ACU Supermono Series – Round 5: Donington 13th August 2006

Looking like our glorious summer was over, Donington Park was dull and overcast Sunday morning on 13th Aug. The Works Tigcraft team where busy setting up for un-timed practise in pit lane garage number 17. With Works rider Glen English (#25) leading the championship everyone was clearly focussed and the whole team was working well together. Free practise was split into 2 sections the first out just before 10.00 am so it was difficult to gauge who was on form and with no lap times the team was just going to have to wait for the qualifying timed practise to take place just before lunch at 11.50 am.

11.50 and the unmistakable sound of singles filled the air as the riders made their way through the paddock, out onto the track and into Redgate Corner for the start of timed practise. First round after 1 lap was Aria Lane (#70) on the 2006 Tigcraft Development machine and looking very promising. Glen English on the number one bike completed several laps before entering the pit lane to take the number 2 standby machine out for a few laps to ensure all was ready for the race. Within 5 minutes of practise the lap times where issued and Aria Lane (#70) was thrilled to have qualified in pole position but with a few concerns about the new development Tigcraft decided it was not worth running the risk of using it in the race. Dave Pearce Tigcraft Director commented that pushing the bounds of development and innovation was not always plain sailing and the team are pleased and encouraged that the bike is showing great potential qualifying some 2 seconds quicker than the next. Glen qualified 9th some 6 seconds off the pace but did not seem overly concerned.

Decisions needed to be made in garage number 17 and after consulting both riders and Chief Engineer Chris Cross, Dave Pearce announced that Aria would use the number 2 bike of Glens to start in Pole position for the first time in his racing career. All that remained now was for both bikes to be prepared before the main event due to start at 2.30 pm.

Lunchtime passed and the weather was looking like it could go either way. It was dry but with dark clouds appearing and the odd spots of rain, spare wets sat ready for a last minute decision. Final call for the stewards and the bikes where being rolled out for the race with pre-heated slicks.

All 21 bikes assembled on the grid following the warm-up lap and with no further complications the start lights sequenced. Aria had an excellent start, closely followed by Perry Goldstein who lead the pack into the first bend. 2 laps in and Alex Hutchinson (#77) was leading, followed down the start and finish straight by Mark George (#1), Perry Goldstein (#19) and Glen English.

By lap 6 the familiar trio of Hutchinson, George and English pulled away and traded places once again for maximum points. Glen nearly lost his mount exiting the chicane at the end of the Dunlop Straight on lap 10 and dropped back from the leading pair. With 2 laps to go Glen settled for 3rd place to Mark George's Win and Alex Hutchinson's second . Aria finished 6th on the number 2 Works Tigcraft.

Glen set the fastest and new Supermono lap record for Donnington of 1:17.97 and an average speed of 90.37 mph. With Glen only 9 championship points behind the leader Mark George, the next 2 round weekend at Snetterton on 2nd/3rd September will be one not to miss, especially if Aria Lane is also ready on the new bigger engine Tigcraft Minimono!

Race Review: S J McBurnie