To those who went to Donnington [Archive] - UK Monster Owners Club Forum

View Full Version : To those who went to Donnington

Paranoid Dave

24-07-2005, 03:36 PM

I hope you didn't get too wet :lol: :lol: :lol:

Glad I didn't go now, but what a race and what a man Vale is!

One thing that annoyed me again tho was watching the in lap, all the idiots on the track. When I have been in the past they stopped the in lap as it was too dangerous with pillocks everywhere. And looking at it on telly, they didn't look like fans to me, mainly young gits in track suits and caps, yup the Chavs invade MotoGP.

Oh well I'm off for a warm coffee and sit in my warm lounge in the dry, settle down for a cosy evening. :lol:

gary tompkins

24-07-2005, 04:01 PM

Did a 70 mile charity ride this morning and just got back home. Pissed down for all 15o miles of my round trip, and I got wetter than a wet thing with very wet bits. Had to tip the water out of my sloshy boots when I got in :(

Glad we didn't get rain forecast for Saturday & the coast run, it would have been a real bummer to get soaked 2 days running. Ahh well time to dry out and chill in front of the Donnington GP video with a beer ;)

pooh

24-07-2005, 04:43 PM

CK here - nicking Poohs log-in (rude not to, as we are staying with him :lol: )

had a lovely DRY day here - great rideout this morning & into this afternoon, on dry roads, loads miles. AK 'borrowed' Tiggers monster, as his is in track trim at the moment - and managed to modify her tail chop some more..... :rolleyes: - there is a suprise, AK modifying number plates, eh? - at least he didnt lose it this time! :eek:

Sorry GT, just had to tell you mate! :p DRY ALL DAY HERE! :p

just starting to drizzle lightly here now, but hopefully dry for tomorrows trackday at Cadwell :D

C
xx

Paranoid Dave

24-07-2005, 05:43 PM

Gary, are you expecting me to be shocked at your soggyness? I thought you had you're own little cloud that followed you. Obviously you payed the ransom yesterday and it stayed home ;)

I wonder how those fools at the GP are now, brrrrrrrrrr

Mr Cake

24-07-2005, 05:47 PM

I wonder how those fools at the GP are now, brrrrrrrrrr
:lol: One hell of a contrast from when I was lapping the IOM TT circuit a couple of weeks ago :D

Dave

Fodder

24-07-2005, 07:00 PM

If it's any consolation it's pissing down here as well, first time in months. Apparently this is now monsoon season. :D

McMONSTRO

24-07-2005, 07:57 PM

Mand

24-07-2005, 08:03 PM

Yes, it was very very wet. I had a serious mardy because Al thought it was a good idea to knacker his wrist off roading yesterday and I ended up having to drive him to Donington.

Anyhow, I got so wet that I had to take off my jeans and drive home in my pants. Not a pretty site. :eek:

It was an experience never to be forgotten. :o

Duncan

24-07-2005, 08:27 PM

It was moderately wet and then got wetter. The rain came sideways at us and got heavier as the day went on. Me carole, JR and Lee had a good time despite all this and a bit of rain couldnt dampen the awesome sound of those Ducs.

Visibility was poor and with the spray it was hard to see riders numbers, the PA was out of order too so no help from the commentators. So when Hopkins came off in front of us we naturally assumed it was Kenny Roberts jr and that Hopkins was out in the lead. Wrong on that count but correct on the fact that the remaining Fortuna yam was Elias and not crasher Xaus.

At one point the leading group pulled a 10 second lead over the Ducatis but by the end the gap was falling by a second a lap. Incredibly with Rolfo coming in 10th, all 3 Ducatis finished a wet race. So much for Italian electrics.

Rossi though, what a rider. Rode a great race, incredibly smooth riding and in those last 3 laps after taking the lead opened a gap of 3 seconds. The other guys must be totally demoralised by his skill and he proved to me today that he is indeed one of the greatest ever.

Macca

25-07-2005, 09:59 AM

Soaked!!!!! Would be an understatement! Even me phone has burnt out after finding a pool of water in my pocket, saw most of the race through a hole in ducati's dining tent, not even sure how many riders finished the race! At least I can watch it on tape now and find out what really happened.
Marchesini,Running man, Paul S4 and Chappers, hope you got back OK, even Fatbloke cleared off early I hear!

