We headed over to Portugal for the final round of the series, with great anticipation of riding on the brand new circuit, which was certainly reported to be very exciting. With the project only 8 months in the making, and at a cost of 159 million pounds, it was an amazing circuit, although only just ready for the event.

On our arrival, there were tipper trucks, bull dozers, concreters, carpet layers, plumbers, electricians and all number of workmen still preparing the grounds and associated buildings and also completing the main road into the circuit, which wasn’t quite finished!

All things considered a remarkable feat. We got all set up but had a few minor hiccups, like no power, or hot showers for a couple of days, until all that got sorted.

We did some laps on the track on the scooter on Thursday, and I couldn’t wait to get on the bike. The track is unlike anything I’ve ridden on before with tremendous undulations, but the surface was very slippery and quite abrasive.

Friday - First Practice

First practice on Friday morning was rain soaked. Learning the brand new Algarve circuit in the rain was challenging as the surface had no rubber on it to speak of. I stayed out on track most of the session to get as many laps in as possible and making sure to keep it upright. No one wanted the statistic to be the first to go down on the new circuit!

Friday - First Qualifying

For the afternoon qualifying the track just wasn’t dry enough to be out on full dry tyres. I began the session on full wets to put a time in to qualify just incase the rain came down again. However the track was quickly forming a dry line towards the end of the session.

I pitted and swapped for a rear dry tyre. My plan was to do a few laps with a wet/dry combination and then swap to full dry tyres later in the session when the track was dry enough. Unfortunately on my second from last lap with this combination my engine developed a misfire while heading over the line to complete the lap. 2 corners later it expired in a cloud of smoke. Unlucky, but that’s racing.

Saturday - Second Practice

Morning practice was dry, allowing me the opportunity to learn the circuit in better conditions. The plan was to use our qualifying tyres from Friday afternoon and swap to a new set mid way through the session. Because the new surface was so abrasive it was wearing tyres very quickly. However with the engine blowing Friday afternoon, it dropped oil onto the rear tyre and we were unable to use it. If nothing else, the dry track time was great.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Saturday afternoon qualifying was my only chance to better my grid position just as long as it didn’t rain because obviously no one would go faster on a wet track. So what happens, this massive black rain cloud covers the circuit, and it absolutely pelted down not long before we were due on track! Couldn’t believe it.

So I did my best to find a good rain setup in case of rain on race day. Obviously not bettering my time but finding a lot of time compared with my first wet practice time on Friday morning. I felt a bit of bad luck attributed to my 29th starting position. In fact I don’t really feel I’ve had too much go my way all through this year quite frankly.!!!

Sunday - Race

I can’t say I was particularly thrilled sitting on the grid on Sunday morning, knowing that I had a 12 lap mission ahead of me from my starting position. And it didn’t get any better. Going into Turn one on the first lap, I got completely boxed in with absolutely no where to go, ran wide and ended up dead last in 40th position.

So the red mist set in and I just had to do what I had to do from there, so I spent the whole race playing catch up, passing 18 riders to finish in 22nd position. Nothing else really to add, I did my best with what I had, and that was as good as I could do.

Ahead of me the battle raged with Brendan Roberts fighting for the lead, where he needed the win to take the championship title. Chris Seaton had an amazing race holding the lead for a number of laps before he ran out of tyre. I can truly say that I have had such a good time in the paddock this year with these two top blokes and I am very proud to be able to call them my friends.

The silly season of who goes where, is still in full swing, with lots of talk in the paddock of which riders will be with what teams. Currently we are looking at a couple of options before making a final decision, but I can say that I will definitely be back to race in Europe for the 2009 season.

Overall, 2008 has been an amazing experience and a very positive one with regard to what direction I want to take. In all honesty though, there has only been 2 occasions this season that I feel that I have had the bike sorted enough that I could actually ride to my potential. Other than that the bike has simply not felt good enough to be able to push it.

So, I feel I have some unresolved business in this paddock, and I hope that I will be able to ride next year with more confidence.

After the meeting, we had a few days in Portimao, which is the most picturesque place with a spectacular coast line. It is also one of the cheapest places we have been to this year, and one definitely worth a visit, so put that one on your calendar if you intend heading to a WSBK round next year.

Massive thanks to everyone involved in helping me ‘live the dream’ in Europe this year. I hope I can reward your continued support with more impressive results next year.

Friday - First Practice

The track surface was still nearly brand new, and still very dirty, thus making it extremely slippery, and very much a one line affair, plus, to top it all off, it was raining!

The first plan of action was to learn the circuit and figure out which lines were the best to take and also which parts of the track had more or less grip than the other sections. It was pretty apparent that the whole place was very slippery, due to the new surface, and much of the track was holding standing water, especially in the braking zones, making things very treacherous.

After about half the session I had a decent idea as to where I was going and begun to string a few faster laps together. I wasn’t really pushing due to conditions, but still attempted to put together a smooth and consistent lap.

Friday - First Qualifying

Slightly better conditions greeted us in the afternoon, and it filled me with a bit more confidence than in the morning. I wanted to get a feel for the track to begin with, an then push harder later on as the track improved further.

I got in some good early laps, and found out where the grip was and how hard I could push in certain places. The track was by no means completely dry, but it was the best we’d had so times were improving throughout the session.

