It’s been a while since we’ve posted a progress report on Di-Spark’s venture into BSB, sponsoring PR Racing rider, Sam Coventry on the BMW SuperStock 1000. The last 2 meetings have been a serious learning curve for Sam, having switched to PR Racing on the BMW. Di-Spark are impressed with the progress however, with Sam very obviously getting to grips with the new machine and working at close quarters with the PR Racing team. Here’s the story so far…

BSB Silverstone: 8th- 10th September 2017

Di-Spark Ltd sponsored rider Sam Coventry and the PR Racing team arrived at Silverstone with a good feeling; Sam is a big fan of the famous Silverstone circuit and was raring to go.

Sam’s FP1 session kicked off in the rain, giving Sam invaluable practice on the BMW in the wet – having recently switched to the PR Racing team. He ended the session well and was looking forward to a dry FP2.

With dry settings dialled in and Sam keen to get out for FP2, Sam completed 5 laps before the rain came in again. He ended the day P17 – ready for qualifying tomorrow, bar a few changes.During Saturday qualifying Sam got out behind the main pack of riders to gain some room and set a time of 2:13.5 on his first flying lap. True to form, the rain came in again on the next lap which stopped play and hindered his strategy. The riders who got out early gained an extra flying lap before the weather turned. Sam ended up 21st out of 39, so it was all down to the race.

Starting 21st on the grid Sam got a strong start but got squeezed at turn 1 and dropped back to 23rd, he battled his way back to 18th and set his fastest time of 2:10.2. He pushed hard through to 14th and had a great battle with Ash Beech – both riders passing each other many times during the last 3 laps of the race, with Sam coming out on top! Bringing the Di-Spark-sponsored PR Racing BMW home in a creditable 14th place and gaining more points.

With the next meeting at Oulton Park and Sam having an official BMW test day between the two meetings, he is confident of another strong weekend – aiming for a top 10 finish at a track he loves.

BSB Oulton Park – 25th-17th September

Di-Spark, Sam Coventry and the PR Racing BMW team arrived at a damp Oulton Park with good expectations, after a mixed weekend weather wise at Silverstone

FP1 kicked off in dry conditions and Sam came in twice for setup changes on the bike and finished the session P17 ready for FP2. FP2 began and Sam improved to P15 – with a good set up and ready for qualifying tomorrow.
Saturday came around and Sam was out for Qualifying. The rain had just stopped, so the track was drying, Sam started qualifying on wet tyres but with 18 minutes to go he changed to dry tyres. He went back out and improved to an impressive P8 for most of the session. The other riders and teams were improving their lap times each lap, as the track dried. Sam got caught in traffic and finished up P22. Good potential.

Saturdays race kicked off at 13:50pm. Starting 22nd on the grid Sam got away with a great start and got his head down. He picked off riders and moved up to P15 after a few battles and finished the race 15th with a lap time of 1.38.2 which he and the team were really happy with. This placed Sam, Di-Spark and PR Racing BMW P15 for tomorrows race.

For the Sunday race, Sam was looking forward to another good start and battling for a top 10. The weather presented further challenges as the rain stopped and the track began to dry. Sam left pit lane with a wet front tyre and dry rear tyre as the conditions looked tricky. Once he got around to the grid he switched for a dry front tyre and began the race. He achieved another good start but was squeezed out onto the damp part of the circuit back to P17. He pushed hard back up to P15, finishing the race in this position.

Di-Spark and Sam Coventry are looking forward to the Brands Hatch race on the 13/14/15th of October for the final round of the National Superstock 1000 championship. Sam is aiming for a top 10 and a great weekend to finish of the year. Good luck Sam!