Race report Donington Park Round 1 British Talent Cup.
Season opener at Donington Park led to success for riders in the Wilson Racing team!
A brilliant weekend had by the Wilson Racing team at Donington Park last weekend. The team headed to the 2.489 Mile Derby circuit to compete in the opening round of the British Talent Cup and the riders didn’t fail to impress. With points taken by everyone of the team that raced it was great to see how the riders have progressed from pre-season testing to now!
Friday was a strange day as the on-track action for our class didn’t commence until quarter to 6 due to riders having GCSE exams in the morning, however when riding did start the riders didn’t fail to impress. Although Jensen took a fall at Coppice after 10 laps and was taken to the med centre for checks he was deemed fit to ride and was ready for Saturday. With Ben finishing the session in 11th, Lewis 12th, Sam 18th, Jensen 20th and Lilly 23rd there was clearly going to be good competition when it came to the races later that weekend. With all FP1 action over for that session the riders pulled into the pits before being given a grid position to be able to do a practice quick start. After the practice start was complete it was time to head back to the awning to get ready for Saturday morning FP2 session. Friday night was spent prepping the bikes for Saturday as we were to be on track at 9am, as well as completely rebuilding Jensen’s heavily damaged bike. Finally, Saturday morning and it was time for FP2. Our riders headed out on circuit hungry for more but also under the knowledge that we had qualifying and a race later that day. The weather was still a bit cold and overcast as we headed out but not to worry as all of the riders finished the session with no hiccups crossing the line with Ben in 14th, Lewis in 15th, Sam 19th, Jensen 23rd and Lilly 26th.
It would soon be time for the riders to head out once again this time for qualifying. The weather had slightly started to warm up in comparison to the morning’s session. With this came the first qualifying session of the season. Although, not completely where they would have like to be Ben qualified in 11th, Lewis 12th, Sam 21st and Jensen 20th. Unfortunately Lilly didn’t quite make the time to qualify for the weekends races being only half a second off of where she needed to be for a grid position bringing a premature end to her weekends racing, however we are still proud of the progress she has made and she is showing huge determination towards her next race weekend at Silverstone Moto GP.
After finishing the qualifying session, it wasn’t long before we got to the hardest part of the weekend, which was to go onto the grid with the rest of our BSB Family and pay our respects to Owen Jenner and Shane Richardson in their memorial service. We will never forget them and hope they are riding high in the sky and looking down on us from above.
14:45 And it was time for race 1. Our riders took up their grid positions ready for the first lights out of the season. Lights out and away they went down towards Redgates for lap one of the first race of the season. After an ok start from the riders Sam managed to complete only 2 laps before coming into the pits with a problem with his bike. The team worked quickly to try to rectify it, and he went back out. As the race continued both Ben and Lewis had a good battle trying to get up into a top 10 finish with both riders pushing on hard throughout the whole race, whilst further back Jensen was also trying for points. The weather on track was perfect with conditions that you couldn’t wish to be better which helped out the riders throughout the race. As the closing laps approached Sam once again pulled into the pits opting to retire from the race as he felt he was unable to continue with the mechanical problem he was working around, meaning he DNF’d on the first race. Finally, as the chequered flag came out Ben crossed the line in 10th, Lewis in 15th after being pipped for 14th, and Jensen finished in 20th.
Sunday morning and it was time for warm up, a steady session was had by all with the riders taking it a bit easier as they were aware of the upcoming race. Sam checked his bike after the team worked tirelessly all night to rectify his mechanical issues and Ben, Jensen and Lewis just went out and got a feeling for the track. Finally, it was 14:45 and once again time for lights out. The riders lined up on the grid in order of yesterdays timings which put Ben 9th, Lewis 16th, Jensen 20th and Sam 23rd. they were all ready to go and it was lights out. Once again, the weather was perfect with it being warmer and sunnier with less wind than Saturday, they all thundered down into the opening laps with the riders getting good starts. Unfortunately only 2 laps into the race Ben got taken out by Scott McPhees bike after he tipped off at the bottom of the back straight into the Foggy Esses, there was no where for Ben to go and he couldn’t see the bike coming which unfortunately bought a premature end to his race. The race however continued, and all 3 remaining riders looked set for points, however it wasn’t meant to be for Lewis who took a tumble at Coppice with only 2 laps to go meaning he also DNF’d the race. Fortunately, the chequered flag came out not to long after and this led to Jensen finishing 14th and Sam 15th meaning they were both inside of the points.
Overall, it was a good opening round of the season with all racing riders scoring points and showing strong potential going into our next round later this week at Silverstone Moto GP. We also have high hopes for Lilly and look forward to her being able to show us what she can do when she gets that qualifying time set.
As always we would like to say a huge thank you to our team sponsors as without you this wouldn’t be possible, as well as a special shoutout to GBRacing World Class Motorcycle Protection and Scimitar Custom who both came along and worked with the team over the weekend to get some great footage of the team and their products being used in a real world situation!