Donington Park trip creates special memories for young motorcyclists

The riders recently took to track at Donington Park, which is centred in the Midlands, England.

For one competitor, in particular, it was a dream come true. Martin Burnett, 16, from Carnmoney, started riding motorcycles at age eleven just for fun before moving on to the competitive stage with some significant finishes along the way including a championship third in the USBK Junior Cup class.

He was to compete in the brand new class for 2020, the Moto One USBK Championship and had been selected to be a member of the David Woods Youth Academy then the Covid-19 pandemic struck and motorsports like many other were impacted.

As restrictions eased, an opportunity for the team, Zakado Racing and @merrtan72, to compete in England was explored as Martin’s father, George, explained: “We decided to team up with the very talented Scott McCrory and Jackal Racing, a team from Larne with the same dreams as us and travel to Donington to enter the first round of the Thundersport GB series over the weekend of 24th 25th 26th July and wow it didn’t disappoint.”

There were, he noted, challenges as “Zakado Racing with @merrtan72 didn’t set the world on fire, in fact Saturday was in racing terms a disaster”.

He added: “Race two on Saturday was a race of two halves. Started as a dry race and with a good start they were off and running. Unfortunately, after a few laps the rain came and after four riders had fallen - thankfully unharmed - at Redgate corner. The race was red flagged with 15 minutes for a restart and a wet race declared.

“So with the bikes prepared for wet conditions away we went again, unfortunately on the second lap Martin lost the rear exiting Redgate Corner and once again put his NRG leathers to the test. Happy to report he emerged unscathed, but For Zakado Racing, Saturday was a washout but happy that Scott and Jackal Racing got some great results.”

Sunday saw perfect conditions for racing.

George continued: “As the race panned out, Martin found himself just in front of a group with four other riders. After a few laps he had maintained his position, unfortunately a mistake he made braking late for the final chicane left him of the back of the group. With only four laps left and with a gap, I felt he would maintain this position as this was the closest battle he has had with riders lapping the same lap times, but in those final laps he decided he wasn’t going to let them go and he was lapping faster than the group in front and he clawed them back and by the chequered flag he had taken back two places and finished just behind the lead bike in the group.”

The team went on to thank everyone who made their participation at Donington Park possible.

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