Carl Stevens
As it turns out, this is the last weekend I’ll be aboard the old Ducati Panigale 899 in the Ducati Tri-Options Cup. Mad. After three and a half seasons – I’m finally moving on! Bit like a mid-life crisis really, feel like I’m getting old now I’ve hit 22. But anyways, emotional goodbyes aside, after sneaking a podium at Time Attack the weekend before it was down to one last round on the girl at Brands Hatch GP before handing the Italian stallion back over…
Every single time we’ve raced this bike we’ve struggled massively with brake issues, meaning for this round we invested in a new set of discs and master cylinder and had it loved thanks to the guys at Moto Rapido Ducati, hoping to destroy the plague of brake fade. Thankfully we also managed to source an Ohlins shock after the Mupo one shat itself and there wasn’t enough time to send it back to Italy, even though it cost through the roof...
But anyways! After a decent free practice and my best ever qualifying of 15th (usually I qualify about 65th and pull it out my ass in the race), we were all set for race one – in what looked like dry conditions. Alas, with seven minutes to go the heavens absolutely opened up – meaning a super quick tyre change on the grid, that went wrong. As we borrowed a set of wets, an easy operation turned into a nightmare real quick; the boys that work on the bike are spot on, but a tiny spacer that was stuck on the dry but not on the wet meant we had to be wheeled off the grid, meaning another start from pit lane. Balls. So, with brand new freezing cold wets on a soaking Brands Hatch I managed to make the start from pit lane, almost binning it on the launch. That would’ve been embarrassing! Thankfully after a lap of literally tip-toeing round the incredibly slippery surface, I managed to get some heat in the tyres and put a lap together to gain some positions; even though I almost ended up on my ass more times than I can remember and went grass tracking once.
It was so treacherous it was actually red flagged, and even though I finished miles back I qualified 13th on the grid for race two of the weekend, which wasn’t too shabby! After some utter unavoidable carnage on the warm-up lap that I just about managed to miss, the shortened race got under way and straight from the off the brakes just weren’t right – meaning for the first time this year I actually went backwards from my position. But shit happens; I kept it upright and managed to bring it home in one piece.
I’m not too fussed though, because next month, the real weapon comes along… you guys are going to love it!