a big rear end slide which had him heading for the grass with both feet off the pegs!!! He just managed to stay on track but lost a place and was back to 5th. However after a couple of smooth laps he’d closed the gap back up and as they came out of the chicane on the final lap Jamie got a better drive round the outside holding on to 4th over the line by just over half a second.
Race 4
Race 4 saw the very wet conditions remain, however Jamie managed to get a good start and was soon up to 3rd place. A couple of corners into the race saw the rider in front of him high side and crash right in front of Jamie, which meant that he was in 2nd place right behind the leader.
By the second lap Jamie was getting good drive out of Coppice he took the lead on the brakes into the chicane. However trying to be as smooth as possible in the tricky conditions, coming out of Coppice the back tyre let go and before he could react he was flung up in the air over the front of the bike with his head down by the front wheel.
He soon came to a stop after tumbling through the gravel, and although Jamie was able to get to his feet seemingly unharmed, the same cannot be said for his bike which took quite a battering.
The crash has caused lots of damage to the bike and riding gear so there is still a question mark over whether Jamie and the team will make the next meeting, planned for the 5th and 6th July in Anglesey – watch this space.
