23/10/2026
Donington National report 🏁
In honesty coming back to racing has been tough: we have struggled to get the bike set up right even though the potential was there, I’d be lying if I said that over the last few months running around off the back I began to doubt myself and if we’d ever find it. But we did, Donington had a bit of everything and results aside I had great fun, mixing it back up where I should be, seeing my mates wrap up championships, catching up with some special guests, and finally loving riding again.
Testing: after a really positive run out at Snett the previous week and with my mechanics all tied up I set up to just spin some laps with minor changes. Managed to put down a PB on the GP layout with old tires and in traffic which really set me up for the weekend.
Saturday: disappointing dry but cold quali where I got held back by race control frustratingly because of a mistake in booking me on, then when I did get out tires were cold and rain was falling at coppice.
Race 1: 🌧️ wet and starting from the back I was just aiming to get round but following a double crash in T1 a gap opened up and I managed to punch my way to P3, I wasn’t going to waste this so got the bit between my teeth and battled on to bring it home to an unexpected podium🥉for a first outing in the wet on the bike I was very happy with this.
Race 2: the real highlight for me, drying conditions we opted to put wets in as I don’t have any intermediate option tires and wasn’t risking slicks. Punched my way into P2 early on and held this for over half the race. Unfortunately as the track dried my tires couldn’t hold up and some lads on inters and slicks had gambled and won, we got passed late on and pushed on to bring home P4. Very proud of this one given the conditions and really loved every second of it.
Race 3: not much to write home about, dry conditions but a warped disc meant I was around 3 seconds off of target pace. Frustrating but the data doesn’t lie and I know we now have a package that will be competitive in 2027 - big thanks to Dom Hunt from Bridge Street for all his graft!
📸 Jodi Coughlan 📸