By blue2bikes
April 11 2006

As the British Superbike Championship arrived at Donington Park, everyone was looking forward to making more progress and obtaining better results after the wash-out at Brands Hatch, which caused more than enough problems for riders.

Tyre choice had been critical - with many riders pulling out due to the wrong choice of tyres for the wet weather which befell the circuit on race day. This time sunshine greeted everyone, but with a biting cold wind. The track was dry and practice went pretty well, and according to plan, for local rider Howie Mainwaring after his disastrous weekend at Brands Hatch - with him unable to qualify for both races with electrical problems to both of his machines.

Howie had a great free practice on the Saturday and when asking him how he felt, he said, “Everything is going so well I didn’t want to come in at the end of the practice session.” So things were looking good, and Howie had this time qualified to take part in the races on race day - a definite step forward for Howie, who up until now had no other luck but bad luck.

As the first race started, black clouds were on the horizon, but a dry race was declared and the race got underway. Unfortunately rain started to fall on the far side of the circuit, and Howie fell at Coppice on the wet surface prior to the race being stopped at two-thirds distance, and being declared finished.

© Raceline Photography

Donington is notoriously slippy in even the best conditions, and with bitterly cold winds now getting worse, and sleety rain falling, the second race was declared a wet race. Howie had been experiencing chatter on the front wheel, as had other riders, and his intentions were to go out and finish the race.

At the start of the race there were five fallers at the first corner, followed by another eight during the race, with some riders pulling in due to the worsening weather - weather I can only describe as Arctic conditions, so cold in fact that riders who were pulling in could not release their own helmets due to numbness in their hands. Howie continued to climb up the rankings, and finally finished in 15th position, a result well earned and fought for at Donington in the worst weather conditions in the past four years.

Howie is now looking towards Thruxton, where he has been offered a guest ride in the Superstock championships, as well as the BSB championships. The fastest circuit in the whole season will certainly be one to watch, as there is no room for mistakes. With Howie having now sorted the problems with his bike, hopefully he can continue to progress up the rankings.

Howie is also looking for more sponsorship, so if you are interested in supporting Howie, no matter in how small a way, please contact Glynne on 07711-328360.