not good weekend...

TEAM ALSTARE JUNIOR BIMOTA UPBEAT DESPITE TOUGH WEEKEND

Team Alstare Junior Bimota arrived at Cadwell Park circuit for the first time this weekend and were once again faced with the difficult task of learning a new track in a short time. Cadwell park – often described as a mini Nurburgring – is one of the most demanding tracks in the British Superbike Championship and is hard to learn at the best of times but, just to make life a bit more difficult, Team Alstare Junior Bimota were also forced to face varying weather conditions today. Although the results weren’t particularly noteworthy, the team are thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere and ambiance that the British Superbike Championship provides and gaining experience each time out.



Christophe Ponsson

Race1: DNF (9 laps), Race 2: DNF (0 laps)

”When I first arrived and saw the track, I couldn’t believe my eyes! It seemed that I had to go up and down a mountain and it also felt very small and not very wide. Going out for the first time was a real eye-opener and I couldn’t believe how fast my competitors were going and the way they used the white lines in the dry. All tracks demand knowledge, but to go round Cadwell fast, you have to have many, many laps under your belt. And there’s not that much time to learn the track, because qualifying starts on the second day.

I crashed after five laps in the first practice when I went on to the grass and that meant that my time on the circuit was limited, as I couldn’t do both sessions. On the second day, I managed to knock more than two seconds off my lap time and we were all much happier.

The first race started dry, but then the rain came down and made things even more difficult. We were all on slicks and just kept going even though it was getting more and more tricky with every lap. I managed nine laps before crashing and the race was red-flagged not long after because of the rain. I started race 2, which was wet, but everything felt wrong, so I pulled out almost immediately.

Despite the weather there were a lot of spectators and we were knocked out by the welcome we received throughout the weekend and the wonderful atmosphere. It has been the same at all three races we’ve done so far and we’re really looking forward to next races. Donington is up next and although it will be yet another new track, I don’t think it will be as hard to learn as Cadwell or Oulton Park. It’s a bigger track and wider, so I think I will be able to get on with it a lot better.”