Donington Park learning curve for Mansfield’s Binch Racing team
The Mansfield-based Binch Racing team added more points and learned more from round two of the Quattro Plant Hire Group British Supersport Championship at home track Donington Park.
A team spokesman said: All in all, Donington was a success and very productive.
“We are gathering so much data and information and we are learning more and more every time the bikes go out.
“Joe and Oliver are being extremely patient and we are all agreed that we will get stronger and stronger as the season goes on.”
Both Joe Talbot and Oliver Barr wanted to try a few new settings after the information that was captured at Round One.
Confidence in their new machines is extremely important and we are getting closer and closer to the ideal session by session.
Qualifying saw Talbot line up eighth on the grid and Barr 10th.
Oliver qualified 10th on the grid (Lap time 1.30.60)
Conditions were absolutely fantastic for the opening 12-lap sprint race.
Talbot was cautiously away from the line, losing a few places into turn one.
Very mindful of surrounding activities he gave himself time and space to settle into his groove.
By the end of lap two he was fully into the swing of things and built throughout the race.
He went quicker again during the race to record a lap time of 1.30.45 crossing the line to finish in sixth.
Barr got off the line very well indeed and made up a number of places in the first few turns only to feel a little uncomfortable with some of the moves from other riders around him.
But he cleverly stayed out of trouble and found a comfortable position on track to work on his race pace, bringing the bike home in 11th place with a best race lap of 1.30.74.
The debriefing sessions with the data team and mechanics were very positive and they learned more about their race set-up and found a direction for further minor adjustments.
After a slightly cooler morning, conditions were again glorious for the longer 18-lap feature race in front of huge crowds at Binch's home round.
Talbot started this race from seventh on the grid, based on his Sprint race lap times.
He was very keen to make a better start to get closer to the front group slightly faster than the sprint race and did not want to let them get away. He did just that and looked much more capable of staying with them.
He battled extremely hard trying some slightly different lines, braking later and accelerating harder in certain sections of the circuit.
It proved to be effective, passing some competitors, but there were some other riders who applied a different approach, all of which made for a fantastic race.
He finally crossed the line for another fine sixth place to bag more championship points.
Barr started the race from 12th on the grid and he made an incredible start.
He was pushing really really hard and his race pace was superb.
He managed to break free of the chasing pack to sit in 10th, chasing down ninth for what could have been a great top 10 finish.
However, in an effort to get closer to ninth he took a different line into the Melbourne loop which resulted in a very low speed crash.
Barr and the bike were absolutely fine though frustrated, but it had been a really strong showing of what he and his new machine are capable of.
Talbot sits sixth in the Championship on 42 points and Barr 14th on five points after the two rounds.
Next round is at Snetterton on 2th, 21st and 22nd June.