Eazi Grip

Danny Kent claims second place on Sunday at Donington Park

Strong recovery in Race 1 at Donington Park

The opening race of the Bennetts British Superbike race weekend at Donington Park ended with McAMS Racing and Danny Kent taking fifth place at the flag, progressing through the field to recover from a small but costly mistake on Lap 1.

The penultimate race weekend of the 2024 season began in positive spirit for Kent and the team, who ventured out onto a drying track with a set of hard-wet tyres installed for Free Practice 1.

The strategical, 40-minute session saw Kent and the team complete a full race distance, collecting crucial data on the hard-wet compound tyre, finishing in 14th at the flag but with data behind them as they progressed further into the weekend.

In Free Practice 2 later in the afternoon, the team continued along an upward trajectory, capping off Friday’s action in sixth in the overall timesheets, with a spot secured in Saturday’s Qualifying 2 session.

Come Saturday morning, Free Practice 3 provided one final opportunity to get the Yamaha R1 dialled in before a crucial Qualifying session to dictate the grid for the opening race of the weekend.

Punching in a best time of 1:27.548 towards the closing stages of the session, Kent secured a front-row start, inserting himself into a good spot to fight at the front.

As 16:00 on Saturday arrived, the lights dropped on the 20-lap charge to the flag. Kent made a positive start from the front row and sat comfortably in second place throughout most of the lap.

An unfortunate mistake cost the rider from Tetbury a host of positions, after failing to make the chicane at the bottom of Starkey’s Straight. Running on and losing out on several positions, Kent re-joined the field in 11th with work to do from the start of Lap 2.

Embracing the spirit of never giving up, Kent continued to push on, making up several positions by half-race distance to keep his hopes alive for a positive result at the flag.

As the race progressed, the #52 rider picked off one rider at a time, entering sixth and latching himself onto the group battling for third on Lap 17.

On the penultimate lap of the 20-lap charge, the Yamaha R1 rider made a move into fifth at the Old Hairpin, maintaining position to further assert his capability of running at the front.

Although a disappointing result, both Kent and the team can take the positive of exceptional progression, quickly settling back into a competitive rhythm and recovering six places since the mistake on Lap 1.

Heading into Sunday’s track action, Kent maintains his position of fifth in the standings but narrows the gap to fourth down to just a single point.

As the McAMS-backed outfit look ahead to tomorrow, hope in the camp remains high for a potential top-3 finish. Having demonstrated an ability to fight through the field and make up ground following a mistake, Kent’s proficient pace around the 2.49-mile circuit remains unquestionable.

The Yamaha-powered squad retain their spot on the front row heading into Race 2 tomorrow, lining up on third to be in the mix yet again.

Danny Kent
Race 1 – P5

“With the Lap 1 mistake aside, I feel content with what we managed to do today. I’m kicking myself after making an error on the opening lap, I knew that we had the pace to fight at the front and it’s disappointing that we weren’t able to showcase our true potential. Nevertheless, we made good progress and settled back into a race rhythm quickly. I felt great on the bike, just as I have done all weekend. Heading into tomorrow, we know what we’re capable of. We just need to work hard to make it all come together.”

Tim Martin
Team Owner

“Today was a slightly bitter-sweet result considering the pace that we know we have around Donington Park. Unfortunately, a small mistake cost us several positions which put us on the back foot from the end of Lap 1. We’re impressed with how Danny managed to turn it around, progressing up the running to make it into the top 5. While today was a difficult race, our belief is still there. Tomorrow, we’ll go again and aim to be right up there at the front.”

A podium for Danny Kent in Race 3

Sunday’s track action at Donington Park saw McAMS Racing and Danny Kent storm to a second-place finish in the third and final race of the weekend, narrowly missing out on their debut win in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

Sunday’s action started off in a positive spirit for Kent and the family-run outfit, having made steps forward in the morning Warm-Up to find themselves in a good place ahead of the second race of the weekend.

Starting from third on the grid, Kent slipped back to fifth on the opening lap, managing to stay latched onto the front-runners to later make an attack on fourth.

Hunting down a spot in the top 3, the rider from Tetbury made a move on championship contender and Yamaha R1 counterpart, Kyle Ryde on the fourth lap of 12.

Kent’s plan to push ahead was interfered with by Ryde, who reclaimed his spot in the top 3, pushing Kent back to fourth in the running.

Despite his best efforts during the closing stages of the race, the Yamaha R1 rider crossed the line in fourth, narrowly missing out on a first podium of the weekend.

The #52 rider retained his spot on the front row for the third and final race of the weekend, sitting second on the grid ahead of a 20-lap charge to the line.

Following a similar pattern as in Race 2, Kent slipped down to fifth to latch himself onto the back of the leading group, later picking off Andrew Irwin for fourth on Lap 4 of 20.

Danny continued to make progress just a handful of laps later, entering the podium positions to briefly hold third place throughout Lap 8.

Settling into a rhythm back in fourth, Kent made another attack on third at the Old Hairpin, with eyes fixed firmly on the leading two.

The former Moto3 World Champion needed just a single lap to make an attempt on second, producing a carbon copy of his overtake at the Old Hairpin on the previous lap.

With under half race distance remaining, eyes in the McAMS Racing garage fixed to the screens, as the prospect of a debut Bennetts BSB victory entered the minds of the family-run squad.

Demonstrating an ability to stay glued to the rear wheel of race leader, Kyle Ryde, a red flag stoppage on the penultimate lap prevented an attempt on the lead, leaving Kent to take second place after a hard-fought battle at the front.

After a positive weekend, he and the Yamaha-powered crew progressed to fourth in the championship standing, filling their heads with confidence ahead of the much anticipated 2024 season finale in two weeks.

Danny Kent
Race 3 – P2

“It’s been a good weekend. Thanks a lot to the team for giving me a competitive package that was capable at fighting at the front. It feels great to be able to repay them with a podium. I feel like we missed the opportunity to win that final race, I had a plan of attack but unfortunately wasn’t given a chance to carry it out and make a final attack for my debut win. I hope all riders involved in the reg flag incident are okay. From here, we head towards Brands Hatch with a good feeling.”

Tim Martin
Team Owner

“This weekend was a positive one. Aside from the mistake we made in Race 1, we fought consistently towards the front and showed again that we are capable of being present at the sharp end. It was great to also progress to fourth in the standings, let’s focus on the next two weeks and head to Brands Hatch with the aim of ending the year on a strong note. One more to go, let’s stay focused and work towards another set of good results in the final round.”

Posted on Monday, September 30th, 2024 in News

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