Cognate Lyon, France 

- Chris Warwick

The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team are aiming to get their season back on track this weekend as Leon Camier and Jake Gagne prepare to take on the fast and furious Donington Park circuit for round 6 of the FIM World Superbike Championship.

A rigorous recovery regime following his accident in round 3 wasn’t enough to allow Camier to race at the previous round at Imola, however following another two weeks of treatment, the British star is in better physical condition heading into this weekend. Camier is hopeful of completing the whole race weekend, however the real test to gauge his fitness will come during Friday’s Free Practice sessions around the 4 kilometre (2.49 mile) long Donington circuit.

Fronting the other Fireblade, Jake Gagne is facing the challenge of yet again visiting a circuit he hasn’t raced at previously, however the American rookie has proven this season that he is a quick learner on the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 and he aims to be back in the points this weekend.

The Donington Park Circuit is a track of two distinct halves, with the first section comprising fast, flowing corners and elevation changes through sections such as Hollywood and the Craner Curves, while the second half is exemplified by flatter, tighter sections like the Fogarty Esses and Melbourne Hairpin.

Action starts at the Donington WorldSBK round with Free Practice 1 at 0945 local time (GMT +1) on Friday with Race 1 on Saturday starting at 1315 on Saturday and 1300 on Sunday.

I used to like the idea of being spontaneous and also did not fancy using a sat nav however once you have tried to get a room somewhere to find you cannot get one as they are full due to a local festival, over priced (Italy circa 2001, 11 pm in a roadside motel style @ €175 comes to mind) , you cannot find one (sounds strange I know but there are miles and miles of nothing in parts of Germany - well apart from excellent scenery) and to book into somewhere and find it awful, we now do as above - i.e. find a final destination and plan route around it. 

We use a combination of Biker Friendly accommodation on www.thebikerguide.co.uk and if there is nothing in the area we want we also look on booking.com.

We did a trip a couple of years ago with the final destination being Colditz Castle, which you can stay in. Went in July for 3 ish weeks with everything booked, set into sat nav and you know what - thank goodness as it rained everyday but one. We would set off with the next place in the sat nav - take off route when we wanted and arrive at destination stress free.

We stayed at some great places, travelled fantastic roads and routes, ate well, found our way easy even with the many roadwork diversions and would pass by others at the side of the road battling with a big wet soggy map to find their way. We did also pack a map as back-up or to look at a vaster area on a larger scale, however we are happy to say it return dry and not soggy. 

I think once you have used a sat nav on a big trip which gets you to destinations easy, gets you out of a diversion and back on route, helps you navigate/find food and petrol, you wonder what you did before the United States military released the technology for GPS!

Bideford Bike Show
OVERLORD Military Spectacular
Erskine Motorbike Meet
Margate Meltdown Run
Lincs Italian Motorcycle Festival
Tarts in Tartan Rally
The Big Barn Rally 3
Pendle Powerfest
Trikefest
No Bull just Beer and Bikes Show
MACH 3 - The Motorbike & Music Festival
Warrington Wheels Youth Motor Cycle Competition
Slurp 'n' Burp Rally
Churchill Arms Beer & Bike Festival
Cheshire Classic Car & Motorcycle Show
Renal Ride
Kilt Ride 2018
Rotary Club of Sowerby Bridge (RCoSB) 5th annual Classic Bike and Scooter show
RBLRB Day in aid of the Poppy Appeal @ Ace Cafe

See more details and events on THE BIKER GUIDE
www.thebikerguide.co.uk/bikerralliesshowmay.html

Legendary UK band Reef will bring the 2018 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy to a close on Friday 8th of June with a rousing concert set to take place in the heart of the TT Races Paddock. Reef burst onto the music scene in 1995, with their debut album ‘Replenish’ achieving Gold status in the UK during the peak of the Britpop era. This was followed up by the even more successful ‘Glow’ which went to Number 1 in the UK album chart on its way to going Platinum and featuring the hit single ‘Place Your hands’.

Another two studio albums followed alongside regular appearances at the UK’s leading festivals including Glastonbury, Reading Festival and the Isle of White Festival. Consisting of Gary Stringer on vocals, Jesse Wood on guitar, Jack Bessant on bass and Dominic Greensmith on drums, the band released a fifth studio album earlier this month to critical acclaim and featuring new single ‘My Sweet Love’ starring guest vocalist Sheryl Crowe coming off the back of a sell-out UK tour.

Reef are currently back on the road as part of another sell out UK tour; Britpop must be Destroyed, alongside The Wildhearts and Terrorvision. Their headline Senior TT performance is not the first time that Reef have overlapped with the legendary Isle of Man TT motorcycle race. Their track ‘Mellow’ from debut album ‘Replenish’ featured on the 2011 documentary film ‘TT3D – Closer to the Edge’.

Reef’s concert will take place in the Official Hospitality Unit in the heart of the TT Paddock. The venue is undoubtedly more intimate than many of the bands’ appearances to date with tickets limited to five hundred.

Tickets go on sale at 0900hrs on Monday 21st May via iomtt.com or by calling 00 44 (0) 1624 640011. Tickets are priced at £45.00