Donington - 15th August 108db day

[Balky001]

Just boooked Saturday 15th August td at Donny with FE.

After the dismal day at Snetterton, I just hope for at least 1 fully dry session!!

Only been there once, in 2004 when I had just started riding. Had half day with Niall MacKenzie and it was a great experience. In those day when you booked a pro you could go out every session (organised by Donny and Superbike) so half day was virtually 4 hours on track then you had the rest of the TD in your group. I don't think I would be fit enough now though

Anyone else on it?

I'm doing the quiet day with them on Thursday, thought it was cheap at £129 but they've also added the 28th at £109 now. I'm also hoping it will be dry to make up for Snetterton and finally get a proper go on the blade, which now has a shiney new pair of RS10s.

[Balky001]

R10s? Bridgestone. You might notice the difference 😀😀. Fingers crossed mate. Get there early for a garage this time. You riding there??

The RS10 are a bit less hardcore than the R10, so hopefully they'll last a bit longer. Doubt I'll notice the grip difference at the speed I ride. I'm driving over with the trailer in the morning so I won't be early enough for a garage, but sun will be out anyway so it doesn't matter.

[Balky001]

Well it stayed dry and I forgot what a great track it was. The chrono system is great, so many slow riders put themselves in inters but were moved to novice after the first proper session. After that there we no major grouping on track and you could keep decent pace up.

The only spoilers were the high number of red flags and shortened sessions. Last session was less than 15 minutes and I think we only got a full uninterrupted 20 minute(ish) session once. The time it took to get back on track took ages too. I think poor old group 1 didn't get more than 2 laps in with a red flag coming out in the morning. Lunch had to be taken at 10 as both ambulances were away from the track at the same time so could not allow people on tracks.

European TDs are the way to go!! I reckon we were lucky to get half the track time we should have got

Sounds like you were unlucky, last week we only had a few reds all day, I think 1 in each group. It was my first chrono day, which seems to work but lunch was too early at 11:30 with just the sighting laps and 2 sessions in the morning. There weren't many changes to the groups that I noticed either. Maybe noisy days make people crash more...

[Balky001]

I don't think it is the noise, more because weekends seem to attract people that might not track day frequently. Plus there were a lot of people, especially in the novice group. That said it was still a good day.

So did you have a good day on Thursday? How did the RS tyres feel?

It was a good day, almost entirely dry apart from a quick shower in the morning timed well to miss our group with just a damp corner or two when we got back out. Tyres were good but I'm not sure how long they'll last.

Did Rockingham today and I'm starting to agree about your weekend rider theory. Only two sessions without a red flag all day, and that's all groups. I was in the novice group (for the last time) and got one complete session in the morning, all others were red flagged within the first 10 minutes. The last fast group session went to the end, but I think all other sessions in all groups were red flagged. Gets really frustrating by the end of the day! Still, at least it saved some fuel. And it was dry.