Sunday at Donington

[bananaman]

Build up was dodgy, off, on, off, on, all due to the weather forecast we all get pinned to. I vowed I wouldn't go unless the forecast was 50% rain or less due to a 3.5 hr journey each way.
As it turned out, pi$$ed down on the way up there, during the night and waking up next morning.
Stopped about 5 a.m. got to the circuit, unloaded and was set for eating, downing copious amounts of coffee and smoking myself to death for the next 8-9 hrs.
No tyre support even if I wanted to use wets (slick shod) .
9.20, sighting laps time, wet/damp on circuit/slicks/ I was that soldier !! (soon came in lol)
Missed next session, circuit dried out for rest of the day (was uncanny, had showers between our groups but dried before we were out ) until last session when the heavens opened.
1St time having some continuous track time since owning the ol gal and have to say, it/me does perform better the more you push it. Scraped into the 1'54's which I guess is not too sad for this ol timer. I looked back at some old times when I attempted racing, 9secs slower than 10 years ago (gen 1) Need to buck my ideas up !!
Few mates there, Aprillia tuono, 1299 Duc, Alex on his weapon was the man out of us all, got the backing in off to a tee :wink-new:
Good day had by all, went home in one piece which is always a bonus !

 

[muffking]

1:54 is a decent Inters pace considering the dubious weather. The main thing is that you went out and didn't waste your money by having to stay in.
Shame about the lack of tyre support. If you have wets on standby then the cost of swapping them over if you don't have WOW's is negligible. I cheat a little there as I have space for a wet bike when the weather is looking dodgy. In fact I'm leaving the BMW at home later this week when I go to Mallory as I think I'll b just as fast on the slow bike there.

 

[alex]

It was a good day in the end. We were all pretty dubious about the possibility of getting out at all. I think I did about 5 sessions in the end, starting damp and getting progressively drier, despite the odd sprinkle of fresh rain.

Traffic was a bit thick at times...and I mean that in both sense of the word. People turning around on corner exit to look back, riders going straight on at 2mph into the gravel trap. Bunches of 6+. But anyway that's what you get in Inters. We all got decent track time and it was good to spin some laps on probably my favourite UK track (Brands GP is a close second).

With the lack of tyre changing facilities the road tyres were used, Dunlop TT's. They moved a little in the damp but I was riding way harder than I would on the road. The electronics (ROAD mode) took care of things in the early sessions. Once it dried out I put it back into Pro1, with less electronic aid. The tyres seemed to thrive and in the end I was cornering no less confidently than if I was on slicks, which probably means I am wasting my money on slicks! Got a few 1:50/51's in, but as I say every lap had traffic, there was a 1:48 in the data which I was happy enough with for the conditions.

The Gen 5 out of the box is working well, really enjoying it at my pace. Everything stop and go is stock. I find the electronics generally are working well, no scares and no real frustrations...punch out of the corners could be better but that's Euro regs for you, I could also pick a lower gear, often I am in 3rd when I really should be in 2nd to drive out. I may look at gearing changes to help with that. I have not noted any issues with the suspension, I think, I want to lift the rear a turn or 2 (1-2mm) to pitch the weight forwards to help me complete a corner, I also might need a little more rear compression for my fat ass...but that's the beauty of the pro modes, you can adjust it. Overall though, I'm probably splitting hairs. We're gelling well

Anyway...if you've not ridden Donny, you need to, it's just fantastic, the exit of Redgate to Starkey's Straight just flows so nicely. It's just glorious when you're going through Craners, the old hairpin and up to McLeans. Need to go back/move up that way.

Thanks to Bman and his crew for making the whole event all the better.