91传媒

Test day

鈥淚 was buzzing to ride the Honda again. We set off strongly with a 1:33.6 on my 3^rd lap, then managed a 1:32.9 in session 4. I was happy with the lap times despite finding it far too physical and struggling towards the end of each session. We needed to find a better setting to help me run a race distance. Without the datalogger yet again, we made improvements, but I wasn鈥檛 fully sure with the feeling. I had a few moments, very nearly losing the front at The Hairpin and up out of the seat twice, so started to tense up towards the end of the day.鈥�

Race Day Free Practice

鈥淚 tried to relax more and felt really good, but the lap times were poor 鈥� in the 1:34s. My head needed a shake as my confidence dropped. It was a waste of a session as I had no idea if it was me, the bike or both. I went for a nap!鈥�

Qualifying (P12 on Grid)

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 get onto the circuit in a good position and every time I was on a good lap I would catch a bunch of riders. I dropped off and tried to find space, but it was a nightmare. I kept calm and gave myself just one lap at the end to put in a time of 1:33.277 which put me 12^th on the grid. That lifted my confidence again and gave me a feeling we could make better bike changes.鈥�

Race 1 (P7 in Class)

鈥淚 was worried about my first race start on the Honda as the two practice runs had been terrible. In fact, it wasn鈥檛 bad and I got away to make a pass on Jamie Boyce at Park putting me in P11. I settled behind Liam Murtagh and Luca Jennings and felt okay, dipping in the 1:32s, but on Lap 4 they started to drop me slightly. Being the first race on the bike, I just didn鈥檛 settle enough.听 听

鈥淪till trying to work things out, I didn鈥檛 want to push too much and make a mistake. Jamie then came back past with Brandon Petty chasing him down. I found myself sandwiched between them. Petty made a move on me at The Hairpin, but didn鈥檛 make it stick. He then got past me again at Charlies 1 so I decided to stay behind him, try to let him pull me on as I didn鈥檛 want to slow us up too much.听

鈥淎 couple of laps later, I felt good and had the pace to re-pass him. With a lap and a half to go, I was setting up a move at Chris Curve when we had a random dump of what felt like hailstones. By Mansfield, it had stopped so I was straight back on it trying to get past. Then more heavy rain through Hall Bends and I locked the front at The Hairpin and ran on. Paul Charman snuck past me, but knowing the rain couldn鈥檛 have settled below the over-hanging trees, I went hard into Barn Corner and managed to out-drag him to the line.听

The red 鈥榝lag came out for the rain and crashes it caused. It was a shame to finish that way as I was in good flow. I really enjoyed the race and to say it was my first one on the 鈥楤lade, 7^th in Class was okay.鈥�

Race 2 (P6 in Class)

鈥淟ights out and it was an okay start from P14 on the Grid. The bike felt good for 3 laps and then it was hard work. I鈥檇 made a change for this race and it was completely the wrong way 鈥� my fault as I didn鈥檛 listen to advice and lived to regret it. 听

听鈥淭he arm pump was the most painful I have had. I was a passenger for most of the race, but never stopped trying. I did manage to pass Liam on the last lap as he was having the same issues. Strangely, 6^th place was my best ever in the Pirelli Super Series. I gave it all I had just to finish and was proud of myself, not for performance, but for staying onboard. A fair few riders went down in that one. The hard graft paid off, but I was not happy.鈥�

Race 3 (P7 in Class)

鈥淲e went back to Race 1 settings and it felt so much better. I had a lot of work to do starting P15 on the Grid because of a bad lap time in Race 2. Got away okay again, got stuck in and was enjoying it.

鈥淥n Lap 2, I got to Wilf Turner and saw a rare pass could be on over The Mountain. So, on Lap 3 I did just that, putting me in a great position to get away and go with Liam, Boyce and Jennings. Then, four turns later, I missed my gear change into The Hairpin, ran on and lost two places to Wilf and Paul Charman. A nightmare. My fault for rushing and not engaging 1st gear correctly.听

鈥淚 went into chill mode, got back to work and felt strong. I managed to pass Charman, then Petty, to get on the back of Turner again. Close racing with Wilf, we hunted down Liam, Jennings and Boyce. I tried to squeeze a pass on the last lap into Hall Bends, but had to back out at the last second. We both got past Boyce and Wilf closed the door early at The Hairpin. I went for a run to the line and, just like last year, I lost out.

鈥淕reat racing by all the lads and I really enjoyed that race to finish the weekend. If I hadn鈥檛 missed that gear I was sure this would have been my best finish.

鈥淕ood things are coming and I hope to see some of you up north at Knockhill for Round 7. I can鈥檛 wait.鈥�

Photos by Matt Sayle Photography