Testing

鈥淯nable to make the Thursday track day, we were hoping for good dry sessions, unfortunately the test on Friday was a very mixed morning with a wet session, a drying session with wet patches, and a very wet session with heavy rain. So, a mix of seasons in one morning. More of a riding around than being able to test anything. In the drying session I managed a 1:45, and must say the EBC GPFAX pads gave a good feel in all the mixed track conditions.鈥�

Qualifying

“With new tyres in on a now very sunny and dry Friday afternoon Oulton park track with a few damp patches, I pushed as hard as I could, making the most of the EBC pads and managed a 1:43.6. With all the competitors struggling to manage the conditions, we were very happy with 9th on the grid for Saturday鈥檚 races.鈥�

Race 1

鈥淣ot one of my greatest starts, but made 7^th out of the first corner, but changes to the electronics unfortunately made the bike just slightly less sharp than qualifying and the bike wasn鈥檛 pulling through the gears like it had been in qualifying 鈥� I was very focused on keeping a consistent lap time throughout the race but I was losing out too much at the end of the straights and eventually lost 3 positions. Finished 10th on track and 8th in the race with a 1:41.8.”

Race 2

鈥淎fter a long wait whilst the endurance race finished, I was back in my gear awaiting my last race when there was an accident and the meeting had to be abandoned. Hope everyone involved is OK and make a full recovery.鈥�

鈥淎fter a successful trip to Spain testing, we arrived at Snetterton happy and ready for action. Testing went well but the lap times didn鈥檛 feel like they were there. Might have been that the old tyres we were on. In the last session, we ended up with an oil leak which we managed to track down and fix 鈥� we hoped 鈥� as it was everywhere.

鈥淨ualifying – With a scrubbed 2023 front tyre and a new SC3 rear we had ordered prior, and expected cold conditions but on a budget and limited time, we went out and I felt better. I managed one flying lap of 1:57.3 and realised that the oil leak had returned so I pulled in putting me 14th on the grid. We then set about finding and fixing the oil leak which we thought was coming from an oil line o-ring. This meant the rad, exhaust, etc coming off to get to it which myself and Dave at Phoenix Race Support got to it and sorted out in time for the first race.

鈥淩ace 1 – I managed a really good start and made a few places up and was in a good battle. On the beginning of lap 3, I noticed the oil leak had returned. I tried to monitor it and see if I could finish but out of the last corner, I had a big slide so I pulled into the pits. This time the oil leak looked like it was coming from the clutch cover gasket. We resealed it and took the bike on the dyno, no leak. Lap time of 1:56.8.”

鈥淩ace 2 – Another good start and some more places gained from 11th on the grid. On lap two, again the bike got very loud and the exhaust started blowing causing a lack of power. Also that lap the red flag came out so a 6 lap re-run. Another good start and some good racing finishing 11th on a 1:56.6.

鈥淩ace 3 – After fixing the lambda bung that had spat the middle of itself out, we started 10th and got another good start and had a race-long battle with a few riders, which I felt I had pace to go faster than, but couldn鈥檛 put myself into a position to pass unfortunately. Finished 8th on a 1:55.7.

鈥淥verall a really good weekend and a second faster than I鈥檝e been around Snetterton.

Massive Thankyou to Dave at Phoenix Race Support, my wife Kayla and the girls for all their support, my Mum and dad whom without them I couldn鈥檛 race, as well as all my sponsors.鈥�

鈥淭here have been many changes to the bike and Paul has changed his riding style. This has resulted in improved track and riding position. However, it was still going to be a tough weekend against some very fast seasoned Cadwell riders.听

鈥淧aul is becoming a different rider every round and, to be honest, a totally different rider from a year ago. He as loads more to come 鈥� we talk constantly! I do push aspects and some may not be right, but if a rider is questioned and he analyses himself, tries many different things, then it’s all positive and that’s what continues to surface.鈥�

Friday 鈥� Test Day

鈥淲e had nice weather for a change, and a new setup to try on the bike (from both Dave Ogden and Alex at AJR Suspension). This worked really well. A few gearing changes were made due to trying different geometry. This was to get the best out of the bike for the narrow Lincolnshire circuit. Unfortunately, we ran into quick shifter and blipper problems 鈥� this meant that both wouldn’t work until two laps into each session.听

鈥淒ue to this issue, we lost all of the afternoon sessions trying to fix the problem which we later found to be a broken wire.鈥�

Saturday 鈥撀燪ualifying Saturday

鈥淎fter not knowing if we had fully solved the problem with the bike, we went into qualifying after a considerable wait due to a serious accident in the qualifying session before. We take this opportunity to wish Luke all the very best for a speedy recovery. We later went out on slicks 鈥� with the track being mixed wet and dry 鈥撀爄n an effort we to stay consistent and smooth. With the EBC GPFAX brake pads giving great feeling in the mixed conditions, we managed a 1:49.7 鈥撀爌lacing us 10^th 聽overall on the grid for race one.鈥�

Sunday 鈥撀燫ace 1

鈥淭his race was meant to go ahead Saturday afternoon but after the lengthy delays it was postponed to Sunday morning. The weather was raining so we had a wet track and no tyre gambles.听

鈥淲ith wets on, we managed to finish 7^th, hitting 1:46.1 with some good battles. This was the first time in the wet on the new engine/electrics. The bike felt ok, but we need to work with Parkitt Dyno Performance Centre on the wet map on the bike before our next round.鈥�

Sunday 鈥� Race 2

鈥淲ith the weather still changeable and still raining approximately 30 minutes before the race, we still had wets on the bike. However, the weather decided to change to a hot summer’s day.

鈥淎fter a track inspection, we decided to go onto intermediates but as soon as they were on the bike Mr Craig Sharman, who had just finished his race, informed us that the track was 95% dry. This meant another tyre change again onto slicks. Unfortunately, with only 20 minutes of heat in the slicks, we had no other option but to go out on these tyres. On the grid there was a mixed bag of tyres from slicks, intermediates to wets.

鈥淲e made a good start and managed to get the tyres up to a good temperature but then it started to rain AGAIN! This held us back for a couple of laps whilst the wets and intermediates worked better. The rain eventually stopped on lap 4 and the track dried very quickly. Paul managed to pick up pace and pass a few riders, resulting in a final position of 7^th and the best lap time was 1:36.6.鈥�

Sunday 鈥� Race 3

鈥淕lorious weather meant the slicks were fitted, our previous race lap time put us 5^th on the grid but Paul made a poor start as the bike bogged down on him and he lost quite a few positions. Was a really good race with the EBC brakes giving great stopping power throughout, ending the race 10^th, with a lap time of 1:32.9 on the result sheets which matches Paul鈥檚 PB but the dash showing 1:32.3 probably as he was alongside a bike on the finish line which is a PB.鈥�

鈥淐urrent championship position: 11^th.