Good old England,the weather always has the last laugh!

McSoggy

Big Girl - You should have been out side watching the race with the rest of us :)

It was a long cold wet ride home though - complete with uncontrollable shaking for the last hour of it.

I always wondered what hypothermia felt like though :rolleyes:

Macca

mark cross

25-07-2005, 10:11 AM

:D being form N.I and not being able to ride to Donnington i took a different option. Lunch with wine and lying on a trampoline in my garden in the unexpectedly glorious sunshine all afternoon. O.K. maybe not hardcore but i am envious of you guys who got soaked.

fatbloke

25-07-2005, 10:32 AM

My Dad and I where soaked through and decided to call it a day and go home early.
I hope all those who went by bike got home ok.

Dave G

25-07-2005, 10:40 AM

I had a choice of a trackday at Donington or watching the GP.
I did the trackday in the dry earlier this month,and watched the GP in comfort,then sat out in the blazing sunshine for the rest of the day,tinkering with my bikes.

...how often can you say that in Scotland!

claicerrig

25-07-2005, 11:03 AM

11/2 hr Hare and Hounds enduro race in the morning

The only wetness encounterd was the river crossing :lol:

Sat in chair and watched the race in comfort with a bottle of wine :D

25-07-2005, 11:17 AM

Yep, we got cold and wet, but I for one would not have missed it for anything.

JR

SAMMYE

25-07-2005, 11:35 AM

First experience for MotoGP for me

Woke up at 6.30 after a birthday party of a friend the night before. got to Donnington in good time 2.5 hours. Went with a friend. got split up a couple of times spent most of the day looking for each other as my mobile was playing up and couldnt get any reception and even when I did it kept saying error in connection! Didnt manage to meet up with Chappers and PeteS4

Got absolutely drenched even with a brolly and waterproofs. Got stuck in Traffic - didnt get out of the actual circuit for 2.5 hours then 6.5hours to get home.

was it worth it??

Yeah course it was!!

Only thing I'm never doing again!?

Going by Bl**dy car!!!

Lost Again

25-07-2005, 11:53 AM

I spent the day standing on a hill (somewhere near yon spitfire jobby) and got completely soaked through to the skin. worth it tho, and yep, rossi did indeed prove how good he is when as soon as he got the lead he just buggered off into the distance. Just a knacker I ended up going in the car but never mind. I'll be at donny again for BSB, rain or shine.

Phoenix

25-07-2005, 12:12 PM

Watched on the TV - How cool was that 250GP race? :eek: On-off-legs akimbo-gravel-offtrack-back on and all 3 of em still battling it out amongst each other right til the final corner - Brilliant :D
Have to say having done Donny in the wet I felt pretty sorry for those guys even though they are allowed wets :eek:
Anyway - race notes (Cheers Valentino ;) ) made and i'm quite looking forward to it next month :D

Seems a shame everyone got so darned wet given the nice weather we've had recently. Hope you are all dried out now.

slob

25-07-2005, 12:16 PM

1:27.89 to beat then Lin!

Runningman

25-07-2005, 01:15 PM

Driving licence, money, UKMOC cards, phone, ipod, underpants...
just some of the items drying out on my kitchen table when I woke up this morning.

Yes I was at Donnington, yes I did get soaked; but I saw some of the bravest riding I've ever seen, saw a genuine world sporting legend in the flesh, and spent the entire weekend with talking bikes, with bikers.

Priceless!

I thought the DUK enclosure was a real bargain, with free tea & coffee all day, lunch, and a superb location to watch the race to boot. It was also nice to look around and see some familiar faces.
(Macca, I'm sorry i didnt introduce myself; with all the excitement i just clean forgot...next time)

Thanks to my great mate Dave who ferried me up & down to Donnington on the back of his Hayabusa (No more ducati jokes please, Dave)

Brands Hatch anyone?

Runningman

25-07-2005, 01:18 PM

[QUOTE=Runningman] and spent the entire weekend with talking bikes, with bikers.

