Aeziah Divine, took another big step forward in his sporting career over the weekend at Donington Park GP Circuit in Derbyshire, UK. Divine competed in Round 6 of the highly competitive R&G British Talent Cup.
Divine is in his second season in the category and is competing in Dorna Sport’s “Road to MotoGP” program as he progresses through the levels, edging towards a future move into the FIM JuniorGP World Championship.
It was great start to the weekend at Donington Park on Friday with Divine getting back into the low 1.42’s in free practice – his previous personal best time at the circuit. Divine ended combined practice in P16 of 26 riders from across the England, Scotland, the US and Canada.
Divine went even quicker in Friday’s qualifying session, securing a P19 finish with a time of 1:41.757.
This weekend was a special one for the R&G British Talent Cup, with the riders being treated to three races across the 3-day weekend compared to the usual two.
In Saturday’s race 1, Divine pushed hard early in the race, moving forward on the opening laps. The team made a gearing change on Divine’s bike due to strong tail winds, so the young rider had to be adaptable as the weather conditions shifted the team’s approach.
Speaking about race one, Divine said, “We had a group of about five riders around the same pace, which made for many good battles. By lap 6, I had climbed 6 positions to P13 to lead my group but we kept changing positions all race.”
“On the last few laps, I let the riders in front keep fighting and stayed behind them to wait for the right time to make a move. On the last lap, I had a good drive heading into the chicane and overtook 2 riders under braking to beat them to the line and took P16.”
In race 2, Divine felt confident with his strategy. “I knew if I had a solid start and stuck with the right group, I could battle for points.”
“I found it difficult to hold my line towards the end of the race due to us all fighting for the points positions in the last few laps…During the last laps, I had strong battles with Dan Stephenson, and clocked a personal best of 1:41.670 on the penultimate lap. I managed to make a move on the last few corners and crossed the finish line at the front of my group, claiming P12 – my second-best result in the class and more championship points!”
Sunday’s race 3 proved to be a character-building race for the teenage rider. After having a strong start from P17 on the grid, Divine consistently hit lap times within the 1:41’s and sat in 15th for the first 8 laps of the race. When passed by his teammate, Divine sat in behind him for a few laps, setting another personal best lap time of 1:41.213.
Divine explained that the race shifted when a technical problem arose.
“Unfortunately with just over 2 laps to go, my front sprocket came loose and fell off, causing my chain to come off as well and ending my race. The result doesn’t reflect the work put in - it’s just one of those unlucky things that can happen.”
“It was a disappointing end to the race as I had a strong chance of another points finish but overall I couldn’t be happier with the weekend. There’s so many positives to take away from this weekend so we keep pushing and building from here.”
“In less than 2 short weeks we’ll use this momentum as we head to Assen TT.”
“Huge thanks to all my sponsors and private donors who make it possible for me to get out of each and every race. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”
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