Back to results |
Round 13
26/28 September 2003
Donington Park
No-one could believe that it was the last round already!
I was eager to win this weekend to secure second in the championship and to be able to say that I had the most race wins than any other rider in the R6 cup.
Qualifying was close between Kieran and I for pole but I missed out by two tenths of a second. I knew the race was going to be close as everyone wanted to win the last round to be able to prove to teams in the off season they are good enough for a ride next season.
We lined up for the race and it was obvious everyone was nervous. I got off to a decent start but was held up on the first lap which put me in seventh place. I fought through the pack as I could see Kieran and Tommy getting away. Once I was third I was nearly three seconds behind the leading duo with only seven laps to pull the gap back. I was riding so hard and was slowly reeling them in.
With three laps to go I was right with them waiting for them to make mistakes, which unfortunately they didn't! It came down to the last lap where I made a pass on Tommy in to Foggy's Esses, and with two corners left I had to pass Kieran. He held a tight line into the Melbourne loop so I couldn't pass as we headed up to the last corner. I made an aggressive pass on him and ran a little bit wide and Tommy came back through, but because I had better drive coming out of the last corner I won the race by less than a tenth of a second. It was close!
I was really pleased to finish second in the championship and I think the race at Donington was one of the best races of the year.
Cheers,
Cal |
|