What I meant to say was; with bikers, talking bikes. But you knew that didnt you?

Macca

25-07-2005, 02:08 PM

steviej

25-07-2005, 02:17 PM

Anyhow, I got so wet that I had to take off my jeans and drive home in my pants. Not a pretty site. :eek:

I'd beg to differ there Mand.................... :D :D :eek: :rolleyes: ;)

Pedro

25-07-2005, 02:25 PM

Well, I followed Fatblokes lead, watch a bit of the MotoGP then scooted. I have never been so wet stood around at an event by the time I left. All the time I was on my deck chair under my brolly I was fine, except I could see sod all, so I wandered to higher ground but got soaked some more. Not very impressed with Donny facilities, dog burgers looked just nasty and massive queues for the loo - not good when yer desperate and cold...

Duc enclosure good though.
FB - thanks for shielding me from the wind by sitting where you did
Simon - good to meet you, look forward to seeing that bike of yours.

Anybody else I spoke to, apologies as I seemed to have forgotton who....

Damp Ped

Chappers

25-07-2005, 04:34 PM

If the weather is like that next time I defo won't do it again!

We set off at 9am to find that PeteS4 had a puncture, luckily he had a repair kit so repaired it and rode slowly to the petrol station. Pumped him up (well his rear tyre) and thought we'd check my tyre pressures were fine whilst we were there, so pumped them up and I was left with the most simplest and easiest job - screw the caps back on...well I fecked it up didn't I :o and screwed the front one on a bit dodgy and the rubber thingy (technical term) in the cap twisted out slightly which pushed the valve open once screwed on which then let all the air out of me tyre but I failed to notice this til we went to pull out the petrol station and nearly fell off me bike :eek:

Pete then tried to pump up from the machine but it wouldn't so he had to use one of those little air things from his repair kit to burst some air into my tyre and then use the pump to top it up :rolleyes:

Off we went 30mins later than planned, no rain at this point other than the odd little shower which didn't bother us; we were doing great for time :D

Then Pete needed a wee, so we pulled over into Leicester Forest East which seemed like forever (bet he did a no.2 :lol: ), so off we went again, just about to join the M1 and I flagged him down by honking me horn, flashing me lights, jumping around like a wally to which he then pulled over on the slip road.

"Pete, you ain't switched your lights on!" says me "yeah I have" shouts back Pete "errrrrrrr, no you ain't" shouts back me :mad: ....his rear light and indicators were hanging on for dear life by the wires as the brackets had decided to snap :( These ended up in Petes pocket for the remainder of the journey with him having to signal via leg or arm movements.

Finally...we are there parked up and heading for the gate.

But then Gate 3 wouldn't let us in coz we had orange tickets, then gate 20, 19, 13 wouldn't either - almost an hour later thank god for the nice chap on gate 15.

Stood there, got drenched, but a big thank you to Ducati for the free grub, merchandise, tea and coffee throughout the day and brilliant spot for viewing.

Wind and rain got worse so decided to go home at 4:30pm only to find Petes tyre was flat yet again. He used the last air thingy up from his repair kit, got us to the nearest petrol station, pumped up and off we trotted and finally got home at 7pm.

After all that cr@p we went through and the poor weather we still laughed about the whole day and shoved everything in the airing cupboard to dry out only thing is Petes phone was swimming in water in his pocket so he's had to go get a new one today.

Nice to see Runningman, Marchesini, McMonstro and Missus, Fatbloke and Daddy, Doc and Sue etc, shame we never hooked up with Sammye but his phone was playing up and I think he needed to keep his mate on a leash.

Mand

25-07-2005, 06:20 PM

I'd beg to differ there Mand.................... :D :D :eek: :rolleyes: ;)

Well it kept Al amused whilst we were queuing to get out of Donington! :eek:

walkingpictures

25-07-2005, 06:31 PM

On-off-legs akimbo

..........hello?did someone call me? ;)

MrsJel

25-07-2005, 06:54 PM

Wet - didn't get any water in until we set off home. We were in the Donington Park Racing area (on Hollywood) complete with extremely attractive motogp yellow plastic capes. We could see the big screen set up on Redgate and the radios were working.

