Isle of Man TT winner Cameron Donald didn’t have the return to short circuit racing he had hoped for – but still found the experience helpful as he prepares for the rest of the season on the roads.
The Australian entered the National 1000cc Superstock Championship round held at Knockhill on Sunday as part of the British Superbike Championship event.
Although he hoped for a good showing, Donald and his Relentless by TAS Suzuki team said entering the race was to give him more time on the GSX-R1000 superstock machine as he regroups following a disappointing TT.
Donald is entered in next week’s Southern 100 for the first time since his victorious 2006 debut, and is due to race at Kells.
The Knockhill meeting was hit by heavy rain and strong winds which saw incidents in almost every race – eventually being abandoned with the second BSB race not completed.
Donald was 20th on lap one and, despite the conditions and not racing on a British short circuit since his Oulton Park outing last year, managed to climb to 13th and finish in the points.
He said:
“I was happy to see the rain as I felt it was my best chance of making my way through the field. I was up at the front during morning warm-up, but got pushed out during the start of the race.”
“I was starting to make my way through the field when the race was eventually stopped, but I enjoyed my return to BSB and we learned a lot with the GSX-R1000 Superstock machine.”
“Hopefully I can come back again and get in amongst the front guys next time.”
Team Manager Philip Neill added:
“It was a nightmare day at Knockhill with the weather and I feel for the organisers.”
“This was also a very useful weekend for Cameron Donald, and as we expected, the British championship task was always going to be a tough one for him having been away for 12 months.”
“To be fair, he will need two or three rounds to really sharpen up to racing at this level again, but he did what we asked of him and improved as the weekend went on – setting quicker laps during the whole race.”