91传媒

Test/Practice (Friday Morning)

鈥淰ery short and not ideal conditions to find a bike setup, but it was the same for everyone who didn鈥檛 do the optional track day on the Thursday. Test 1 was damp. Test 2 was mostly dry, but I went out on wet tyres which was the wrong call. Test 3 was fully wet and that was the best run out we had.鈥�

Qualifying (Friday Afternoon)

鈥淨ualifying was bone dry. Got some clear track and did my best with what practice I鈥檇 had. By lap 3, the front was too soft so had to adapt my riding to manage a 1.44.275. This put me 2^nd in class and P11 on the Grid. My main Championship rival, Wilf Turner was P8 so it wasn鈥檛 what I was looking for.听

鈥淚 made a bike change and went out in Emergency Practice. Lapped quicker than my qualifying time without trying too hard and on old tyres. This session was a big help in getting the bike to run at a pace needed to have a chance of the Class win. Then made another change which turned out to be perfect. For another dry race I would have left the bike as it was. This pleased me as it shows how quickly we can achieve good settings and will help a lot in the future.鈥�

Race 1 鈥� 10 laps (Saturday Morning)

鈥淗ad an OK start, but got boxed in a little at turn 1. Wilfrid Turner put in a couple of laps in the 1.41s and Paul Charman was between us. Watched them fighting for position while trying to work out a plan. I didn鈥檛 have the pace to pass them mid-race, only to just stay with them. With two laps to go, Turner made a pass on Charman and pulled a small gap. On the last lap, going into Shell Oils Corner, I made my way past Charman and pushed to get back to Turner.

鈥淭o the end, I tried for a passing opportunity, but too little too late and I crossed the line 0.8 secs. behind him. I lapped in the 1.42s every lap and felt strong until the end, which is great for Oulton Park. I really enjoyed the race and was happy with my ride but disappointed with the dreaded P2 again. I feel if I鈥檇 had a little more 鈥榙ry bike鈥� time I would have been stronger and might have been able to get the top spot. I gave it all I had and it was a good run again from Wilf. P2 in Class and 9^th overall with new PB of 1:42.172.鈥�

Race 2 (Saturday Afternoon)

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 get a Race 2 due to a medical emergency nightmare. There was a fair few crashes in the races leading up to our planned 4:50pm race, which was almost certainly going to be a wet one. I was confident from the wet practice sessions of being strong in a wet race. Many riders didn鈥檛 risk the wet practice and I felt at an advantage, having I worked out where the grip was and wasn鈥檛.听

鈥淯nfortunately, the race meeting was cancelled because the medical centre was fully committed in dealing with serious injuries. I wish the riders involved a full and speedy recovery.

“Well done and thank you to the amazing medical staff and marshals who look after us at these meetings 鈥� you never know when you might need them.

鈥淚t has been decided the race lost will not be re-run at Donington, which makes our Championship win look slim now, but we shall push to the very end.

“Feel really proud of the team鈥檚 effort and my performance at this meeting.

鈥淐onditions were awful and I was quite unwell all weekend, but I made sure it did not affect the input or the results. Thanks to Tony for helping us out and filling in for Neil. Great company all weekend.鈥�

Photos by Camilla Davina Temple-Court