91传媒

鈥淔ollowing my major leg and ankle injury at Donington Park, I made my return to racing at back-to-back weekends at Thruxton 鈥� the fastest circuit in the UK.鈥�

BSB Thruxton

鈥淢aking my comeback from injury at one of the fastest circuits in the country was always going to be a challenge, but having a good base setup from 2025 gave us a solid starting point.

鈥淚 was able to get out on track for FP1 and immediately put in some competitive times, which I was really happy with considering how little bike time I had compared to the rest of the field.

鈥淔P2, FP3 and qualifying were all about working on the bike鈥檚 electronic settings, including traction control, power delivery, slide control and engine braking. Getting these settings right is particularly important at Thruxton, where the bike can be spinning sideways at over 150mph.

鈥淭he aim was not only to maximise performance but also to manage tyre wear throughout the race. If the bike is sliding too much, it puts a lot of stress into the tyre and can cause the pace to drop off towards the end of the race.

鈥淯nfortunately, we didn鈥檛 quite manage to get everything fully dialled in for qualifying, so I ended up further back on the grid than I would have liked. However, some further changes during Sunday morning鈥檚 warm-up session made a big improvement and gave me much more confidence going into the race.”

鈥淭he first few laps were the usual hectic BSB action, but I was able to put the improvements to good use and make several overtakes.

鈥淔rom there, the rest of the race was about managing my physical limits. This was my first race back after the injury and my rehabilitation is still ongoing, so I had to be sensible with how hard I pushed.

鈥淚 settled into a rhythm that felt comfortable and was able to put in consistent laps right through to the end of the race, eventually finishing inside the top 20. That was the goal coming into the weekend, so it was good to achieve that.

鈥淥verall, I was really happy with how I felt on the bike and with the pace I was able to show straight away. The biggest limiting factor is still my fitness and recovery from the injury, but that will continue to improve week after week.鈥�

NG Road Racing Thruxton

鈥淚t was straight back Thruxton the following weekend as I joined NG Road Racing for their first event at the circuit in 10 years.

鈥淥nly competing on the Saturday meant we had a busy schedule, with morning practice and qualifying followed by a single race in the afternoon.

鈥淨ualifying was a bit of a challenge. The red flags came out at the end of my first flying lap, meaning I hadn鈥檛 managed to set a lap time while already putting quite a bit of wear into my already part-worn tyre.

鈥淚 was able to get out at the front for the restart and put in a fast time on my first flying lap to qualify on pole position.”

鈥淚 went into the race feeling confident, although we did have one unknown as was the first time I had raced with the DYMAG wheels, as I normally have to run standard Honda wheels when competing in British Superbike.

鈥淚 got a slightly slow start and was third into Turn 1, but over the first lap I was able to make my way back to the front of the pack.

鈥淔rom there, I put together a series of fast laps, including the fastest lap of the weekend, and went on to take the race win by almost 10 seconds.

鈥淥verall, the day couldn鈥檛 have gone much better. Pole position, the race win and fastest lap of the weekend, as well as gathering some really useful data on the DYMAG wheels, made it a great way to finish off the back-to-back weekends at Thruxton.鈥