Vale is a genius riding a bike - must have been sandbagging (well he'd need to be with the amount of water there was). We assumed Roberts had gone off when it was really Hopkins, in fact, we were all waiting for Roberts to pull in because of some technical problem. It took half an hour to get home (would usually be 15 mins) so not bad. Couldn't wear specs because rain was inside & outside visor. Have also tried trackday at Donington in similar weather - wouldn't recommend it - didn't even attempt to go as fast as they did yesterday.

Must start getting ready for Sachsenring next weekend - hope the weather's better got a longer journey :)

scrumpster

25-07-2005, 06:57 PM

Hee hee I was sat in my car on the hill at Starkeys for most of the day. Got into the disabled enclosure. Got out of car to watch race with my mate and his peg leg. Think I passed you Runningman as I strolled by the Ducati enclosure. :) I watched recorded version of race today and saw the rest of it, wow is all I can say. Rossi certainly has nine lives but didn't the Ducati boys do well, at least they both finished :D

scrumpster

25-07-2005, 07:03 PM

peteS4

25-07-2005, 07:23 PM

was one of those monsters a yellow s4 with no rear lights or indicators wearing a black lid... followed by a black m600 wearing a matching black lid. both with carbon high cans !!!!!!!!!!!

peteS4

25-07-2005, 07:32 PM

and as chappers says, i was soooo wet that when i took my mobile out of my jacket pocket water just ran out of it........i mean it poured out. phone now dead so decided to go and get a contract phone to replace the pay as ya go dead one........

McMONSTRO

25-07-2005, 08:20 PM

Yep, my phones knackered too! Same thing,pool of water in pocket of "waterproof" :confused: jacket!
Latest update on our kit: Leather trousers still soaking, boots soaking,2 pairs gloves soaking,leather jacket a bit less wet, helmets nearly dry, waterproof jacket not yet dry! Bike still wet! Girlfriend thawed out!

PeteS4/Chappers-not another flat, thought you'd had a bad enough run of luck in one day!!!!

Watched the GP tape last night, awesome riding from some true heros.Will we be back next year? Oh yes, maybe Vodafone will sponsor it then :D

Just as an afterthought, how did we all find the "improved" traffic scheme this year???

McM

peteS4

25-07-2005, 09:00 PM

it wasnt another flat. it was the same one just slowly leaking through the repair. to be honest i do need a new back tyre anyway so bikes off the road till i get a few bits sorted out on her

Bunny

25-07-2005, 09:06 PM

New traffic scheme worked fine !! if you had a helicopter
After telling us all weekend that all roads out would be "one way", we got out of the "bike park" (= field) onto the first road where we could turn left or right - was there a signpost (you know M1, M42 this way would have been nice) no such luck.
We chose left, and went through Donington Village, was it one way ? well all of us on bikes thought it was, until traffic appeared coming towards us.
No problems after that, apart from that wet stuff, 220 miles home, 200 in the rain. Got home, opened the garage, and there was a spangly Ducati all dry and clean, I rode the Triumph :o)

By the way, unlucky all those who camped Sunday night and left this morning, only to be pulled over for small plates / loud exhausts on the M1

40ish bikes , not one car so I'm told - anti biker ? of course not !!

marchesini

25-07-2005, 09:10 PM

Got absolutely drenched even with a brolly and waterproofs. Got stuck in Traffic - didnt get out of the actual circuit for 2.5 hours then 6.5hours to get home.

I guess I must have passed you then. Left at 7pm - had a cuppa in my mates location van and got home (slightly wetter) in Barnehurst at 10.05.

The traffic for bikes was pretty good I thought - a few slightly illegal filtering moves but I guess that's what is called 'making progress'. A few 40 mph speed restrictions but I thought all the traffic was kept moving along quite nicely.

Something wierd was going on with my bike though - nearly lost it on a roundabout until I put my foot out. Hardly had the bike leant over and then it started slipping. It felt really slippy over the white lines aswell so I think either the suspension or the tyres have gone funny on me. More investigation needed I think.

