Ryan Dixon was back on track for round two of the No Limits Racing season at Donington Park at the weekend and it was a successful one for the Kent rider.

For Dixon it was a case of building into the weekend as it went on, culminating with a win in race three.

After finishing at Snetterton with an undiagnosed issue with the bike, we looked into a couple of things before heading to Donington Park not knowing if the bike was working properly.

On the second sighting lap of Fridays track day, it became apparent that the issue was still very much there. A day spent searching for anything untoward and numerous phone calls resulted in just sevens laps completed with issues each time I went out.

A quick trip to Tamworth Yamaha for a new throttle assembly, hoping that would cure it, and with a little help from some friends, we prepared the bike for qualifying Saturday.

Up bright and early to get the bike scrutineering and make sure all was ready, disappointment soon ensued as the bike cut out again on the first flying lap. I pulled in, not posting a time and therefore last on the grid in 40th.

Race 1 – starting at the back, having changed the quickshifter, hoping that may be the cure, I let everyone go on the first lap so I could try and do a few laps without interfering in anyone else’s race and also being a danger if the problem occurred again.

A few laps in and it seemed ok so I began to push on but being on a 30+ lap old rear tyre and with little bike time, I couldn’t get into the groove and although I caught and passed a few, I only finished 27th with a lap time which would see me 23rd on the grid for race 2.

Race 2 – the plan was a good start, aggressive turn one and try and finish in the top ten for a shot at a decent race three result and to be fair, it went pretty much according to plan. Finishing sixth overall (fourth in championship contenders classification).

I felt great on the bike, managing to knock over three seconds off my lap time, doing my fastest lap of Donington Park and putting myself fourth on the grid for race three.

Race 3 – I had a plan again and it almost went exactly as I hoped. A good start saw me third into then one and then straight into second at the old hairpin. Mr Talbot had been head and shoulders above anyone else all weekend and was only there for the track time before the British Championship season starts in a few weeks and so the plan was to ‘win’ the race (with him not included in the final classification).

I held position for three laps before dropping back behind Kam Dixon for a few laps. Then got settled in again, caught and passed him to take ‘the lead’ back which I held for the remaining laps to take the win (second on the road).

I managed another half a second off the lap time too. After a difficult start to the weekend, I’m super happy to take a win in the final race, moving me back into second in the championship, just two points adrift which all things considered is not a bad start! Imagine without the issue, I’d probably have a pretty decent lead at this point

Massive thank you to all who helped with advice/suggestions/inquiries, parts and help with the bike, including Jon Hunt (Jnr and Snr), Phil Seton (Seton Tuning), Ash at Tamworth Yamaha, Scott Halliday, Brad Mercer, Paul Bowerbank and anyone else I’ve forgotten! Thanks also to Laura Dixon, Lesley Hunt, Lisa Foster Mickey stez and Tim for their help with various bits over the weekend from pit boarding to looking after Max.

Images courtesy of Campix Photography