RD4 Thundersport GB Donnington Park CPO Adam Myhill

I have been part of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Motorsport Association since 2015 when I joined the Royal Navy Karting Team. I competed in the Interservice Endurance Karting Championship for two years and thoroughly enjoyed myself, but my real passion has always been motorbikes. At this point I had never owned or even ridden a motorbike but at the age of 35 I was determined to get my licence.

I passed my big bike test in Feb 2016 and have never looked back, and once I was confident on the road; I attended the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Road Racing Team Grass Roots Trackday at Mallory Park in 2019 and I was absolutely hooked. The riders were amazing at coaching us to gain confidence on the track and I left the event hungry for more. I was asked by the team captain to become Pitcrew/Crewchief for the past two seasons and have worked hard to ensure that all the rider’s machines are safe to compete.

Since being with the Road Racing Team I have done 5 more track days and although I was apprehensive going racing, all the team have been extremely supportive and encouraging. I finally decided to take the plunge at Donnington Park because I was familiar with the track.

I spent the Friday test day familiarising myself with the bike and Donnington park circuit, having experienced racers on similar machinery made it so much more beneficial than just doing a track day. I was able to follow others and slowly I gained confidence throughout the day.

Saturday Morning was Qualifying, and it was my first real opportunity to compare my ability to the other riders and I was pleasantly surprised to end up 23^rd of 27 in the 500 Freshman Class with a 1:29.895 lap time.

My FIRST ever motorcycle race was a nerve-racking event, the Freshman Riders were combined with the Veterans to make a grid of 40 and I started 37^th. Launching off the line and towards Redgate, I tentatively followed the chaos ahead of me and was shocked to see people throwing their bikes at the scenery on the first lap. I spent the race chasing the riders ahead of me, desperately seeing where I could gain time but with the whole weekend ahead of me, I was reluctant to take any risks and finished 32^nd (19^th in Class), but also last over the line.

Race 2 commenced in a very different way, I got a much better start and gained a few places but as we hurtled into turn 1, I saw a bike ahead be catapulted through the air and a rider on my inside sat his bike up which resulted in both of us quickly heading for the gravel trap. I managed to keep the bike upright and slowly trudged back to the track, but the race was then red flagged. Lining up on the grid again I was determined to be more aggressive and subsequently fluffed the start, much to my annoyance. My anger at myself motivated me to push harder and I manged to pass two other riders to finish 31^st (19^th in Class) and NOT last!

I made some changes to the bike overnight and went into Sunday looking to go faster and Race 3 did not disappoint. I was careful on the first two laps and once the chaos had settled down, I got my head down and pushed. In the following 8 laps I passed 6 other riders and coupled with other incidents I finished 26^th (16^th in Class) and improved on my Qualifying lap by 2.4s with a personal best of 1:27.518.

Race 4 was absolute carnage with 9 of 36 riders failing to finish. I started well but got stuck in a battle with another rider which meant we got split from the pack and once past him, I was unable to bridge the gap to the other riders and finished 25^th (14^th in Class).

The final race on Sunday was the British Military Inter Services and being on my little 50hp CB500 against 1000cc and 600cc sports bikes meant that I had little hope of gaining positions, but ultimately, I was very proud to even be on the grid. With the Majority of the Grid being 10-15 seconds a lap faster than me, my main challenge was being safely lapped by these faster machines. I decided to make sure that I consistently kept to the racing line so that the other riders could easily predict where I would be on the track and thankfully, I completed the race with only one close call. Starting 32^nd on the Grid finished 28^th Overall. Entering Parc Ferme after the race and surrounded by the team that had encouraged me to take the next step, I was immensely proud and have never been so happy.

As we departed the track my mind switched to how can I improve, I will make changes to the bike, but I am so much more motivated to exercise to slim down and be physically stronger on the bike.

Roll on Round 5 at Anglesey in August.