This weekend took us to foggy Silverstone, based in Northampton. British Superbikes Round 11 at Silverstone gave Team Buff and rider Rob Frost, a tenth place in the British Supersport championship. With a blinding qualifying performance, Team Buff had an amazing transitional round with Frosty claiming fourth position on the grid at the very front row. Unfortunately, owing to cooling tyres and a case of bad luck, Frosty lost his Triumph on the 7th lap after following the safety car for three laps.
Destination Silverstone met us this weekend with the welcome use of a garage - a much needed and appreciated added bonus! After a non-stop schedule of World Superbikes and British Superbikes, our absence at Croft allowed those all important riches to be added to the bikes by way of a new engine to “Number 1 bike” new rear sets, new intake trumpets, fairing mounts and clock mounts giving a huge saving of a further 2.5 kilos on each bike. So you could say we used the time to our best advantage.
On our last two outings, Rob’s riding has stepped up phenomenal amounts and the Triumph’s performances have been going through the roof. So, working in conjunction with one another, Frosty and the Triumphs have shown nothing to diminish the fact that we can run with the fastest riders…and this weekend was no exception.
Strategies on both bikes including Geometry and suspension were at the forefront of Dave and Donk’s deliberations this weekend. This in turn with tactical communication between team mechanics and rider, resulted in our best ever qualification performance in the British Supersport Championship. Rob gave an absolute blinder of a qualifier – a lap time of 1:29.1 (lap record 1:28.5) which gave us 4th place on the grid.
After such a late and misshapen start to the year, our principals Donk and Dave were so proud of the whole team. Back at Knockhill, Frosty said he wanted to “sort out this qualifying lark” and he did just that. With the Triumphs and everything coming together for him, he was where he knew he belonged on the grid.
So front row it was for Team Buff’s Rob Frost and as usual a favourite with Jamie Whitham, he was interviewed for the viewing public at home.
Rob had a good strong start following Glen Richards. With a careful drive out of the first turn, Plater got past Frosty on the straight. Rob in turn out braked Steve Plater on the hairpin and gave a really good, strong fair pass on a rider who is at the very top of his game. This alone indicated the real ability of our rider and his Triumph. After a crash of a fellow competitor, the safety car came out and slowed the field down for three laps then pulled in & racing continued. For what seemed like an unimportant instant, Frosty hit a bump on the track where the bike had planted itself all weekend. Unluckily, the cooling tyres took no prisoners and sent Frosty into the gravel.
Lots of transitional steps for the team and much deserved achievements became evident for us at Silverstone. Unfortunately lady luck decided to bypass us on what seemed an undeserving spill for Rob.
We were delighted to welcome our buddy and much loved member of Team Buff, “Slick” with us this weekend along with his wealth of presence and encyclopaedic knowledge of motorcycles. Good to see ya, chap!
So, with the last round at Brands Hatch in the not too distant future and plans already being laid out for next year, Rob has set his near-optimum pace and found his god-given right to the front of the grid.
See you at Brands!
kimibird@hotmail.co.ukFree-lance reporterTeam BuffBritish Supersport Championship and World SupersportPhotos credit: Alan Reid al@reidphotos.net