Laters

simon

Pedro

25-07-2005, 09:33 PM

Something wierd was going on with my bike though - nearly lost it on a roundabout until I put my foot out. Hardly had the bike leant over and then it started slipping. It felt really slippy over the white lines aswell so I think either the suspension or the tyres have gone funny on me. More investigation needed I think.

Laters

simon

Hey Simon

Roads were very slippery in places, I cut across the A43 from the M1 to the M40 and the car was sliding about all over every roundabout with no provacation at all, but of a surprise at first but more fun later...

Probably diesel on the road or something

Ped

SAMMYE

26-07-2005, 08:02 AM

Hey Simon

Roads were very slippery in places, I cut across the A43 from the M1 to the M40 and the car was sliding about all over every roundabout with no provacation at all, but of a surprise at first but more fun later...

Probably diesel on the road or something

Ped

Someone was telling me when it rains after a very hot spell it becomes ultra slippery due to the build up of crap on the roads

slob

26-07-2005, 08:30 AM

Someone was telling me when it rains after a very hot spell it becomes ultra slippery due to the build up of crap on the roads
Oil floats on water Sam, so just after it rains all those diseasel spills come to the surface.

Chappers

26-07-2005, 09:08 AM

Oh and two monsters passed me on the M1 South Bound one on the nearside, looking for his partner who then appeared on my offside.............you two whoever you are, I hope you managed to find each other :)

That's gotta be me and PeteS4, we filtered most of the way home (4:30-7pm) as the traffic was awful, think that was when we were filtering along the fast lane and then some guy on a BMW GS thingy cut in front of me, so I undertook him by filtering in the slow lane to catch up with Pete but was having problems spotting him until I saw the matching lid :p

Would you believe it, it p!ssed down all the way home and the minute we turned off at junction 14 (home) the sun came out :mad: :eek:

SAMMYE

26-07-2005, 09:28 AM

Oil floats on water Sam, so just after it rains all those diseasel spills come to the surface.

Thats the one Mr. Slob

Chris

26-07-2005, 09:58 AM

It was pretty wet and slippy where I was riding on Sunday too!

Has anybody Bedford or Loughborough way recorded the GP I missed it :(

Julie

26-07-2005, 10:01 AM

It was pretty wet and slippy where I was riding on Sunday too!

Has anybody Bedford or Loughborough way recorded the GP I missed it :(

GREAT photo - who took that?

Chris PM me your e-mail address as i have got something to show you....

SAMMYE

26-07-2005, 10:04 AM

Chris PM me your e-mail address as i have got something to show you....

is it wet and slippery as well!? :eek:

scrumpster

26-07-2005, 11:10 AM

was one of those monsters a yellow s4 with no rear lights or indicators wearing a black lid... followed by a black m600 wearing a matching black lid. both with carbon high cans !!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't notice the indicators but yes I believe it was you two. Stripe on helmet. Nice to meet you ;) I did think that lorry was catching you up pretty fast though!

madhatter

26-07-2005, 12:09 PM

First experience for MotoGP for me....Got absolutely drenched even with a brolly and waterproofs....Got stuck in Traffic - didnt get out of the actual circuit for 2.5 hours then 6.5hours to get home....I'm never Going by Bl**dy car!!!

Me too!

Mrs MH and I took our daughter for her first taste of track racing (GP seemed the best place to start), so the three of us went up by car. Ampthill to the first burger van on the outfield in under 1 1/2 hours... :) good so far! Watched all the morning practice of the 125cc, 250cc and GP Bikes and the BMW's, ate more food.... :) good so far! Then the rain got heavier and heavier, ended up soaked to the skin and freezing cold, but watching some spectacular action on McLeans corner!!!! :eek: :eek:

Then left the circuit at 3.30 after the GP along with 75,995 other people....bloody disorganised pandamonium and chaoes or what.. :mad: ...only got out the field by being an agressive "let me in or I'll smash your car up" ar5ehole!! All together it took 4 1/2 hours to get home.

So next year...I'll be either watching on TV or leaving everyone at home and going on me Monnie, give me a shout and we can ride up together and meet the MK Massive! :D

Pedro

26-07-2005, 12:13 PM

.......ate more food.... :) good so far!