I made a few adjustments in the pits to try and help the bike hold the line better mid-turn, which was proving hard on the faster parts of the track. The bike was also very light at the front end tended to wheelie easily. A few clicks solved the problems.

I managed to get a handful of good laps, but none were perfect and I knew I could have done better if I’d have clamed down and relaxed a little more, but overall I was happy, and knew what needed to be done for the following day.

Saturday - Second Practice

The track conditions were no better than the day before, which was a bit disappointing really as we’d all hoped for it to be dry so we could get in some decent fast lap times and find a good set-up.
I got into a decent rhythm early on and was just focusing on stringing together laps, relaxing and smoothing out any problems I had with the wet conditions. I was still feeling pretty anxious in the rain, and I had to focus really hard just to keep myself steady and stable.

The times weren’t too bad, and I began to feel more confident, so we gained a lot of positives from the session, mainly with the bike.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

It was lovely and sunny up until about half an hour before our session and then the heavens decided to open. Pants! I was looking forward to a dry session, and had a really good idea of what was needed from me and he bike to go quick in the good conditions.

Anyways, we set about the task at hand and decided that the same idea of consistent and constant laps was the best way to go, and would ultimately result in better lap times.

Needless to say they did improve, all be it in small chunks, but it was again a positive outcome, and everything had headed in the right direction once more.

Sunday - Race

Well it was the driest it had been all weekend come race day, and although the track wasn’t 100% it was as good as it would get, so we slung in the intermediates and just went for it.

I got a good start, only to be boxed out at turn one, leaving me further back then I had hoped to be.

This meant charging through for the next few laps, getting by people wherever I could, whilst trying to avoid hitting the wet patches and risking a fall. I had to make a few risky manoeuvres, but they all seemed t work ok, and nothing really too scary apart from a few slides occurred.

Once I’d managed to get through a few guys I focused on the group ahead, and tried to chase them down, but to no avail. The gap stayed constant no matter how hard I tried. I just stayed in my rhythm and kept pushing as hard as I could, and with two laps to go I could feel the pressure of being closed in on.

On the last lap I just held my line as best I could and then a small mistake let the rider through. To my surprise it was Gareth, and I tried my best to get back by him but there just wasn’t enough time or room, and we crossed the line side by side. And that was the end of the season!

I spent the cooling down lap reflecting back and just playing on the bike, it would have been rude not to! A few wheelies and skids for the people in the stands and then it was back to the pits and to the end of the race year!

It wasn’t that bad a way to end the season. I fought to the end of the final turn of the final lap, and gave it 100% all weekend, and we came away with our heads held high really. I’m pleased with the season overall and I’ve been able to see how I improved as a rider. Now I just can’t wait for the new season and the new bikes! Watch this space!

The end of the season is fast approaching and we are already at the penultimate round of the 2008 championship. It’s been a challenging season, and with the terrible weekend we had in the last round at Donington Park, we hoped for more success at Magny Cours.

The start of the weekend turned out to be rather eventful, and in actual fact we were lucky to be at this round at all. Mike, our team owner, who drives the truck to the meetings, had had some recent surgery and complications necessitated him being unfortunately admitted to hospital when he was due to leave for France. So in order to compete we needed to come up with another plan.

Communications were backwards and forwards with Mike in hospital, and we devised a plan at the final hour and got underway. My cousin Jay and good friend and mechanic Lloyd stepped in with an hour’s notice, and left from the North West of England and drove through the night to London to pick the truck up and caught the ferry across to France and continued down to the track, a few hours drive south of Paris.

With only a short nap on the ferry, they arrived at 2.p.m. ready for us to set up. My uncle and aunt, Baz and Lynda, also flew over from England to assist with the task of running the team for the weekend. By late evening we had the awning up, floor down, truck unloaded, and it was time to get the swags out for some well earned sleep. Thanks heaps guys!

Friday - First Practice

It was freezing at the track, falling to 0 degrees overnight and for the first session at 9 a.m. on Friday morning it was raining with an air temp of 4 degrees and track temp of 3 degrees. The weather remained this way for most of the day, so our afternoon session was much the same. We were limited to 3 sets of wet tyres for the weekend so we were careful not to waste them. Although wet tyres are unlimited, Pirelli only have sufficient room to carry 3 sets per rider. We used the sessions to get what we could from the bike on the slippery French track and made changes accordingly.

Saturday - Second Practice

The Saturday morning practice session was on a drying line and in a bid to save tyres we opted to only do a few laps. I did one flying lap mid session which was good enough for 9th at the time, however dropped to 17th by session end. Just enough to find some confidence to make a charge in final qualifying Saturday afternoon, should the weather again be rainy.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Saturday afternoon qualifying was dry and with the forecast for a dry race on Sunday, we were back to being able to use 3 sets of dry tyres. We decided it was best to use 2 rears and doing as many laps as possible to get a decent time. Unfortunately I left it too late to go out with a new tyre and only had 8 minutes to put a time in.

Sure, not usually a problem unless you hit traffic on your fast lap, which of course is exactly what happened! I was only able to better my time by a few tenths which deprived me of a much better starting position. I was really disappointed with what had happened as I had felt good on the bike during the early parts of the session. So, a frustrating 23rd is where I would start the race.

Sunday - Race

Morning warm up was dry and the weather was clear but so cold for the race. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Magny Cours circuit, the start finish straight is quite short and the grid is fairly closely spaced.

