Free Practice One & Two :
Both Joe Talbot and Oliver Barr wanted to try a few new settings after the information that was captured at Round One. Confidence in their new machines is extremely important and we are getting closer and closer to the ideal session by session.
Joe – Free Practice One – P7 (Lap time 1.31.25)
Oliver – Free Practice One – P14 (lap time 1.32.02)
Joe – Free Practice Two – P10 (Lap time 1.31.20)
Oliver – Free Practice Two P11 (Lap time 1.31.21)
Qualifying :
Given the lap times that Joe and Oliver achieved in the Free Practice sessions, both qualified for Q2 bypassing the Q1 session.
Both riders significantly improved their pace to record their fastest laps of the weekend so far.
Joe qualified 8th on the grid (Lap time 1.30.53)
Oliver qualified 10th on the grid (Lap time 1.30.60)
Sprint Race – 12 Laps :
Conditions were absolutely fantastic for the first race of the weekend.
Joe cautiously got away from the line losing a few places into turn one. Very mindful of surrounding activities he gave himself time and space to settle into his groove. By the end of lap two he was fully into the swing of things and built throughout the race. Joe went quicker again during the race to record a lap time of 1.30.45 crossing the line to finish in 6th (+2 places).
Oliver got off the line very well indeed, a fantastic start ! He made up a number of places in the first few turns only to feel a little uncomfortable with some of the moves from other riders around him. Oliver cleverly stayed out of trouble and found a comfortable position on track to work on his race pace. He brought the bike home in 11th place (-1 place). His best race lap was 1.30.74.
The debriefing sessions with the data guys and mechanics were very very positive. We learnt a bit more about our race setup and we found a direction for further minor adjustments.
Feature Race : 18 laps
After a slightly cooler overcast morning, by the time we took to the grid the shades and shorts were back on. Absolutely glorious conditions for the longer race in front of huge crowds at our home round.
Joe would start this race from 7th on the grid based on his Sprint race lap times. He was very keen to make a better start to get closer to the front group slightly faster than the sprint race, he did not want to let them get away. He did just that and looked much more capable of staying with them.
He battled extremely hard trying some slightly different lines, braking later and accelerating harder in certain sections of the circuit. It proved to be effective passing some competitors but there were some other riders who applied a different approach all of which made for a fantastic race! Joe crossed the line for another fine 6th place (+1 place) to bag more championship points. Job done!
Oliver started the race from 12th on the grid and he made an incredible start. He was pushing really really hard and his race pace was superb. He managed to break free of the chasing pack to sit in 10th chasing down 9th for what could have been a great top 10 finish.
In an effort to get closer to 9th he took a different line into the Melbourne loop which resulted in a very low speed crash. Oliver and the bike were absolutely fine, frustrated, but a really strong showing of what he and his new machine are capable of. Plenty more to come !!
Championship Standings :
Joe Talbot – 6th (42 points)
Oliver Barr – 14th (5 points)
All in all, Donington was a success and very productive. We are gathering so much data and information and we are learning more and more every time the bikes go out.
Joe and Oliver are being extremely patient and we are all agreed that we wil get stronger and stronger as the season goes on.
Next round, Snetterton, June 20th, 21st & 22nd.
