With Paul and David not riding the Donnington Fast Eddy I was all fired up for a win. I took delivery of a new bike the weekend prior so was out on it a lot to run it in and set it up for the Fast Eddy.
I helped set up the track on thursday and realised that my bike wasn't set up right so I went home to mess about with settings on Friday. I also needed to leave all the cut grass at Donnington as my Hay fever was really bad.
We arrived on Saturday evening had the obligatory mountain of pasta for dinner then went to our beds. I have now kitted out my Sprinter to a livable standard and it is really good for a weekend at the bike races - much better than struggling with the old van.
There was rain in the night and the forecast was for showers and as the day dawned it looked like rain was looming. Sure enough just before the Pro Race there was a brief shower but it didn't materialise into much and fizzled out. When chief marshal Lee Ed dropped the flag it was Voasey that was first to the first corner I thought I was second but run a little wide and let Whibley through and I think also Jason Fraser. I sooned passed back Fraser but really struggled with Whibs. Eventually after 2 laps my persistance paid off and I passed him round the outside of a long grassy corner in the silage field. By this time Voasey was out nearly out of sight so I pushed to try to close the gap but no matter how hard I tried it stayed about the same and if anything he was pulling away. This was frustrating as I knew he was carrying more fuel with his bigger tank. I came in for my first of 2 stops at about 55mins, right on cue. The boys, Graeme and Vasco did a sterling job and I was back out in no time. I was starting to get into a rythym, my times improved and I was starting to eat away at Voasey's lead. He came in for his midway fuel stop and I saw him as he came out of the pits. I put the hammer down and close the gap within a lap but he upped a gear and was just a bit quick to pass. I was using a lot of energy trying to pass and then I made a move in the whoops but he, quite rightly, closed the door. I clipped his back wheel and nearly went down, I struggled to regain my composure and he started to inch away. I then came in for my 2nd and final stop. There was just under an hour to go so I told myself that I could still win it. I gave it my all once again but there wasn't much left in the body fuel tank. I started to get cramp and making mistakes until, with three laps to go while trying to pass a backmarker I hit a tree in the woods with my shoulder and went down. Whibs caught and passed me while I was on the floor. I got going again but was feeling decidedly second hand. I had dropped a minute in one lap. Towards the end Danny Smyth caught me but I cruised round holding the inside line to the finish. I was gutted that I hadn't won but I think on this occasion Voasey was a bit too quick for me. I'm just glad that i'm OK. It gets a bit dodgy towards the end of a fast eddy when you are tired. My crash could just have easily been a hospital job.
I'll now get my head down to prepare for the Spanish WEC in a fortnight's time.