Since our last report from Donington Park, how fantastic has the weather been ?
Never before have we had to take the paddling pool to Scotland to keep the riders cool….
Our Knockhill adventure got underway at about tea time last Wednesday as the vans and the team started the 7 hour drive North. It is a fair old jaunt towing at 55mph, trust us.
Thursday was used for setting up. With some of the team not be able to leave Mansfield until later, it was important they got some rest before the team awning was built. That all went very well with both bikes given a final once over before the free practice sessions started on Friday morning.
Damo got us into gear first on Friday as he left pitlane onto the land of the brave for the first of his free practice sessions. Navigating the quick and qwurky 1.26 mile circuit is quite tricky, with very few sections to safely pass it is a circuit that requires good rhythm to be quick. Not quite feeling that rhythm yet, Damo ended session one in P15 with a fastest lap of 50.78 seconds. Session two however would see Damo improve by 0.6 of a second setting his fastest time of the day shortly before falling off into the Clarks section of the course. This particular part of the circuit claimed a number of bikes and riders in all classes as the weekend unfolded. On this occasion Damo’s bike managed to get over the air fencing and into the spectator fencing before finally coming to a stop looking a little second hand.
Not at all phased by the challenge Dave, Dave and Kieran worked tirelessly into the night assessing, repairing and replacing parts so the bike could be ready for qualification and racing on Saturday.
Sam and his Superstock machine had a slightly better Friday with both free practise sessions showing good progression in lap times as he got quicker and quicker throughout the day. Sam ended session one in P9 and session two in the day in P4. During the afternoon debriefing session Sam identified a couple of little adjustments he wanted to make but as the leathers came off, he was happy. Establishing a good practise time can prove to be very useful. Should anything happen and a qualifying session needs to be cancelled, the combined practise times are used to form the grid.
Once more, as we moved into Saturdays proceedings both riders would have their qualification sessions and a race on Saturday. The supersport class always has two races per weekend, the Superstock class however only has 4 meetings in the calendar where they race twice in a weekend. After Knockhill Sam will not have another double header until the finale at Brands Hatch in October, meaning the next 6 rounds will be one race weekends.
Nice and early just before the air temperature increased Sam was out there dicing for track space whilst chipping away at his lap times. The first few are always completed on scrub tyres before Sam comes in for new rubber. Both the Superstock and Supersport classes are governed by the number of tyres they are permitted to use over the course of the weekend. Deciding what tyres to use for each session is really important, particularly during a two race weekend. With the pitstop complete and a new tyre in the back, Sam set his quickest time of the session with a 50.86 that would see him secure P6 on the grid. A second row start is very respectable when the top 20 riders are separated by less than one second.
Damo had set himself a clear target for his Qualifying session, he wanted to get sub 50 seconds for a lap. Having studied his data overnight anything under 50 seconds would get him up the sharp end of the race and that is where he wanted to be. Based on the strength of his free practice sessions Damo was not required to take part in the Q1 session as he made it straight through the Q2. On face value you would say he should be happy with that, however, Q2 is a mere 15 minutes long meaning the riders are pushing hard from the off with no quarter given and no time to build up to a speed. Never the less, he set himself an objective and he achieved it on lap 10 of the 16 with a 49.95. This would be good enough for P10 on the grid. It is very exciting to watch the Supersport qualifying sessions from pitlane as the timing screens dance around, but we can understand why Damo’s eyes are on stalks when he comes back in.
Race one for Sam got underway just before 3pm on Saturday in the baking Scottish sunshine in front of huge spectator crowds. Knockhill is the only Scottish round on the calendar so the spectators come from far and wide to watch the racing which is brilliant. For such a short circuit when it is packed with spectators it creates an excellent atmosphere. The lights went out and we were racing. Sam cautiously went about his business managing to steer clear of any bother or incidents on the first few laps and as he eased into the 20 lap race he beat his qualification time on lap five. Settled in and comfortable he began to chip away at some of the riders in front whilst defending overtakes from behind. Once again, on such a tight circuit with so many machines it is hard for anyone to get away and create much of a gap. Sam took the chequered flag in 7th place securing 12 vital championship points. Plenty of fluids taken back on board and a dip in the paddling pool for his efforts.
Damo would line up for his race at 16.05 in even warmer temperatures leaving the awning at the very last minute trying everything to stay cool. The grid was formed, the bikes and riders were ready and the race began. Damo lost a couple of places in the early laps as other riders were prepared to take more risks on cooler tyres, a short lived strategy as the places were taken back as Damo’s tyres warmed up. Settling into his groove he was consistently sub 50 seconds per lap, sticking with a five machine group he had found on track. As the 20 lap race drew to a close Damo came home in 8th. Another 10 championship points in the bag, happy. Given the work that was needed on the bike after the free practise crash to be competitive is a credit to the lads on the spanners.
Sunday morning arrived and both lads went out for their warm up sessions to achieve nothing but just that. Just a few quick laps to alert the senses and engage the racing brain.
Sam would start race two from P5, one position better than race one based on his improved lap time during the race. On lap one of race two it was nip and through turns one and two as riders jostled for position. Unfortunately whilst defending his line into turn 3 Sam had to take evasive action. Slightly off line on the exit as he applied the throttle on a downhill camber the back end came round on him which resulted in a large high side. Sadly Sam was in the gravel and the bike was being recovered by the marshalls. Later on that lap as the pack exited the hairpin there was another high side that caused a huge pile up with 7 and machines involved which prompted a red flag situation. Despite race control allowing all riders a full restart Sam was in the medical centre having a painful shoulder assessed and the bike was too badly damaged for a quick repair.
Sam was sore, battered and a little bit bruised but all that will heal and the bike can be repaired. We know racing can be dangerous and as much as we enjoy the taste of prosecco he health is always our top priority. Once he was back at the awning for a round of hugs and fist pumps he was soon smiling again and it is that resilience our team strives to exhibit.
Damo’s second race took place later that afternoon with an equal measure of excitement and intrigue as the front runners set a red hot pace which resulted in the series leader Tom Booth Amos dramatically exiting the race on Lap 2. Once the pack had spread out Damo started to find his groove and consistently registered lap after lap of 49’s. With all the riders around him lapping at a similar pace it proved to difficult to break them but he did manage to get past a few to bring home another respectable 10th place finish.
From a championship point of view Sam is currently 7th with a 72 point deficit to the leader and Damo is 10th with a 77 point gap. There is still plenty of race points available in both classes to improve our fortunes and despite the challenges and frustrations encountered at Knockhill, the whole team is laser focussed on bouncing back at Snetterton on July 7th, 8th & 9th.
From all the boys and girls at Binch Racing, thank you for your continued support, we all really appreciate it.