A good start and good position into turn 1 is important. I got off the line well and made a space for myself into turn 1. I got straight into it and managed to make a few places on the brakes at the end of the back straight.

I knew a point’s finish was possible if I didn’t get too caught up in the early laps. I was pushing hard and got myself to the front of the pack I was in, just inside the points. Shortly after the 2nd lap the bike felt really flat and I had to go back to 1st gear to get enough drive to get out of the hairpin after the back straight. The dash showed a fault code flashing, which explained the lack of pull off the turns and reduced top end.

I tried to ride smoothly with as much corner speed as I could manage for the remaining 12 laps. I battled with quite a few different riders over the race distance and eventually finished 17th, disappointingly just outside the points, but fortunately this result didn’t affect my championship standing and I remained in the same position.

So off to the last round in a couple of weeks, in what we hope will be a sunny Portimao. This will not only be the finale of the season, but a brand new race circuit and one where the majority of riders will not have tested at prior to this meeting. I have every intention of pulling off a good result at this round!!!

Huge thanks to my family for all their hard work on the weekend.

Friday - First Practice

To be honest with it raining, yet again, I didn’t feel overly confident, but knew that I just had to get on with it, and be smooth, precise and consistent. We had a fairly good base setting for the bike, and made only a few changes to accommodate the features of the circuit.

I began the session pretty much tip-toeing around, just getting some small amount of confidence back in the bike and my riding. It was still hard to get rid of the vagueness of Donington out of my system. After a few laps I settled in well, and put together better times lap after lap, pitting every three laps to make some adjustments to keep the bike feeling how I wanted.

By the end of the session all was fairly good, and I was just outside the theoretical qualifying time. It was a matter of 0.1secs, which I had easily obtained with my ideal best time.

Friday - First Qualifying

I opted for some softer spring’s front and rear in the bike, only half a kilo at both the front and rear, to help the bike squat and get some feeling mid turn and on the exit. It felt much better and took only a few laps before I’d bettered the time I done in the morning session, despite worsening conditions.

The rain was coming down hard so I pitted and made a few more tweaks to the bike, with the idea of getting more grip from the front of the bike, thus enabling higher corner speed and less need for hard acceleration mid turn.

It initially felt like a negative change, but after I changed how I was riding it felt a lot more positive and progressive and I just stayed out on track putting in laps, and making myself push small amounts everywhere. Mainly entering turns I was making myself release the brake earlier and on the exit, being more positive and aggressive with the throttle, but maintaining a smooth roll on.

It was about three minutes to go when I pitted for the final time as the rear tyre had pretty much given up and was sliding more than I was comfortable with, and not wanting to risk a fall I called it a day. I was pleased to have knocked a further four seconds off my time from the morning and had qualified, all be it in 32nd, but I was still on the grid if it was worse the following day!

Saturday - Second Practice

It looked like being a dry session, but then the heavens opened for a short time and we went back to the wet settings from the previous day, with the only change being a softer rear spring.
It took me a few laps just to get settled and I put in one flying lap before realising how quick the circuit had begun to dry. From then on we used the practice as a test session, doing one lap before pitting and making more changes.

We found a good set up by reducing some compression on the front and adding a touch of rebound, all in which helped with holding the line, especially on the faster parts.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Finally we got some dry weather, and it was going to mean having to go hard from the start, something I had previously had problems with, but I just got my head into the zone straight away and focused on doing a couple of laps to sort reference points and from there out it was push everywhere.

I didn’t get into a good group on the first few laps so did a ride through the pits, just to get some space. I got in one clear lap before pitting and making changes to the rear of the bike and also change the rear tyre. I also made a change to the preload on the front of the bike to help with stability on the brakes.

The changes helped, making much easier to keep on line and also helped keep the spin controlled on the exits. It all meant I could get on the throttle a lot earlier. I strung together two good laps and then slowed to get a tow off Foray. I managed to stick with him through the first section really well, and only lost a bit in the second section but I made a big mistake entering the fast Nurburgring chicane, running wide and losing a good second. I had tried to brake where Foray did, and I simply couldn’t halt the bike in time.

It screwed up what was on target to be my best lap, but I was glad to know I could have gone much faster, and I was still 26th on the grid, so I was in the mix of things, and only slightly slower than when we tested earlier in the season.

We had a good idea of what changes we needed for the race, and if the weather stays good I know we are on for a great race.

Sunday - Race

Thankfully it was dry and I knew that the small changes we made to the bike would make a big difference, making it hold the line better and also more stable on turn in. It felt a lot better in morning warm up.

I got an okay start, taking the outside line at both turns one and two and also at Adelaide hairpin, at which point I just hoped, like everyone else, no-one made a kamikaze manoeuvre! Fortunately everyone made it round, unlike last year!

I settled into a good rhythm fairly early on, but by lap three was being held up by Ten Napel, and I was desperate to get by as I could see the group ahead getting away. I finally got through entering the last turns. Once through I got my head down, and was closely followed by Peter Hickman, who was doing his very best to get by, at almost every turn.

At the middle of the race I’d began to close down the group ahead, and could feel myself getting closer to them, then Hicky decided that he wanted to do the chasing, and we spent the next two laps swapping places and paintwork!

After the halfway distance our battle had allowed the group ahead to get away and Pauli Pekkannen to close in and make our dice a three way affair. It was great fun and we each took turns to lead, be middle man and tail of the group, with us being three abreast at points.

