Storm Stacey made his Bennetts British Superbike Championship race debut last weekend at Donington Park and the 17-year-old came tantalisingly close to bagging a points-scoring result on his first outing with the GR Motosport team.
Stacey was relishing the first round of the Championship, making the leap from the Pirelli National Superstock 600 class, and after setting a goal of finishing all three races and finishing in the top 20, he exceeded his own expectations on his debut.
The GR Motosport team worked hard through free practice, and in Datatag Qualifying, Stacey set the 23rd fastest time ahead of the opening race.
In race one, Stacey maintained his focus to finish 16th and just miss out on securing a championship point by 0.216 to Taylor Mackenzie. In race two he crossed the line in 20th place and then in the final race of the weekend, he equaled his race on result, when he was promoted to 16th following Andrew Irwin’s disqualification from the result.
Stacey said: “It was a good weekend altogether, it was a bit up and down, but that is the first one done! We went out in the first session and was a bit over my head, trying to get used to the bike again after the test. I had a good feeling for the bike already after the tests, so it was just getting more comfortable. I went through the practice sessions and that was really good, we made some changes to improve turning and then we had a few problems, but we were taking a step in the right direction.
“The bike continued to handle better through the fast changes in direction with some more changes and I spoke to some of the other riders through the weekend like Peter Hickman and Lee Jackson, and they were giving me some pointers which was nice – quite surprising really!
“My aim for the weekend was to be inside the top 20 and be comfortable there and finish all three races as it is quite mentally and physically draining, three 26-lap races on a Superbike! So to finish all three races I was more than happy with that. I was inside the top 20 all weekend, so that was a good start for me really.
“In qualifying we had a problem with the bike after about seven laps, I had got a decent time in and then we lost power. The team smashed it, they worked hard and fixed the problem and we were ready for race one.
“At the start of race one, I went into turn one a bit all guns blazing! I was quite surprised how different it was compared to Superstock 600, where they are really ruthless at the first corner on the first lap. Everyone fell into place. I was nervous, but there was big respect and it was good.
“I knew more of what to expect in race two so I was pushing away, and wanted to stay with the pack, but I couldn’t. I was still having the time of my life though!
“Then in race three I had a really good start and was on the back of the pack. I came down into the chicane and everyone braked quite early, which I wasn’t expecting and I did a big endo and the bike went sideways and I let off the brakes, then I went wide and messed it all up and lost positions.
“Then when I was pushing to catch the pack back up I was matching the lap times of the guys in about sixth place, so I was really on it in the final race, something just clicked and I was riding like a man possessed! At the end of the race I caught back up to Taylor (Mackenzie) and Gino (Rea) and by that time I had pushed so hard to catch up that I had used the best of the tyre so I just rode it out.
“The last corner I had a battle with Taylor and I just squeezed pass on the brakes and then I managed to get 17th which I was really happy about, so that was the first weekend done!”