Round 5 of the MCE British Superbikes descended on the long windy Snetterton 300 Circuit right in the heart of Norfolk where it is always sunny for the race weekend. But that was not the case this time, as the rain came down every day, the cross winds were awful and the sun was rare.
But this was not going to deter, Dickies British Supersport Championship rider Sam Coventry as the vibe was buzzing in Team ‘Road Racing Performance’, after Round 4 at Knockhill where he secured 14th and 16th in the two races. Coventry went out onto a damp track to start the Friday free practice session but still hit hard with determination but after 12 laps, found himself in 24th position, one he was not used to. After checking everything and finding nothing the bike, it was prepped for ‘Free Practice 2’ and after 10 laps he had gained to 16th positon, but the session was brought to a halt when another rider deposited oil around the track. Sam recomposed himself for qualifying before going out again but unfortunately his luck was short lived as he went back down to 24th position for the Sprint race grid later on that afternoon. He took positives from this session as he was on row 8 but got a good view of the inside line. As the race started the riders in front of him went down like skittles at turn 3, undoubtable bringing out the safety car for two laps, in which time Coventry was caught up with another rider who seemed to be daydreaming and this lost him valuable time. After what seemed like the longest sprint race ever he brought it across the line in 17th place nearly equalling his personal best lap time. Sunday came around quickly and with the feature race looming Sam, the 22 year old from Portsmouth had to stay focused. With a grid position of 22nd he knew that there was a lot to do, so being the third to last race of the day he had time to watch other races and learn more before the 15 lap race. The only thing left to decide was is it to be wet tyres or dry ones but fortunately it stayed dry as they all swarmed out of the pit lane around the 3 mile challenging track. Starting in 22nd he lent over the bike with his head up and his eyes wide open, and the lights were out. GO! GO! GO! Hollered the commentator as they all scrambled in to the first right hander. It was an exciting but challenging race and he gave it everything he had pulling the bike around and twisting and turning from side to side. After 15 laps he brought it home in 14th position gaining 8 places. Tired he was still in high spirits already thinking about the next round at Thruxton in just over a weeks’ time. Coventry: “It was a tough weekend and one that the whole team will learn from. Now I look onto Thruxton where last year I had a massive off, so I will be looking to get up in the top 10 and I will give my all to get there.” “I would like to thank all my sponsors, my team and my family for all their support and dedication to me.” Thank-you to all the team sponsors and my personal sponsors: Road and Racing, Pro-Bolt, Pipe Werx, Oxford Products, Kushitani, Motul, Maxton, R&G, NGK, Performance Friction, HJC, Motor Parts Direct, Tudor Installations. M&C Training, Purbrook Garage, NFmoto and Holland Autos.
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It was a tough weekend at Knockhill, we had good pace in the dry but it was tough in the wet! Free Practice went well but the first session we had an issue witht the radiator which ment i missed most of the session, but in the second session all was good, we found a good base setting and I was ready for qualfying! Qualifying was a frustrating session I knew I had the pace to be inside the top ten but with 10 minutes to go of the session we put in a new tyre and I only managed 3 decent laps before we had a issue with the bike which meant I missed the rest of the session I was in P9 but dropped back down to P16. Race 1 I got a good start but started to drop off as I struggled in the wet with feeling from the front, the rear was great and had grip but I dropped off and finished the race 16th. I put in a good lap time towards the end which put me P11 on the grid for tomorrows race. Race 2 I got another strong start and was inside the top 10 for the first few laps, but I started to drop back again as before and finished the race in 14th place. I tough weekend all in all, but I was happy with our dry pace and the bike was working mega in the dry, I need to work on my set up in the wet though! As always a big thank you to all my team for all there hard work over the weekend, I will come back stronger at Snetterton! Thank-you to all the team sponsors and my personal sponsors: Road and Racing, Pro-Bolt, Pipe Werx, Oxford Products, Kushitani, Motul, Maxton, R&G, NGK, Performance Friction, HJC, Motor Parts Direct, Tudor Installations. M&C Training, Purbrook Garage, NFmoto and Holland Autos. |
AuthorSam Coventry Archives
November 2017
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