The last lap was manic, and tries as hard as I could, I simply couldn’t slot by the pair of them and make a move stick. I was gutted, but also chuffed at having a great race just on the edge of the top 20. I also started to feel back to being confident on the bike and have a really good bike set up ready for Portimao!

Friday - First Practice

Just like last season the opening practice was soaking wet, although this year it was slightly warmer, even if the puddles on circuit were slightly larger! The track felt like it had a lot more grip than last year also.

My opening laps were pretty good, smooth and consistently improving lap after lap, as I tried to find the best line and sort out my reference markers for braking and turn in. It was very similar to all the points id use in the dry, just with a lot less aggression.

I pitted just to make a few adjustments to the rear of the bike to help it grip on acceleration and it seemed fairly positive after we made the change. I didn’t get much chance to try it however as a few turns later and I was sliding down the track on my backside.

I’d high-sided out of Redgate and although I tried to save it I couldn’t and ended up facing the oncoming traffic. I picked the bike up but it was too bent to carry on and I’d slightly tweaked my shoulder again which began to hurt a few minutes after. Luckily the bike wasn’t as bad as first thought and the team got it back together in no time at all.

Friday - First Qualifying

The rain hadn’t gone away, and neither had the winds, which were now stronger than the opening session, especially down the lower end of the circuit by the old hairpin and Schwantz curve.

I started well, feeling confident in the bike and in my lines, with the bike giving good feedback thanks to a softer spring in the rear of the bike. It gave more traction and when accompanied with the new engine map, provided more drive. It was noticeable out of the Melbourne loop section, where the bike would now pick up and carry the front wheel.

I made a few more changes to the bike in the pits after completing three laps, just to get the front end to give more grip and a better feel, done by softening up the compression and taking a couple of turns of preload off.

It felt a lot more positive on the out lap and through the first sector on my flying lap I posted the ninth fastest sector time, only to fall for the second time of the weekend on the entry to MacLean’s turn. I’m not sure exactly what happened but again after picking the bike up it was apparent it had rolled over and thus I couldn’t ride it back to the pits. I hadn’t qualified at this point because of the crash.

Saturday - Second Practice

I was feeling a little bit beaten up after the previous day, and I just wanted to get round for the session, for all our sakes!

It didn’t start well, with the tyres stone cold I just couldn’t get any feeling, and it soon became apparent my confidence had taken a bigger knock than I first thought. I just focused on trying to be smooth and progressive and not do anything silly, unlike the last two sessions! The bike began to feel good and better than before, but with my relative lack of pace I was still struggling, and it seemed that no matter what I tried, I didn’t go that much faster.

It was a frustrating session, but I stayed on and got some good feedback for the team, ready for second qualifying in the afternoon.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

I was going to have to dig deep to get through the session and get in a decent time to get on the grid. The track was drying, but still wet enough to command full rain tyres, so it was just a case again of being smooth and building it up.

My first run made me feel a lot better. I’d gone a lot quicker than all previous sessions and was settling into a nice rhythm. I pitted just to make a few small changes to the bike to help on turn in stability.

I got back on track and just told myself to keep calm, relax and just ride. Next thing I know, I’m sliding down the back straight on my arse after another high-side. I remember swearing at myself and just saying “That’s it”, knowing it wasn’t going to be enough for me to qualify.

I was in tears when I got back to the truck, knowing what had just happened, and was mentally beating myself about, it wasn’t good, but I felt like I’d let the whole team and myself down. Fortunately the guys understood how much I’d struggle and just put it down as a bad day at the office.

Sunday - Race

It was only the second time I’d ever been forced to watch my race from the sidelines, and once again I was gutted not to be out there, but without a good enough time to qualify and realistically no bike to ride, it was just one of those things.

After a good night sleep and watching the race I’d calmed down and forgotten about the troubles. It’s the first time I’d ever had that bad a weekend, and for once, I just let it all go. I’m just looking forward to Magny-Cours and Portugal over the next couple of months. Fingers crossed it stays better and I get back up to where I know I can run in the field.

Round 8 of the FIM Superstock 1000 Championship at Donington in the UK finally came around after a month long break. The weather forecast was for drizzle, fog, rain, wind and thunderstorms, and that’s exactly what we got. The only relief we had was a brief moment on Thursday during setup, and intermittent parts of Sunday afternoon. I was confident of a good result, not deterred at all by a full wet weekend.

Friday - First Practice

Unfortunately the start of my weekend didn’t go as planned. In the early laps of first practice, on Friday morning’s rain soaked track, I highsided coming onto the straight out of the final hairpin. Not only was I then missing a lot of track time, but I also sustained an injury, in the form of a fractured scaphoid to my left hand.

Friday - First Qualifying

I headed into the afternoon qualifying session feeling worse for wear, however I was determined to put it out of my mind and start afresh. The pace was getting faster and I was still learning the track, so becoming familiar with the conditions was the most important thing. There were parts of the track that were very grippy and others, such as the final hairpin, that were catching riders out all day. 77 riders actually crashed on Friday alone.

Saturday - Second Practice

With the data we had gathered from the Friday afternoon session, I was feeling more confident with the conditions. This reflected in Saturday morning’s session, where I found quite a lot of time and more feel with the bike.

