It was a dramatic weekend of racing for the three T3 Racing supported riders. Freddy Pett showed front running pace in the British Supersport EVO class through practice and qualifying before a spectacular crash thwarted his progress. Fellow EVO rider Sam Cox enjoyed two point scoring rides whilst Sam Thompson steadily progressed in the Superstock 600 class to score points in his debut.
Reigning Triumph Triple Challenge Champion Freddy Pett spent much of the opening day of practice dialling in his new Öhlins suspension and trying out various gearing set up. Improving with every session, Freddy consistently lapped with 1m33s laps to qualify second in the EVO class and tenth overall. Fellow T3 Racing supported EVO rider Sam Cox also enjoyed a positive debut in the series, steadily improving his time to qualify 13th in the class.
With conditions warming up for the Sprint race on Sunday, Pett and Collier were able to immediately pull away from the pursuing EVO riders however a small mistake going into the Foggarty Esses on lap four saw him clip the inside curb and crash out of contention. Unfortunately, the bike picked itself up, spectacularly barrel rolling through the gravel trap before igniting in flames. Cox continued to build on his weekend progress, securing an impressive 12th in his debut race in the EVO class.
With his team working until the early hours of the morning, Pett was able to make the grid for Mondays Feature race. However starting in 16th on the grid and struggling with mechanical problems from the crash, he focused on bringing the machine home in 15th overall and 6th in the cup. Unfortunately for Sam Cox, machine troubles during warm up meant he had to withdraw from the second race.
Speaking after the race, Freddy Pett said “It was certainly a very up and down weekend which really highlighted the highs and lows of racing! We had really good pace during practice and qualifying and I was confident that we would have been able to challenge for a podium, if not the win.
Sundays sprint race got off to a wild start with riders going crazy on the brakes, unfortunately I made a very small mistake on lap 4, turning in a fraction too early and clipping the inside curb which unsighted the bike and l lost the front quite gracefully. Unluckily, the bike picked up as it slid into the gravel and spectacularly was captured on live TV in HD Slow motion destroying itself!
Despite the team doing a fantastic job to get me back out for Monday, but I struggled with some mechanical issues following the crash which prevented me from riding how I was during practice, I was actually lapping nearly 2 seconds slower. Focusing on bringing home some points though I settled for sixth, even though this wasn’t where we should have been.
I want to thank all of my sponsors and although I leave Donington with some dented confidence and a motorcycle requiring a lot of TLC, I can hold my head high knowing we can definitely challenge for the Supersport Evo honours this season…Roll on Brands!
In the Pirelli National Superstock 600 class, Triumph Triple Challenge Cup winner Sam Thompson enjoyed his debut. Despite having problems with his front brake all weekend, Thompson was able to run as high as tenth in qualifying before losing his front brake all together and finishing 22nd. With 40 riders competing in the highly-charged race, Sam defied his rookie status and machine troubles to finish an impressive 14th.
Pleased to have scored points, despite the problems, Sam Thompson said “It was a really frantic race, and with 40 young riders out there things always get a bit exciting! We really struggled with the brakes this weekend which kind of prevented us from showing our true potential. However despite Donington traditionally being my weakest track, I was still able to score points so can move on to Brands confident of going better.”
T3 Racing owner Tony Scott summed up “The first round is always an interesting one and it has to be said that Donington was certainly that! Full marks to Freddy and the team for getting the bike back together after what looked like a terminal crash in the earlier sprint race. Whilst not quite the start one would have hoped for, the team certainly showed they had the pace of the front runners in the EVO class and we feel confident that the season is going to bring some great results”