29/05/08
Donnington Racing
All was good in the SJBracing camp, excitement mixed with nervous anticipation was the order of the weekend and that was just Simon and Mark. Forecast for the weekend was looking grim, wet, windy and cold so with all that we set off for Donny.Free Practice
On a dry setup Harris had a steady session, warming himself up then just ploughing through the laps. End of the session saw Harris getting quicker and finally put in a 1:47.013 on the 11th lap, good for a 12th on the grid but we knew he was just starting. Cooper got on the pace and times were being fought over with Wood and Reilly in the mix, a hard fought session for Cooper but a 1:40.636 was lining him up for 2nd on the grid.
Qualifying
Again a dry session for the lads, Cooper again was fighting it out with Wood and Reilly. The session had the three swapping places with Cooper coming up with a 1:40.392 on lap 8, a pole was looking good. With the session nearly over Wood then came up with a 1:39.765 demoting Cooper to 2nd on the grid with Reilly unable to better his 9th lap time. The time difference was 0.627 so this was not a major problem. Whilst all this was taking place Harris was having his own little battle, early in the session Harris was running times good for 14th to 15th on 1:47s. Around lap 5 Harris had his times dropping, after some more effort the times dropped but to catch the next rider the time gap to breech seemed to be too far. However, Harris was not finished, lap10 near the end of the session he bounded over the line with a 1:44.105, 6th on the grid. A reward that was just, Harris had earned it.
Race1
WET! Not phased by this as Harris has proved to lap well in the wet and Cooper having a smooth riding style the guys where ready for the fight. The sighting laps highlighted the track conditions with Reilly sliding down the road, luckily he jumped back on minus a foot peg but the bike was otherwise fit for purpose. Race start, Cooper and Wood off the line together, 10 yards up the straight both came together with elbows at the ready the first fight started. The war of elbows was won by Cooper and disposed of Wood sending him back to 5th position; Cooper and Pearson were on the march and broke away from the rest of the field. Mid pack Harris had dropped back 5 positions but was on the march working his way back up the pack. On the second lap Pearson recovered a potential highside out of Goddards sending back into the pack, which gave Cooper some breathing space but Wood was closing in. After Wood had closed the gap he and Cooper were going head to head but on lap 7 Cooper lost the rear and sent the bike down the road at McLean’s and almost sympathetically Wood did the same at the very next corner at Coppice. However Wood jumped back on with little damage but unfortunately for Cooper he sprinted to recover the bike but alas too much damage had been inflicted. Still working his way up the field Harris was having a solid ride, picking his targets one by one then holding the lead on the second pack of riders finishing the race in a well fought 6th place.
Race2
After putting some hours into Cooper’s bike we were ready but took it to the last minute, but we were on the grid. The conditions were dry but the wind was gusting causing braking problems for the riders and blowing the polystyrene distance markers down the track. Launching himself Cooper once again proved his starting prowess and hit turn 1 at the front of the field. Just behind, Harris was down to 9th at a busy turn 1 but within 2 laps he was back up to 7th spot which he held for the rest of the race. The front men were right in the action, with Wood out braking himself a couple of times at the Melbourne Loop Cooper backing the bike in and tucked it up the inside of Wood. The display put on for the crowd was encapsulating, then at Goddards on the penultimate lap Cooper was quick into the turn but had to lift the bike to avoid a slower Wood. This gave Wood an advantage which Cooper could not get back even with a very visible effort, 2nd place but maybe a 1st would have been fitting. Behind still in 7th Harris and was reeling Smith in bit by bit with some good lap times, but time got the better of him and 7th place was the result.
My Thoughts
This was a busy weekend for all concerned in the SJB camp; once again the great British weather played a major role for the riders especially the wind. This race was the first in the championship for Cooper and he was eager for a good result and very confident, the 1st race was not in the script but we all know this is always part of racing and accept it. He had a pretty bent bike after race1, which was repaired and was good enough to get him 2nd spot on the podium and when we mention that the bike spluttered 3 times with a fuel problem and one bar grip was loose, 2nd spot is again pretty amazing finish. As for Harris, well he is progressing every race and a 6th and 7th place finish in this field is nothing but a huge achievement, he has already excelled our expectations for him and the beauty is he has not peaked yet. For such a young team this weekend should be heralded as a major success, we will keep learning and just keep getting better Good work to you all and bring on Snett, oh and the bloody sunshine!
Mark
SJBracing
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