The weather conditions remained much the same all day, so at the very least the track was fairly consistent going into the final qualifying session, but with a glimmer of the rain easing, Saturday afternoon was the best the track had been all weekend.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

By this time my left wrist and hand were quite stiff. We are extremely fortunate in the WSB paddock, to have the services of Clinica Mobile, a tremendous group of very professional medical staff, who do an amazing job with the riders (and paddock crew) attending to all injuries, aches, pains and complaints. They operate, suture, x-ray, bandage, massage and whatever else is needed to keep the riders safely on track. On each occasion, prior to riding, they injected the area with several doses of anesthetic to numb the majority of the pain.

I went into the final session feeling cautious.. The rain had stopped but the track was still completely soaked. I felt my way around for most of the session before putting my best time in on the last lap. I qualified 19th. I wasn’t concerned at this stage as we were working on my pace through the last sector of the track, where I was losing most of my time. I had a lack of feel from the rear end of the bike when opening the throttle hard off slow turns, however my first 2 sectors were reasonably on pace.

Sunday - Race

I was 14th in Sunday morning warm up. By the time we were taking our grid positions the rain had stopped and there was much less water sitting on the track, and a couple of riders gambled for intermediates. We opted for full wets. The first lap of the race was carnage, a few riders went down right in front of me and I had to brake heavily to avoid them on more than one occasion.

By the time I came over the start finish line I had lost a lot of time and the race had spread out quickly. I crossed in 16th and the riders immediately in front of me were holding me up so I pushed hard to make a pass out of the old hairpin at the bottom of craner curves. Disappointingly, I pushed just a little too hard too soon and highsided out of the race.

It was a very frustrating moment and although I tried to rejoin the race, the brake lever had lost pressure so continuing was impossible. It was my first DNF this year. Over to Magny Cours in France in a couple of weeks for next round. I look forward to speaking to you all soon.

Friday - First Practice

I was feeling good to be back in the UK and racing on pretty much home soil. After a few laps I settled in nicely, and was just working on reference points and techniques learnt a few weeks previous on the California Superbike School.

I didn’t feel particularly fast, but I did feel smooth and consistent and it showed in the lap times. I was having some rear end grip issues but we made some small adjustments to the suspension and it helped improve the traction on exiting the turns.

Friday - First Qualifying

I had to push throughout this session; it was really hard to be honest. The times weren’t coming as quickly as I’d like, and I struggled to really get the bike to fire off the turns, especially on the medium to fast sections.

I made a few changes in the pits, to try n get the bike to squat and grip on the exit of the turns. It helped, but I was still struggling more than I usually do, and it made me push to hard and over-ride the bike. It wasn’t good, but by the end of the session we were heading in the right direction.

Saturday - Second Practice

Thanks to some help with Richard from Ohlins UK and Steve Jordan, we found some more positives with the suspension. The bike was more stable on the brakes and better on acceleration still, although was still quite slide when transitioning from the edge of the tyre to the shoulder.

Friday - First Practice

Round 7 of the championship saw us at Brands Hatch in England. After getting in a few laps on the scooter on Thursday afternoon, I realized the circuit had lived up to what I had heard. It is a pretty wild circuit with many ups and downs with a few blind corners thrown in for good measure.

As usual the Superstock class kicks off proceedings at 9am Friday morning. The lap time around the fairly fast Brands circuit is only a minute and a half, so I managed to get quite a few laps in during the 30 minute practice. However it was straight into the pits after the session to decide on the changes we were going to make for the afternoon qualifying session.

The settings we had used at Brno were less than ideal for the British track. We were a little behind this weekend as our suspension technician was not available, so it was a matter of using the small amount of time on track to change what we could to improve the handling of the bike.

The afternoon qualifying was not very productive and I ended up in a disappointing position, somewhat further south of the leader than I was hoping. However I was positive that Saturday morning practice would prove to be a little more promising, and I hoped we would have a better idea of where to head with the setup of my bike.

Nevertheless dramas continued to plague us, and the weekend seemed to be heading in the total opposite direction to that of the last round at Brno, where we appeared to be moving forward.

Even though we managed to improve by 1.2 seconds in the second qualifying session, the problems with the set up of the bike were still very apparent, and I was certainly struggling, obvious by my hugely disappointing qualifying position of 29th.

My spirits were down, but the one thing that did work in our favor was the fact that the weather was looking really ordinary for the Sunday morning race. I was desperate for a stroke of luck which could perhaps come in the form of some rain! In Sunday morning’s 10 minute warm up, it was raining quite heavily and I was 14th quickest, so I had my fingers crossed that the weather would set in.

An hour and a half later and we’re off and racing. The rain had stopped, and in parts the track was drying quickly, but it was looking very bleak. It was going to be a tough call as to what tyres to run for the race. We left it as long as possible before making a decision, but at the time we needed to make that choice, it was definitely not going to be full wets.

We had some last minute dramas in the pits, and I ended up on the grid with full wets. It was my intention to join the grid with a wet front and an intermediate rear, and then my choice would have been to change the wet front to an intermediate also. Because of lack of time, we only managed to get a cold intermediate rear on my bike, whilst on the grid, and with no time left to change the front, I was left with a wet front for racing.

