2019 BSB Season.

[charleselan]

That was a really good qualifying session this afternoon and thankfully dry. Scott did look in superb form and to be over four tenth of a second faster than the nearest competitor in BSB is mighty impressive.

It was really good to have Leon Haslam join Jack & James in the commentary box as well, as he provided some brilliant insight and knowledge that complimented James own superb expertise.

Very impressed with Taylor McKenzie's performance on the TAS BMW, hopefully he can build on this over the race weekend and at Brands Hatch in two weeks time, thus getting a full-time ride with the team in 2020.

The weather forecast for Sunday is not looking good, so maybe best to view from home Chris ; at least one gets a superb presentation by the ever magnificent Eurosport 2 team.

[charleselan]

Another excellent double win by Scott Redding at the Donington Park penultimate round in the 2019 BSB Championship which cemented his lead in the table. The weather actually held fair on race day much against the forecasters predictions and both main races were held in dry but breezy and cool conditions.

From what I could observe of the excellent Eurosport 2 production the crowd looked less big than in some of the meetings particularly Oulton Park; Cadwell Park and Thruxton, in fact some of the grass embankments that I have previously seen full of spectators were quite sparse. One point of criticism of the Eurosport 2 presentation regards Matt Roberts' slack pronunciation of Scott's surname, it is Redding and not Reddin' Matt; your North Midland accent is no excuse for not pronouncing it correctly .

Scott dominated Race One in a manner that was classy to say the least; in Race Two he was on course to do similar but a hard charging team mate Josh Brookes came back strongly in the late race, however Scott explained that he was experiencing gear shift issues in the latter stages which slowed him somewhat.

In race one there were two very strange mechanical issues that affected Brad Ray and Christian Iddon; firstly Brad's rear brake calliper became attached which was extraordinary to say the least and Christian Iddon lost a very good placing when his left hand footrest broke off.

It is now all down to the two PBM Ducati boys now as they head off to the final three race finalé at Brands Hatch in two weeks time.

[chrisb]

it was a great couple of wins, sadly the weather in Durham was dreadful, heavy rain, flooding and windy so against my lesser judgement put the bike away for a comfortable settee, interlinked with MotoGP and a few other things, thought Scott was a real class act and am really looking forward to Brands, went down for the final races at Brands a few years ago with some mates but think they way the weather is going may pass on going down this year, but it will be fascinating, 3 years ago Josh wiped the field - he was really quick and just so much better than anyone else that day, but now Scott isn't just anyone else is he? roll on next weekend

really felt for Taylor Mac, hope he is ok and gets another bite of the BMW cherry this weekend 

[charleselan]

Shame that you can't make Brands next weekend Chris, but the weather seems very unpredictable at present, at least in Northern Europe we are not quite subjected to the typhoons that Mikael gets in Japan.

I would dearly like to be at the BSB finalé but not possible at present. Scott appears pretty relaxed about it and feels that Josh is quite beatable there, and he wasn't being big headed about those feelings, just a matter of fact. It would be brilliant if he could win the championship at his first attempt, and send him off to WSBK full of confidence. I see many keyboard jockeys never mention him as a challenger to Johnny Rae but most of them know very little about racing other than being "fan boys". Scott is more than capable of beating Rae, I just hope he takes his current tech' guy with him as he wants to do.

Taylor Mac was very unlucky with that high side in morning warm up as he looked really good, hopefully he will show well at Brands and get the seat next year. Interesting to see Glen Irwin parting ways with the Neal team but rumour has it that he has signed for Honda next year along side his brother.

[chrisb]

well done Scott!! rode brilliantly and sensibly, that is how one wins a championship!

looking forward to seeing you in WSB Scott,

[chrisb]

teams are being settled and two more of my favourite riders are getting very good seats, Taylor Mac and Gino Reay - have both got the opportunity to show the world their skills, as has a lot of others, the teams that are lining up are looking very impressive and even Karl Ryde another favourite has got a good seat for next year, lookimg forward to this

[charleselan]

A lot of rider changes for 2020 with some unexpected moves. It is shaping up well for another excellent season of BSB in 2020. I am really pleased that Christian Iddon has got the second PBM Ducati as he is a very quick and hard trying rider, maybe a little too hard on his tyres in the races early stages over the past few years on the BMW but hopefully that will be resolved on a Ducati.

Interesting to se that he has been replaced at Tyco BMW by Bradley Ray, a young man who obviously needed a change of scenery, but the right direction?

The Irwin brothers team up once more and this time Glenn going Andrew at Honda on the new Fireblade; apparently Glenn is doing the IOM TT Races in 2020 as well so hope the lad stays safe and keeps calm on his first acquaintance with this fearsome place.

As Chris mentions above great to see Gino Rea get a full-time ride and on a Ducati Panigalé V4R as opposed to the old MV Augusta that he made a few appearances on late this past season.

[chrisb]

too true JC, am really looking forward to next season, especially as I hear that a certain ex-Moto3 champion, I was going to say chumpion, has gotten himself a ride in the superstocks next year, I hope he has learned a great deal these past 4 years and await to see if he does actually get to race

[chrisb]

well it wasn't exactly my fault but utub were kind enough to show the highlights of the 2019 BSB season it would have been rude not to have watched it, so for over two hours we had Whit's wisdom and some cracking racing that reminded me what a fabulous series this is, really hope all settles down as really believe in the likes of MacKenzie boys, Gino Rea amongst others, and would love for them to prove us right

[charleselan]

This is the one series I will miss during this awful pandemic, by far and away the best motor sport currently around.

I must look out the BSB Highlight package that you have mentioned Chris, I have copies of quite a few races last year but missed an awful lot too.

[chrisb]

methinks i may be purchasing some tickets for Donnington

[charleselan]

It appears the BSB organisers believe that the social distancing rules will be relaxed enough by August to allow spectators to attend. A bit premature I feel as it could well coincide with a second spike of C19, particularly when one sees the mess the UK so called government are making of things.

[chrisb]

glad it is on this weekend [Donington] 

sad I can't be there