Oulton Park 20th-21st June 2014

Photo: Bikesport Photography

The team and I had a fantastic round at Cadwell Park back in May, coming home with three GP1 wins. However, trying to repeat this success at Oulton seemed quite daunting!! I haven’t ridden this track a lot on a 1000 and didn’t have much luck with it in 2012, so it’s not up there with my favourite tracks. As always, being a two-day meeting made it even more challenging.

After three good practice sessions on Friday, we went out for qualifying. I was slowly getting used to the track and learning how to ride it with all the challenging crests and undulations – something I find a real handful on the ZX10. I got a couple of clear laps early on in the session and ended up qualifying 5^th with a time of 1.41.9. Despite not being on the front row, I was really pleased with my position. I had gone round the track faster than I had ever been before and I knew where I could improve and go a lot quicker.

There was a delay for the first race when we were due to go on track, so we had two warm-up laps and the race was cut back to seven laps. I got a dreadful start and got boxed in going into turn one, which dropped me back to 9^th position. By lap four, I had climbed up to 5^th and was chasing Teasdale. As soon as I got onto the back of him, he ran the slip road at Hizzy’s chicane and I was promoted up to 4^th. The leading trio were a good four seconds ahead so I settled for 4^th. I managed to do a 1.40.1, which I was extremely happy with and confident that I could still go faster.

Photo: Glyn Richardson

I was determined to make up for the bad start I had in race one, so I got a belting start for race two. I was in 2^nd going into Old Hall and Gav Hunt shot underneath me going into Cascades. I tried my hardest to hang onto them and James East was showing his front wheel everywhere. I just couldn’t get the same drive as they could out of the corners on the gearing I was on. On lap three, East passed me on the run into Hizzy’s. I was trying a bit too hard and ran deep into Old Hall, losing the tow. So, I settled for 4^th again and managed to keep a gap between me and Teasdale, who was in 5^th. I didn’t better my lap time in that race, which I was disappointed with but I know that with a gearing change, we could’ve gone a lot faster.

All in all, it was a good meeting and I learnt a hell of a lot. I bettered my previous lap time from 2012 by 3.2 seconds, which I am really happy with. A huge thanks to all of my team for the effort they put in, all of my sponsors which keep me racing, Louise for looking after me and doing my pit board and my mum and dad.

Roll on Rockingham!

Cadwell Park 24th-26th May 2014

Photo: The Bike Insurer

A bit of a late entry, as I went away straight after this round. However, it has been my best result to date and I had to share what went on.

The qualifying session didn’t quite go to plan and I ended up 3^rd on the grid behind Dean Hipwell and Barry Teasdale. Hipwell didn’t make it for race one, so it was just me and Teasdale on the front row. On lap three of twelve, my clutch started to slip so I was struggling to keep up on the straights. With three laps to go, a back marker held Teasdale up so I passed him going out of Barn. Going into Park, I broke as late as I could but Teasdale still tried the move to out-brake me. He ended up on the grass, giving me a five-second lead. This allowed me to cruise home for my first ever GP1 win.

Photo: Bryant Photography

Following my win in the first race, I got promoted to pole due to the mega laps system. I got a really good start but was hounded by Teasdale and Hipwell for the first half of the race. I tried that little bit more to try to break away from them and ended-up with a two-second lead, which I held for the rest of the race. I was extremely happy with winning my second GP1 race and also broke the lap record by half a second, achieving a 1.31.5.

Again, I got a really good start for the third race. I managed to hold the lead until lap four, where Hipwell went under me at the Hairpin, taking advantage of his supersport 600 handling. I followed him and studied where I was stronger and on the last lap, I got the amazing drive out of the final corner and used the extra power of the ZX10 to pass him over the line – beating him by 0.014 of a second! I also broke the lap record again and got down to a 1.31.4. This is a really good race to watch and is available on the Thundersport iPlayer.

Cadwell Park was an amazing weekend for both me and my team. I won three GP1 wins on the trot – something I have never done before. I also extended my lead in both championships. The team did a mega job all weekend and as always I’d like to thank all of my sponsors!!