I knew my only chance to get up into the points was to go as hard as I could off the start. I got off the line well, and aimed straight for the inside going into turn 1. I managed some good passes and crossed the line after lap 1 in 16th. I continued to push in the early laps, before the wet front started to overheat and that made things difficult. I got up into 10th position, but about 6 laps into the 14 lap race, the track had a completely dry line.

I had some good battles but towards the end of the race the tyres felt like marshmallow and even holding a line in some of the slower corners was proving to be very difficult. However, all things aside, I managed to finish the race in 11th and take home some valuable points. It was a hard few days but points are points at the end of the day and I was satisfied to have come from 29th on the grid to finish in 11th place.

Thanks to family and friends who were able to come to support me at Brands.

Friday - First Practice

Three weeks after Misano we were back at Brno. We did a test at Brno before the Misano meeting, so it was the first circuit since Valencia, that I had ridden at before the round. I was really glad that at least we could go there for the race, with a basic idea of a setup to start with. I really liked the track as well, it was one of the longest, widest and one of the most challenging circuits I’d ridden at before.

In first practice the track was very dirty and slippery. Lap times were way off and it was only a matter of a few laps before the tyres were absolutely torn to bits. I was 17th in this session, however with the bad track conditions, most riders put in their fastest lap within the first 4 laps, so the positions were sure to change and times would drop considerably in the first qualifying session.

Friday - First Qualifying

After watching the time sheets from the other classes, times were dropping and the track was obviously getting quicker so I was keen to get back on track for the afternoon 45 minute qualifier. With a few adjustments, I tried to use the session constructively, as tyre ware, particularly front, was going to be a factor, and I needed to get in some good laps while the tyres were good. A lap time of 2.06.0 put me in 16th. I wasn’t too disappointed with this as I knew there were a few key changes we could make to assist with set up, I just hoped it wouldn’t rain for the next qualifier, as the weather was overcast and trying to rain.

Saturday - Second Practice

Superstock is out first up on Saturday morning and we were using old tyres in this session. Times would depend a lot on how well I could push on these tyres and more importantly how long they would last. We made a fork spring change and it certainly helped hold the front up more on corner entry where the front had been pushing. We made several changes during the session and I managed 13th fastest. Nevertheless, this was only free practice but we were moving in the right direction and this gave us a good base for some minor changes for the final qualifying at 4:45 that afternoon.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

The clouds had threatened rain throughout the day but luckily it held off giving everyone the chance to better their starting position. I was confident with new tyres that I could improve my first qualifying. I waited until I could find a clear patch of track and put in a few hard laps with the new tyres. I moved up to 13th on the grid from 16th, before pitting to make further changes. However in the closing minutes of qualifying I couldn’t get a lap together clear of traffic to improve further, but 13th has been my best starting position to date so I was happy that with a good start and consistent laps I could be much further toward the sharp end of the field.

Sunday - Race

Sunday morning and clear weather was sure to mean a dry race and 9th in the 10 minute warm up was a good start to the day. An hour later we gridded up to race. I got a solid start and was 11th across the line on lap 1. The immediate pace was quick so I pushed hard early on the stay with it and moved up into 9th before long.

The front group of 6 riders pulled a lead, then Seato was in a very lonely 7th, then trailing him was the group I was in, consisting of riders from position 8 to 15th, which was a freight train of hargy bargy, where we were constantly changing positions, banging fairings and elbows. I didn’t want to destroy my tyres early on, however my pit board said +0 every lap so I tried really hard to make a break from the group. About mid race distance I managed to move into 8th to lead the pack, nevertheless it was a real dog fight for every inch of track.

The 12 laps of the 5.5km Brno circuit went so fast, and before I knew it, the old last lap desperates were coming into play. I changed positions 3 times on the last lap and after some very close tussles I crossed the line 11th. It would have been nice to have finished in 9th where I was for most of the race, but it was definitely a hard fought race, lots of fun and quite frankly, with the way we pushing for positions, it was a big possibility that any one of us could have come down!!

We only have 4 rounds left in the Championship so I’m hoping to get a few solid finishes under the belt. Next weekend is Brands Hatch which is about 4 hours from where I’m living in England. I have ridden the short circuit there but not the actual long track that we will be racing. Who’s betting on a wet race???

Talk to you all soon.

Friday - First Practice

Two weeks after a chilly Round 4 at the Nurburgring in Germany, we headed to The Misano Adriatica in San Marino. San Marino is a Principality of Italy on the East Coast. I was told the atmosphere there was always exciting and the weather scorching hot, and we were not disappointed. We arrived on Wednesday night in preparation for setup and Thursday’s usual scrutineering. We don’t have a rider’s brief, as the schedule remains the same for the whole series and the rider’s brief was conducted at the first round in Valencia.

All prepared and ready to go for Friday morning, I was keen to get onto the track and get in as many laps as possible to learn the layout, as again this was a new circuit to me. Unfortunately and quite frustratingly, only a few corners after heading out on track I had an immediate brake problem; the lever was coming further in towards the bar with every squeeze.

The lever has a remote adjustor on the left bar and I wound it in further and further to no effect. I pitted immediately and tried to resolve the problem. The adjustor appeared to be unwinding the lever, after a number of unscheduled pit stops, it was finally revealed that the cable that winds the position in or out had split and was just spinning. Finally a quick fix in pit lane and I managed to get in 4 flying laps before time ran out.