You gotta be kidding? Dog Burgers and chips, good?

McMONSTRO

26-07-2005, 06:59 PM

Julie

26-07-2005, 07:05 PM

Kit Still not dry! Hopefully will be dry for Assen WSB in September!
Phone needs replacing, £278..!!!! as not insured against "water damage" :mad:
Motorola owners beware, they have a little device behind the battery that turns red if exposed to the wet stuff, this invalidates any warranty etc

McM

That happened to me last year Mr McSoggy, i'd had my other motorola 1 day and was out on my bike and rained - they phone got soaked! Lucky Ruth took it back the following day - they asked her if she had got it wet as the red dot had appeared - she replied 'no i didnt get it wet' which wasn't a lie was it?......It was me who got it wet! Anyway i got anew phone and now carry a small water proof bag (£8 from outdoors shops) put my phone in that (you've seen the off road photos of me!) and hey presto - Dry phone!

gary tompkins

26-07-2005, 08:04 PM

I now keep mine in one of those re-usable press seal placcy bags. Had a close call a few months back when I got a good soaking coming back from DWR shop. My Nokia got a bit soggy and packed up, but thankfully dried out ok after 48 hours stripped apart in our airing cupboard.

Duncan

26-07-2005, 08:13 PM

My Sharp phone got Cider in the buttons at a gig the other week and stopped working.

Fortunately it revived but the buttons are a bit sticky now.

Scrumpy and phones not a good combo

26-07-2005, 08:26 PM

Dont you go anywhere without scrumpy Dunc ? You even had some at the Moto Gp in the pouring rain!

JR

McMONSTRO

27-07-2005, 07:16 PM

Phones gone off to London to see if it can be repaired, some place called Gizmo.com, we'll have to see!

And yes a plastic bag would have been a VERY good idea in hindsight, turning out to be an expensive weekend!!!

Oh.. the kits NEARLY dry!

McM

peteS4

27-07-2005, 09:39 PM

the funny thing about the weekend was your partner looks like someone i know and i cant put my finger on it !!!!

Chappers

28-07-2005, 08:50 AM

the funny thing about the weekend was your partner looks like someone i know and i cant put my finger on it !!!!

Snap as soon as I saw McMonstros partner I recognised her but I still don't know how or why I know her face :confused:

Infact I've seen McMonstro before too so maybe we'd spotted them at another biking event :rolleyes:

Boon

28-07-2005, 10:09 AM

It was wet but fun we seen terry but when we went to say Hi he had vanished home Just befour the Real rain came down ( he is a wise man lol :D )

Duncan

28-07-2005, 03:14 PM

Dont you go anywhere without scrumpy Dunc ? You even had some at the Moto Gp in the pouring rain!

JR

Scrumpy stops me getting homesick. And if I get lost the flagon of cider is like a talisman, it tells the authorities to put me on a train back to the West Country where everyone knows me.

scrumpster

28-07-2005, 06:35 PM

Scrumpy stops me getting homesick. And if I get lost the flagon of cider is like a talisman, it tells the authorities to put me on a train back to the West Country where everyone knows me.

Here, here, apart from the fact I live in Hampshire now!!!

Dutchman

29-07-2005, 04:40 PM

I would not have missed seeing Valentino do what he did. It was awesome and worth the dampness.

I see it is warmer in Germany today for the practice...rain forcast on Sunday again, but it should be after the race.

McMONSTRO

29-07-2005, 05:22 PM

THE KITS FINALLY DRY!
No doubt ready for another dousing this weekend looking at the forecast :mad:

The phone is scrap apparently "unrepairable circuit board damage" so browsing e-bay for another!

Snap as soon as I saw McMonstros partner I recognised her but I still don't know how or why I know her face

the funny thing about the weekend was your partner looks like someone i know and i cant put my finger on it !!!!

Strange that! First time she's been out on the bike with me (probably the last after the soaking) Ive been to a few UKMOC do's, Monster weekend x 2, Trackday and few others but not been down your neck of the woods :confused: