Tim Hastings Race report - Round 3: Donington Park

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Zax
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Tim Hastings Race report - Round 3: Donington Park

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The third round of the British 125GP Championship proved to be yet another frustrating weekend for KRP’s Tim Hastings as he pushed to get his 2009 season back on track.

A fighting 6th place at the previous round at Oulton Park had given Tim real confidence going into the Donington round, and he knew that it was important to close the gap on KRP team mate Martin Glossop in order to maintain his title challenge.

The Bank Holiday weekend started slowly for Tim with mechanical problems in first free practice meaning an early end to the session. Although the initial technical issues were resolved in time for FP2, further problems with the engine continued to hamper Tim’s progress and he finished the day 9th on the timesheets.

Sunday qualifying went much better with good weather ensuring fast times, and a solid first qualifying was bettered by even faster times in the afternoon. With qualifying almost at an end, Tim put in a superb final lap to take top spot, only to see Glossop snatch pole from him by a quarter of a second after the chequered flag came out.

With their race scheduled for late in the day on Monday, unfortunately it was that 125 racers that suffered as the weather deteriorated. From 2nd on the grid Tim started well and dived into Redgate in the lead. The KRP bikes then dominated the race with Tim fighting for a podium place before the rain started to fall on lap 7 and the red flags came out.

A wet race restart for a seven lap sprint saw Tim take up fourth place on the grid and once again he got off the line well, leading the race during the first lap before adopting a more cautious approach in the tricky damp conditions. Although he dropped back to 7th place on lap two, Tim then picked up the pace and set about closing the gap on the leaders. Running faster than the bikes ahead of him he looked to have timed his charge to perfection as he took the lead with only two laps to go, but his hard work was undone on the penultimate circuit when he slipped off at low speed at the Melbourne Hairpin.

Picking the bike up and quickly rejoining the race, Tim was soon back up to speed but was unable to make up many places, running out of laps and finally crossing the line in 11th spot (4th in the Cup).

Although the season’s three races have not so far gone to plan, Tim doesn’t have long to wait for his next opportunity - Round 4 this weekend at Thruxton - a circuit where he took pole position last season.

Team Twister would like to thank Shark, TCX, Knox, NGK, Evadne and Gibsons Builders for all their support, along with Mark Keen and all at KRP. Special thanks to Mick Eagle and Gibsons Builders who have provided further podium incentives for Tim. Thanks also to Ron & Kelly Stevenson for their contribution to Tim's race fund as well as spending time with the team at Donington and offering such positive support. Lastly, thanks to all who continue to text and email messages of support - be assured that all support is greatly appreciated.



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Well done yet again Tim. Looks like it was fairly difficult conditions for the race.

Best of luck for Thruxton next weekend , hopefully it will be dry and sunny :2up
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