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| Photo: The Bike Insurer |
Round three of the Thundersport GB championship was at
Snetterton race circuit in Norfolk – a track that I rode well on the Ducati. I
was leading both the GP1 and stock championships going into this round, so I
was excited to see how I would perform on the ZX10.
As it was a Bank Holiday weekend, the practice day was moved
forward to Saturday. I feel like I made great use of the time given and a good
set-up was put together. This gave me confidence for qualifying on Sunday.
It took me a while to get going during qualifying as there
was a lot of traffic. However, coming round Coram, I could see that I had a
clear track ahead of me so put the hammer down. It was a decent lap which sent
me straight into second place behind Phil Crowe. Michael Pearson put in a
really quick lap towards the end of the session and took pole, which knocked me
down to third. I was happy with this position but knew I would have to work
hard in the race.
I got a reasonable start for the first race and was 4th
into turn one behind Connor Tagg, who got an amazing start off the third row of
the grid, Crowe and Pearson. I was eager to get to the front so I went under
Crowe and Pearson into turn two. I got my head down to catch Tagg and got a
good drive out of the Bomb Hole. This allowed me to ride round the outside of
him at Coram and I led the race going into lap two. I tried to put in a gap
into the chasing pack but, coming down the back straight, Pearson used the
extra power of his GP1 bike and breezed past me. I got right on his back wheel
to try and get in his slip stream, but a couple of laps later Neeves passed me
down the straight on his BMW. I managed to pass them both numerous times over the next few laps but on
lap nine, I missed a gear coming out of the last corner and the pair pulled a
lead. A lap later, Neeves pushed the front a little too much and went down at
Nelsons. I was safe in second place, so I settled for finishing two seconds
behind Pearson.
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| Photo: Ian Daisley ProBikeART |
We woke up to beautiful weather on Monday, ready for the
last two races of the weekend. The mega laps system put me second on the grid
and I was excited to battle, once again, with the GP1 bikes. I got a great
start in race two and led the opening lap but, as in race one, Neeves and
Pearson soon passed me down the straight. We were nose to tail and I decided to
make a move on Neeves at Murrays. However, I didn’t quite make it and it cost
me the drive out of the corner, with Seb Bulpin managing to pass. By half
distance, the top five were covered by less than a second. Barry Teasdale
out-broke me at the end of Bentley straight, dropping me to 5th in
the GP1 race and 2nd in the Stocks. Two laps later I slipped
underneath him round Coram and was soon on Bulpin’s tail. I passed him round
the hairpin, only to get out-dragged on the straight. The last lap flag was
shown but I wasn’t close enough to make a move. I finished 4th
overall and won the stock race. It was a really enjoyable race and the top four
were covered by 0.3 of a second!
I was excited for race three but unfortunately didn’t make
the best of starts. I was 4th going into turn one but Bulpin
high-sided in front of me coming onto the back straight and I had to brake to
avoid hitting him. This let Teasdale through and gave the top three around a
two second lead. I got my head down and within three laps, I caught Teasdale
and passed him into the hairpin. This
put me on the back of Pearson and we started to pull away from Teasdale, but on
lap seven I lost the rear round turn one and didn’t want to risk falling off
and losing points. Therefore, I decided to just settle for 3rd
overall and 1st in the stock race.
It was such an enjoyable meeting and there was some really
close racing. I was very happy with my pace and I cannot wait for Cadwell Park
at the end of the month. I had a fantastic race with Mike Dickinson at my last
meeting there, so I am really looking forward to it.
I have a 31 point lead in the GP1 class and a 47 point lead
in the superstock class.
I’d just like to thank the whole team, who did a mega job
all weekend, and a huge thank you to all of my sponsors who make it possible:
a.l.joinery, Seadrift Offshore, DPC Distribution, QC Engineering and Design,
FSC Engineering. ProBikeART, Paintzfiction, Al’s Autos, 5-Ways and
designerhelmets.com.
I had a TV camera on my bike on Monday, so hopefully you’ll
see some great footage of the races!!
Roll on Cadwell in three weeks!
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