Anglesey 25th-27th August 2012

I went out into the qualifying sessions confident that I could be up there. However, as I was going round the track I could feel the rear-end sliding. I came into pitlane and Chris made some quick changes to the bike.

We set-off for the Demon Tweekes Welsh Prix at Anglesey race circuit early Saturday morning. We knew that the weather would be unpredictable, so it was vital that we worked with Chris to secure a good dry and wet set-up.This Thundersport GB round was different from the rest as there were to be two additional prize-winning races, sponsored by Demon Tweekes, on the Monday. As this race would consist of a mixture of new and existing GP1 and 600 Sportsman Elite competitors, it was important for me to maintain a fast pace in order to even qualify for these races.


As it was a bank holiday weekend, Saturday was ultimately the official track day. We worked hard all day, in all sessions, to sort a good race set-up for qualifying.
Out of 40, I qualified 8th on the grid. I was a bit disappointed as I would have liked to have been higher but the competition was so strong that I couldn't go any faster. I had in mind that, if I could get a good start, I would be able to stay with the front-runners in the first race.

Sunday would be the first of the weekend's race days. As there were to be two additional races on Monday, Thundersport had scheduled two championship races on the Sunday.
    I set the fastest lap in the morning warm-up, so I was excited to be going into the first race. I got an average start to the race but rode hard on the first lap and I got up to 6th place. Going into Rocket, I managed to get under David Jones and then got my head down to catch the front-runners. At the end of lap two, Peter Baker and Sam Hornsey had a coming together and both came off, which promoted me up to 3rd in the GP1 race. The bike didn't feel 100% so I had to push really hard to get onto the back of David Haire. I saw that Ben Scranage, my main championship rival, had fallen off so I decided not to risk passing Haire. Overall, I finished 3rd in GP1 and 1st in the stock class, which I was over the moon about.

Setting off on race two, I got a reasonably good start and by the end of the first lap, I had got up to 5th. I got stuck behind Haire and could see the leaders getting away. Unfortunately, it took me four laps to pass Haire and by that time, the leaders were a couple of seconds up the road. I knew that I would struggle to catch them, so once I had put a second into Haire, I made sure the gap stayed the same and finished 4th in GP1. I also secured first in the Stock1000 class, which was my 8th consecutive win of the season. I also secured the new Stock lap record around Anglesey, with a time of 1.09.642, which I was really happy with.
     Taking the 'megalaps' into account, I managed to promote myself to 6th on the grid for the Monday races.

Over the night, the circuit experienced severe wind and torrential rain. Unfortunately, this continued into the morning and was set to worsen by midday. Therefore, the Thundersport GB officials took the right decision to declare that there would be no racing. Aside from the Demon Tweekes races, there was only one championship race that was missed (to be set at a later date).

As always, I'd like to thank Alan and Charlotte, my mum and dad, Louise, Chris Moore, Rob Webb for buying me a set of tyres, Alex Hutchinson and Acea Webb for their kind donation of knee sliders and all of my sponsors for getting me there and making this championship challenge possible. I have narrowed the points difference between myself and Scranage to 11, so all's to play for at Cadwell Park next month!

All photos provided by the Bike Insurer

ThundersportGB iPlayer - Snetterton

The Morello Services GP1/Stock1000 races from Snetterton are now available to view on the Thundersport iPlayer!

Rockingham - 27th-29th July 2012

We arrived at Rockingham Raceway early Friday morning, ready for a sunny weekend of racing. I had initially felt very confident going into this round, following my earlier success at Snetterton the previous month. However, the Friday practice sessions soon shattered this…

The first practice session of the day was a real eye-opener, as I have not raced at this track in two years. I went out on the 1198 to get to grips with the track and soon realised that it is a very different track to ride on a big bike. Towards the end of the session, the engine management light came on so I was forced to retire to the pits. Therefore, I rode the newly-built 1098R for the rest of the day to run it in.

Following on from the test day, I went into qualifying feeling more comfortable with the track. I felt very strong from the beginning of the session and, after my first flying lap, I set my fastest time. Nevertheless, fate caught hold of me and I lost the front on the second lap and came off the bike at Brook. I was frustrated that I came off so early into the session and thought I would be way back on the starting grid. However, I came back into the garage after the chequered flag and had only been pushed down to 5^th in the GP1 group.

After talking to Chris Moore, the team and I decided to race the 1198 as it was more suited to this type of track than the 1098. From starting fifth on the grid for the first Saturday race, I got a reasonable start and made my way through the first chicane in the same position. After a couple of laps I got onto the back of Ben Scranage, who started the race in third, and eventually passed him into turn two on lap four. The bike didn’t feel brilliant so I was struggling to keep Ben behind me and with four laps to go, he got back past me. He pulled a little bit of a gap and I thought it was all over  until I saw the last lap flag come out; that’s when I dug deep. I got back onto him with three corners to go and broke as late as I could into the last complex, praying it would grip. I managed to get past him as he tried to get me back but I managed to hold it to the line and take the win for the Superstock 1000 class and fourth place in GP1.

After a lot of feedback, Chris decided to make many changes to the bike’s set-up so I went out for the Sunday morning warm-up feeling very good. I was then extremely confident for race two of the weekend. As the red light went out, I felt to have got a good start and found myself in third position going into the first corner. As we went into Tarzan, I came up underneath Scranage but on the way out, Mike Dickinson passed us both. I tagged onto the back of Mike and we both managed to catch up to Pete Baker. Dickinson soon passed him but I struggled and at every attempt, he managed to keep me behind. Coming onto the last lap, Ian Mackman passed me with astonishing feat which forced me into a somewhat considerable fourth GP1 position. Again, I managed to win the Superstock 1000 race, with over five seconds difference between myself and Scranage/Barnes.

Going into the third race, we made another slight change to the bike. It was a manic first lap for me as I nearly got collected up in the first corner but I managed to hold onto fourth position. As we came out of Yentwood, Adrian Clark highsided in front of me, allowing Dickinson and Barnes to pass. It took a couple of laps to regroup and truly get my head down. I passed Barnes and Scranage on successive laps but on lap five, I hit my knee off one of the kerbs and my knee slider ripped off. It was very difficult to ride a really hard race without letting my left knee hit the track. However, I still managed to pull a two second gap on Scranage and I managed to hold onto it for the rest of the race. Once again, I finished fourth in the GP1s and clinched that all-important 1^st position in the Stocks.  

Aside from falling off a couple of times, it was a really good weekend’s racing. The gap between Scranage and I is now down to 45 points, which is shaping up to be a very exciting end to the year.

     I’d just like to say a big thanks to Alan and Charlotte for all the hard work they do; my mum and dad; Louise; Chris Moore for being a suspension guru; Steve Buckingham and Brad Cox, Acea and Ray Webb for doing my pitboard on Sunday. Also a massive thanks to all my sponsors: Design Corse; Holroyd Tyrewarmers; Putoline; Motoretta; Designerhelmets.com; Oxford Products; FSC Engineering and WM Snell.