Friday - First Qualifying

Onto qualifying and I was hoping to learn the track properly and make the right changes with suspension to allow me to at least get a decent time on the board. For this round we had another revised shock setting which definitely helped grip a lot from the rear but immediately proved to have a tendency to push the front. We made what changes we could in pit lane but I could only manage 25th. I was 8/10ths outside a top 10 at this stage. There was so much more left in it, so it was now a matter of trying to get a feel out of the front end of the Suzuki.

Saturday - Second Practice

For Saturday morning’s free practice we made the decision to try a substantial change to the geometry of the bike and also a gearing change, which unfortunately didn’t give us the desired result, but nevertheless, we made use of the time on old tyres to try something new. This gave us some idea of which direction to head for Saturday afternoon’s brief qualifying session, which was a lot more productive in finding more time, but not positions, as everybody else also moved up the order.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Unfortunately with no prior testing at these circuits, time is very limited to get a decent set up. We also had an incident in this qualifier, resulting in my quick release fuel cap flying off on my out lap, in the fast sweeper, so I got covered in fuel and had to pit immediately. Luckily because of the very hot conditions, we had a couple of large bottles of water on pit lane and my crew was able to immediately douse me with that to get rid of the fuel! Looked like 24th was to be our starting point, again 8/10ths of a second behind a top 10 and 1.6 seconds from pole. Although the position was far from ideal, we have been really trying to get the feel from the bike and we are making some progress, albeit slow.

Sunday - Race

Sunday morning’s brief warm up was again another chance to try a subtle change which felt to be a slight improvement. I was hoping to get off the line quickly and make up positions in the early laps and also hoped to avoid any first corner pile up’s that have plagued the Superstock 1000 class this year. The lights went out and I got absolutely swamped in turn one. I needed to make time up fast, the group ahead of me quickly cleared the first lap car park so to speak, and I knew it was going to be very difficult to catch up.

My race was then about staying on, and trying to move up the order. I managed to make a lot of time up in Sector 2, which is a little more open and flowing than the rest of the circuit and I crossed the line in 16th. Although not the finishing position where I’d like to be at the end of a race, I know if I can get in some better qualifying laps, I can make improvements in my race position at the next round at Brno in the Czech Republic.

Friday - First Practice

The track was pretty much 50/50 in the morning, with a bit of laying water and damp patches all the way round the circuit, but we chose to go out on a full dry set-up and go form there.

The first couple of flying laps were fairly uneventful and I was feeling happy and comfortable on the bike, then it started raining enough for me to have a few big moments, at which point I just chose to ride back to the pits rather than risk dropping it in first practice!

We waited in the pits for a few moments and just watched the screens to see if anyone was starting to improve their lap times, and after about 10 minutes it became apparent that the track was dry enough to go back out and try a few new things.

I completed another handful of laps and was improving each section lap by lap, but really enjoying my time out on the undulating circuit, the banked turns round the back of the track were different to anything else we’d ridden all season.

I was pretty happy to come in 21st after the session, even though it was obvious there was room for major improvements, but we were heading in the right direction.

Friday - First Qualifying

Thankfully, it stayed dry for the first qualifying session, making set-up our primary concern for the afternoon. We changed the rear shock between sessions, to a newly built Ohlins from Andreani, it the search for more grip and we also made a small adjustment to the preload and compression on the forks.

I got a good few laps in to begin with and then returned to the pits just to make a few more clicks of adjustment to the back of the bike to help get grip and drive out of the bends and took some preload off the forks to help turn-in on the brakes at the first turn and last section of the course.

The rear was starting to deteriorate and was spinning and sliding all over the place, making the bike go in some interesting shapes! It got to a point about 20 minutes form the end of the session where it was not doing us and favours, so I entered pit lane and let the team put a new rear in the bike.

With the new tyre the bike was a lot easier to drive out of the bends, and made edge grip mid turn, a lot more usable, allowing me to get onto the gas a lot earlier. I was having some problems on corner entry, and carrying my speed was very difficult due to the front end problems, which I was trying to compensate with by sliding and steering with the rear of the bike.

I got some good tows but had a few big slides and scary moments and really didn’t get the best lap I could have behind the faster guys, but 27th wasn’t a bad end to the day, all things considered!

Saturday - Second Practice

I wanted to try a few things in second practice, just to again try and improve lap times and consistency, which were the two key areas that we were somewhat lacking in.

A few more tweaks o the suspension seemed to make the bike a lot firmer mid turn and on the exit, keeping optimum grip whilst allowing me to push the bike and slide to a comfortable extent. It was a very good positive feeling, and was inspiring me with confidence with each lap I was completing.

I still struggled with the final sector of the lap, finding it hard to carry speed up the hill and turn on the gas, but after a few brief words from the boss I changed my line and approach and again it felt like it improved things, helping us reach our goals before the second qualifying.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

All was good and set on the bike ready for qualifying two and as we exited the pits and entered turn one, all the hard work the team and I had done went to pot, as the heavens opened and we suffered a major rain downpour that made the track extremely slippery.

It took ages to get back to the pits but when there the guys got the tyres changed over and we just waited for the rain to cease so we could get out and test in the wet for the first time all season.

The track was really strange, half wet, and half dry and I just focused on progressing throughout the session, trying to find a good set-up and was pleased to end the session in a decent tenth place, although I wouldn’t be any higher on the grid for it.

