Damon Rees and Shane Richardson are all prepared to race Bennetts British SBK Championship Round 3 at Silverstone this weekend. Racing under Astro JJR Team, both Damon and Shane have put experiences of learning new tracks for Damo, and step-up bike for Shane under mental microscope to enter this weekend full of self-belief and confidence.
Damon is certainly still buzzing from achieving fine result standing 3rd Overall within the compacted 6 Round Series, yet all the while holding onto the actual reality of racing circuits which he’s only seen on screen from back at home.
Damon: ‘Yeah it’s been a dream to race at Silverstone, to be honest, all the tracks here are a dream as I’ve watched racing here since I was a kid. It’s a bit of a shame that we are only racing the national circuit rather than the GP, but it kind of works in my favour as it means less track to learn in a short amount of time’.
Never one to dwell on challenges ahead, Damo resonates pure positivity to be able to perform amongst highly competitive class, in just first season.
‘I’m currently sitting 3rd in the Superstock 1000 class after a 2nd & 3rd at the opening round at Donington, and a 3rd at Round 2, at Snetterton. It’s been an awesome start so far with the Carl Cox Motorsport supported Astro JJR Racing team, and I’m looking to continue the momentum into Round 3 here at Silverstone!’
If adjusting to new Team, new bike, new tracks was plenty to take on board, making sure none are overwhelming would be Damon’s stand-out character trait.
‘Yeah, I’ve adapted well I think. I’m still learning every time I hop on the bike, but it’s getting easier and easier. The hardest bit is learning the tracks, that’s why testing is so important, but we just haven’t been able to get to every track due to the delayed start’.
‘It just means I have to watch a lot more footage and study the track more so that I’m prepared, but nothing is more beneficial than riding a track. It was a challenge I knew I would face when I chose to race here, so I can’t fuss over it too much haha’.
Shane enters Round 3 having notched 6th place in 2019 BSB Superstock 600 class Opening Round at same venue. Given this season has produced new learning curves, Shane remains philosophical that patience is key to perfect challenges on and off track.
Shane: ‘Yea it’s certainly been a tough start to the season for me, but it doesn’t always go your way. I’ve really just been trying to get more and more comfortable on the bike and learning as much as I can during free practice to be the best I can for qualifying. Things are obviously a bit different on a big bike so there’s a bit of re-learning on the tracks and what not’.
For sure, Shane remains as committed as ever on improving thought processes for gaining results, yet not at the expense of losing sight of overall objectives.
‘Silverstone is a very iconic British circuit, although the national configuration we run is rather boring as it is so short and repetitive, however the times will be very very tight across the field. It’s going to be important to be toward the pointy end as much as possible over the weekend, especially as we know for qualifying’.
‘My aim for the weekend is to be better than I have been, really focus and gain every tenth I can as they will be crucial. Silverstone is still a bit of an unknown for me as last year we had only just got the bike had no real time on it so the opening round felt a lot of feeling things out etc’.
BSB Round 3 Silverstone, September 4-6th
Words: Sharon Cox.
Comments are closed.