10/10/2023
Race Report
R8 No Limits Racing - Newcomer600
Donington Park GP
After a couple of trackdays used to learn and tweak the new to me ZX6R, we had arrived and ready to run the last race meeting of the season, once again joined by our close friends from RBR - Racing Team and a late supported entry by another good friend Jack Allan. Having these both on the grid coupled with my other friends Blake Didwell & Niki Williams I was sure it would be an good and interesting round.
Qualifying was a smooth session, heading out on fresh rubber with the intention of posting a time somewhere near my average. Having not run with the usual grid on this bike before I was unsure where I would place, but was mildly relieved to have put a time in of 1:47.8, which was 0.3 seconds slower than last years pace but I was happy to take this, starting 22nd on grid.
On the cool down lap was my first real chance to try out the launch control on a practice start which I haven't had the luxury of having on my other zx6rs. This proved to be a worth while test as it proved to pull off nice and smoothly and seemed to be a worth while accessory. Roll on the racing 😎
Race 1 - Saturday.
Lining on the grid with head full of determination, I needed a good clean start in hope of keeping Jack & Blake behind me.
Lights go out and hammer was dropped. Very quickly I realised the launch control had impeded my race start and had bikes pulling past me. Eventually getting the power down, I dug deep into turn 1 and tried to claw back what was lost.
In this race I had a few good position swaps with Blake, decided to sit behind him for a lap or so until the last lap flag was shown and decided to pull the pin as I believed I was stronger in the final sections. With a solid drive out of coppice and a late break at the end of Dunlop straight, I slipped through the esses in front of Blake and launched of towards Melbourne loop like a scolded cat, maybe slightly over cooking the entry by running it really deep. Having managed to square it off I dug deep and pinned it up to Goddards knowing Blake was somewhere sniffing at my heels. Yet again over cooked it and ran slightly deep and dragged the front end around a tight as I dared and fired it off towards the line, successfully keeping my position. Finished 18th overall, 13th in class and a big smile for what was a fun race, and beat my PB with 1:44.4, 3 seconds faster than last year.
Race 2 - Sunday
Having felt dissapointed with race 1's race start, I decided to disable the launch control by unplugging the clutch switch. I believed this would allow me to launch the bike off the line as I would with the older bikes. This proved to be a good decision as I could use more revs off the line and managed to pinch a few spots of the line as a result, although i did have to wrestle the front down, showing me this new bike definitely has more grunt than my others.
This race was proving to be another mega race as managed to keep Niki in my sights, but got dragged back with fighting #505 Simon Daniels & #78 Ryan Brown. Before long I was surprised to see #189 Rhydian Jones joined the fight to get past #505, so decided to sit behind as I knew Rhydian would make a gap.
After about a lap I felt Niki was getting away to much and I needed to pull the pin again. Running up to Goddards I seen the opportunity to pass Rhydian so dived in and chucked it around Goddards and scrambled off towards Redgate as fast as I could. Next target was to get passed #505 and chase down Niki again. Having gained in #505 again, I stuck to him as close as I could and saw the gap at Melbourne to push my line in although I kind of hashed this a little and ran a little deep but managed to recover. Heading up to Goddards I had #135 Adam Forbes outbreak himself on my inside and #505 run extremely deep in my right side. Having no idea what the the help happened I tooked it around Goddards and made a dash for it knowing full well I had a few snapping at my heels. With Niki in sight I tried to make a break for it and treated it like it was my last lap. As I run up to Melbourne the red flags came out so immediately the my hand up and rolled off the gas. I knew we must have gone over half distance so would be declared a result, which I was more than happy with as I was shattered. Finished 16th overall, 13th in class and 1:45.0 lap time.
Race 3 - Sunday
Last race of the year, was just gone 3pm and felt like early evening, but ask the same I was determined to have a good last race. Got a good launch off the line but apparently so did everyone else as Blake come whizzing past like he's using nitrous. Few laps went past and soon realised I was flagging rather badly as could feel myself making small mistakes and other riders were taking advantage of this. About mid race I was thrown into battle with #100 Paul Rodgers, which gave me some hard work to do, and nearly crashed out in the esses as I entered side by side with Paul but lifted the front on the flip flop jarring my left shoulder that I injured after my crash at Emra. This made my left hand manouvers a painful experience and was desperately seeking the last leap flag but I was determined to push on and hold my own. Chequered flag finally come and I finished the race 22nd overall, 18th in class.
This was the last time crossing the line with No Limits for 2023 and must admit its been a tough year for personal reasons, mechanical disasters earlier in the year at Donington National and at Anglesey. Couple all this with the horrific weather we've had majority of the year and I think we've done pretty well.
The newcomer600 grid this year has shown some strong talent and has made me work hard for the points, and despite missing Oulton Park completely, I've finished 17th in the championship out of 43 scorers, but it's such a fantastic paddock to be in I couldn't wish to be anywhere else.
2024 intentions are currently unclear, although we are looking into possibility of moving up into the Cup 600 class where I'm sure will present a much more challenging grid.
In the meantime, we have 1 last scheduled race meet to attend in just under 2 weeks time.
We will be heading back to Mallory Park Circuit for the final round of East Midland Racing Association (EMRA) in the Rookie600 class.
This is a double point round consisting of 2 races with everything to play for.
Currently sitting in 4th place in the championship running only 18 points behind our close friend Radek Octa Ba of RBR Racing Team, this will prove to be a tough round. With 3rd place in the championship within reach, we will be pushing on with our new ZX6R to see if we can put the pressure on and walk away with a few more podiums and maybe a little more 🏆😉
Would like to take this moment to thank all of the No Limits Racing NLR staff and marshals for yet another fantastic year of racing, and all of my friends and family for their continued support.
Also like to thank all of my supporters and sponsors for helping me this season, truly wouldn't have been possible without you all.
LRF Landscaping Ltd
Black Widow Exhausts
Race Brakes UK
DP Brakes
RJS Superbike
Profibre
LIQUI MOLY
R&G
Racebolt
EBC Brakes
HenC Garage
Graphics To Go
Camipix Photography
Www.computerplaza.co.uk
www.amgmidlands.co.uk
