Good luck DarrenR

[Coddy]

For those who may not know, Darren is taking part in this weekends Scottish Championship Superbikes races. 27-28th April.

Good luck loon, and keep it rubber side down. Don't want that stickers scratched.
See you there Saturday.

[Gazza]

Best wishes for a good result Darren

[axoM]

Good luck Darren, hope you do well

[Zathos]

Stay cool dude and best of luck

[RK6]

Best of luck dude!

[haiax0]

All the best!

Wishing a good result for you dude!

[al]

[stitch82]

Good luck min

Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk 2

[The Rossi Kid]

Good luck Darren, vomit inducingly jealous but hats off to you for having a go!
Reckon you'll have a fair few scalps by the end of the weekend too!

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2

[Auld Twister]

Thats brilliant
Good luck dude...

[Coddy]

Been a very good first day, but will leave Darren to post up his own reports.
2 races done today, 3 more tomorrow.

[missile]

A brave man to start racing on a superbike, a lesser man would have started on one of the lower classes.
It was a joy to watch Darren and oh so moddest during his post race interview.

[DarrenR]

Thanks all!

Had a brilliant weekend all round

Ill go further into detail later but the highlights were 2x 1st`s and 2x 2nd`s and breaking the Clubmans Lap Record with a 52.6. Nae bad on a pretty much standard bike, something that alot of guys down there probably didnt realise. Races should be on Motors TV somepoint in the next 2weeks too id imagine.

Wouldnt have been there if it wasnt for a couple of people off the forum so again, thanks very much

[Gazza]

Absolutely fab. Well done.

What's next?

[Bubba13t]

Great effort

[Coddy]

Heres a bit of a report, but Darren can add the full bifter.

Day started off well, couldn't get the genny to start, the head mechanic had the tennents open by 8am and Darren was running around like a headless chicken trying to get his bike scrutineered and get his license signed on.
Eventually got everything up and running.

Out for qualifying and some of the quick bikes there flying, then low and behold look round to the monitor and here is Darren up from an early 10th, to 5th where he finished the 10 minute session, ahead of some well known Scottish racing names. back to the pits, buzzing. Fastest lap being a 54.49. Darrens best lap is a ("i think i've done a 53, but never been timed". Must be good at 1 elephant, 2 elephant as he is going round).

Next qualifying, where the times would get faster. Good 10 minute session, with a grid position of 9th. Lap time of 53.68. (Times from 6th to 11th from 53.37 - 53.99).

Time for race 1, and basically we told him the same as we have told him for a few week, you must finish every race. No point going out there and binning the bike and people thinking who's this bam. Try to improve on your starting position.
Lights go green, Bike wheelies, then bogs down off the grid. Problem being, he has never done a race start before, and he cannot hear his own bikes revs due to the noise, and didnt want to look down at the rev counter and miss the lights. So poor start, and down a few places. Into McIntyres and he is pushed slightly wide, just onto the grass and loses a few more places. I think at 1 point, he was down to 12th. Start passing people and upto 9th, but stuck behind a Superbike spec GSXR1000. After a few laps he passed the Gixer with a dive up the inside at Clarks curve and clear track ahead. Pulled away from everyone behind him, and posted a 52.56, which put him 5th fastest on track. This is a new Clubman 1000cc lap record. And remember this is a standard road bike with race plastics, an end can and a reworked standard shock. No engine mods, no front suspension tweeks. So a happy and jumping loon back at the pits with an 8th. Commentator, Dennis Hobbs giving it Darren Ross this, Darren Ross that over the tannoy. I think he paid him.

Race 2. Brilliant start, and up from 8th to 5th by the 3rd corner. He was hard up the ar5e of the bike in 4th on the 2nd lap, when the red flag came out due to a crash at the chicane. Damn. I think with a clear track he may have ran with the guy in 4th, if not, he would have had a straight run on his own for 5th, and hopefully some good consistant laps.
Re-start, and again poor start. Down to 11th and stuck behind the GSXR again, where he stayed for the race, although they both passed a few people and Darren finished 9th, just 0.082 behind the guy in 8th. If he had passed the GSXR he may even have got a 7th. Best lap 53.18.

Race 3, the following day after a nice kip in a freezing cold van. (I wasnt there on the Sunday, so only some details).
Started 9th on the grid, and again had a poor start. Eventually finished the race in 11th, with a best lap time of 53.99.

Race 4. Skys looking dodgy. Started the race from 11th place. Grid had a few people missing behind due to chance of rain. Sure enough the rain came and Darren had to pull in on after lap 3 as he had slicks on. So finally classified as 14th, so down the grid for the next race.

Race 5. Track was now dry again, and getting away in heavier traffic in 14th. Good race this time, getting past some slower riders, and managed to get upto 9th place again with a best laptime of 53.72.

Darren was then interviewed on the podium after the event with his tidy orange t-shirt on(for being top Clubman racer in Superbike class), and he says he will be on Motors TV in the next few weeks. Hopefully wont scare your kids if they are watching it.

Good effort, and thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. On this evidence, with a bit more bike under him, and the same steady progress i think a top 6 is on the card. Target is to win the Clubman Championship.

As you can see, the bike needs a bit of work, and a bit of funds.
There have been some good donations from a few companies / people, with hopefully some more due after this weekend.
So, if your feeling flush, then please donate if you can.
Some fork springs and a pissy-V custom set up are required hopefully by the next race to give a bit more of a chance against some £20k + machinery.

[missile]

Excellent race report and even better with photos.

[bill.m]

I was at Knockhill on Sunday and I would just like to say well done Darren, impressive speed and kept it sticky side down, not a lot of people managed that especially in race 2.

[DarrenR]

Impressive pics Bill!

I`ll do a Day 2 write up shortly, Coddy pretty much covered everything on Day 1

[DarrenR]

Right Day 2....

Race 4. Got my usual shocking start and lost a good few places, which is annoying as if i could start a little better and at the least hold my position i know i could make good ground on everyone in front. Eventually i clawed my way back to 11th which isnt where i want to be.

Race 5. The start was delayed due to a last minute shower, by the time we got onto the track it was too dry for wets and too wet for slicks, far from ideal conditions but the 2 sighting laps gave me a little confidence as alot of people seemed to tip toe round. Got off to a better start and settled into the race quickly, couple laps later the heavens opened and soaked the track, tried carrying on passing fallen riders at almost every corner but after a big sideways moment at the top of Duffus and loosing the front/rear every corner until the back straight i decided to pull into the pits rather than come off and let it ruin an otherwise perfect weekend.

Race 6. There was a little confusion on the grid and for some reason i was put further back on the grid than i was meant to be, rather than argue the point i lined up in 15th. Good start again and passed alot of riders in the first couple of corners and then set upon making up a big gap to the next rider, i clawed back a second or so and began to run out of laps. Came across in 9th which again was good all things considered but im making it harder than it needs to be for myself.

As Martin has said im up against some well spec`d bikes and riders that have more than just a few trackdays experience but i do feel really confident for the rest of the season now, i learnt alot over the course of the weekend and after looking at the lap times over the weekend i may need to be replacing my rear tyre for the sunday races, again this could be suspension related too (the superbike boys seemed to be replacing theres every 2nd race).

I also noted that i posted my best lap times towards the end of a race so ideally i need to be doing that in the first few laps where the gap to the next rider is smaller and make up a position or two from that. Delighted with my weekend tho especially when im dicing with guys like Bryan Campbell, Donald McFadyen and Roy Houston who are experienced race winners in this class, breaking the clubman lap record was the icing on the cake!