FROM THE TRACK: Donington struggles for Rouse
Posted by MSG ADMIN
Another tough weekend for Chrissy Rouse at Donington as he fights to push up the championship table, but a solid points haul to add to the total at the end of it!
The weekend started well with first practice leading to Chrissy topping the timesheet, but slipping to 4th position after the combined results were in - and a 12th place qualifier for race 1.
Yet another fast start for Chrissy had him jumping up 9 places - jumping to 3rd position before a fighting move pushed him by Fraser Rogers into 2nd position on lap 4!
As the damp track began to dry out through the race, the bike setup for the damp track had a huge effect on the grip of the Kawasaki, and on Lap 8 the defending Champ dropped back in the pack to 8th position at the chequered flag for race 1.
Race 2 saw Chrissy starting at 8th position - with a dry track from the get-go which Rouse hoped would be an advantage for him. Another signature fast start saw Chrissy jump up three places quickly - sitting in 5th place. Throughout the race however, the pace of the other riders was something Chrissy was unable to keep up with and he eventually crossed the line in 7th place.
“It ended up being a really tough weekend at Donington,” he said. “The first race started off brilliantly getting straight up in to the leading pack and sitting in a comfortable second for the first chunk of the race.
“But as the track dried I really struggled for rear grip and went backwards, eventually finishing eighth. In the second race, I got off to another good start but I wasn’t able to match the pace of the front group and again went backwards through the race to finish seventh.
“I’m struggling to find what I want at the moment from the bike, my team are putting a huge effort in to try different options and I keep feeling we have made a step forward with set up but I believe we have not yet unlocked the true potential of our package.”
Rouse is back out again this weekend at one of his favourite circuits, Cadwell Park, where he hopes to bring home a strong result.