Sunday - Race

After the damp conditions in second qualifying I was kind of hoping for the race to be in the wet or similar conditions, but it was dry, but I was still happy as at least the track would be predictable!

I got a good jump off the start and after avoiding the chaos of the first turn crash, I slipped up the inside of a few guys and made a few more places around the first half a lap and then began to settle into a rhythm. I got into a good sized pack with Gareth just ahead and was tailing them for a couple of laps and making good time until a big high-side threw me right out of the seat on the exit of the chicane. I somehow managed to save it but had to take to the grass and three or four guys got by underneath me.

I worked my way back past a couple of them, but then the group ahead had got away and I was having to work really hard just to get back in touch and at the head of the guys I was battling with. The bike was feeling okay, but I’d lost confidence in the rear end after the high-side a few laps previous.

Towards the end of the race I was simply just tucking in as much as I could and really battling for my place on track. It was getting really close between Sachetti, Sach and me, with us each making moves on the others at almost every turn. It was good fun but I was gutted when Sach beat me to the line. At least I still managed to beat the factory Ducati of Colucci!

Friday - First Practice

Off to Germany, another new country to visit and the best part was yet another new race track. We arrived at the Nurburgring very late Wednesday night, ready for Thursday’s pit setup and scrutineering. It was also a bonus to me that my Dad was back again, to assist me and the team for two rounds, along with my good mate Lloyd who will be spannering for me for the rest of the year.

I was itching to get on track on Friday morning, I had only managed 2 laps on the scooter on Thursday afternoon in the pouring rain with Brendan Roberts, so I knew there was a lot of learning to be done. Initially, the circuit was dry for first practice but with only 3 laps down it started to drizzle, so most of the field pulled in.

After sitting out for 10 minutes I headed back out again to spend as much time as I could on track. The drizzle was settling by then and seconds were coming off my time each lap. The Nurburgring is 5.1 kms long and over 2 minutes a lap. I finished first practice in 18th. As usual, places were separated by hundredths of a second.

Friday - First Qualifying

We had a new shock which we were hoping to try before the Nurburgring meeting, but limited time meant we didn’t have a chance to test that before we arrived in Germany. For first qualifying Friday afternoon we opted to try the new internal shock configuration. This was much better than the shock we had been using, and I found quite a lot of time with it on track. However I could only manage 21st by the time the chequered flag was out at the end of the 25 minute session. The track proved to be quite technical and it was very clear how much time could be made or lost around the circuit. I was confident that by chipping away at the bigger problems we had, I could manage a quicker lap.

Saturday - Second Practice

Second practice on Saturday morning was dry and the way the tyre allocation works, it means that most riders are out on used tyres, which gives a good chance to use the track time to test settings on worn tyres. I have always had trouble with the steering on the Suzuki, so we tried a lighter set of forks springs which certainly helped through the tighter sections of the track. I came in several times to make changes and try to improve on the progress we had made.

Saturday - Second Qualifying

Second qualifying that afternoon was sure to be the decider for grid positions if it stayed dry, with a lot of the field dropping their times with each session. For this session we had made the decision to go with a firmer rear setting to help keep a tighter line. This second qualifying session is only 25 minutes, as opposed to the 45 minute first qualifying session so time is a lot tighter to find a good lap.

The weather was looking rather dull and we knew that we may only have a few laps before the rain hit. In fact, as I rode out of pit lane I didn’t even get to the first corner and is was pouring, so I pulled straight back into the pits and got my wets went on. Everything was ready to go on pit lane so I was quickly back on track. It wasn’t long before the rain stopped again but by now most of the track was soaked and the session would only allow for a good wet test session.

I got stuck into it and felt comfortable early, and I was surprised how grippy the surface was. I managed to put in numerous quick laps before the session ended.. When I came in I was thrilled to be told that I was the fastest rider on track by a margin of 3.2 seconds, much to the delight of the team! Needless to say I was quite happy with this and was really hoping for a wet track on race day!

Sunday - Warm Up

Race day came around all too quickly, and like all other meetings so far, just a few practice sessions too early! The weather was dull and overcast, so it was a matter of getting into the swing of things in morning warm up and using every last minute on the track to get the most from the bike we could. I was 16th in warm up and found another sizeable chunk of time but obviously it’s the race that counts.

Sunday - Race

An hour and a half later the field was gridded up and ready for a start. I got away well but once again there was a crash in turn 1 and I lost a few places avoiding it. However at the end of the lap 1 I was on the back of a large pack. I tried to move forward picking off a few riders as quickly as I could and found myself in 12th by mid race with Chris Seaton just ahead in 11th. With the final three laps to go, I started having problems. My brakes were pulling all the way into the bar and I was leaving myself quite open to getting out braked. I had to brake very early, pumping the brakes hoping to pull up in time to tip in.

Around the same time my quick shifter decided to start miss shifting, not allowing me to select some gears. I pushed on as best as I could, but unfortunately even though I was trying to ride very defensively, I lost a few positions and fell to 14th by the flag. All in all I was happy to have again been moving forward with the bike. It’s a hard game but I’m determined.

A special thanks must go to www.theaussieshop.co.uk who have very kindly sponsored me with two of their top of the range swags, so Mum and I can camp in the pits at the tracks which alleviates the dramas of getting to the tracks in the mornings and the added expense of accommodation. This is a terrific help, thanks very much.

Talk to you all after San Marino next weekend.