鈥�The Southern 100 Road Races are one of the highlight meetings. As with most other road races, I entered the lightweight (Super Twins) on the Brook Built Aprilia RS660, and SuperSport races on the Yamaha YZF R6. The meeting was hampered by some incidents on track, Nobel鈥檚 hospital capacity and poor weather, but racing took place.

鈥淎fter mediocre qualifying due to taking no risks in poor conditions, I managed to get satisfactory results, enjoyed the racing immensely, and my team-mate (Adrian Harrison) made the podium on the second Brook Built Racing Yamaha R6.鈥�

Monday Eve Practice and Qualifying

鈥�The weather over the weekend and Monday had been bright and sunny; perfect conditions and everyone was looking forward to a good start to the weeks racing. I had two practice and qualifying sessions for the lightweight and the first Super Sport practice in the schedule. Unfortunately, after a serious incident during the newcomer sighting laps, the evening got delayed and due to no capacity at Nobel鈥檚 Hospital, the race had to be cancelled. This was a big blow to everyone.鈥�

Tuesday Evening practice, qualifying and lightweight race

鈥淗aving lost the first night, we were straight into Lightweight qualifying, then Super Sport, followed by the first Lightweight race. Weather conditions were poor with rain and the occasional dry spell meaning the track never dried fully.

鈥淲e had three laps in the Lightweight to qualify, being my first outing on track I rode safely to refamiliarise myself with the circuit and conditions; others were more willing to take more risk, or just adapted to the conditions better, but I managed to qualify 29^th in second last grid slot.

鈥淲ith a few laps completed, the Super Sport qualifying was a little better, and in four laps I managed Row 5 in the B final 鈥� the first race planned to run next day.

鈥淣ext up, we were heading out of the paddock to line up for the first Lightweight race. Conditions had deteriorated to heavy rain, and the dark clouds made visibility poor, especially for us further down the grid. Right from the start, visibility was poor from the spray coming from other bikes, the rain and poor light. I made a few places off the line and decided to play safe and get to the finish line in the reduced (to 5 laps) race. I managed to complete the first race in 24^th 辫辞蝉颈迟颈辞苍.鈥�

Wednesday Racing

鈥淲e all passed scrutineering and waited in parc ferme for racing to begin. It rained all day and didn鈥檛 stop for the evenings racing; the day was cancelled with no racing taking place.鈥�

Thursday Racing

鈥�With the delays and cancelled sessions, I had a Super Sport race (one got cancelled) in the morning and the second Lightweight race in the afternoon. Without any rain, the track got better as the day went on, being fully dry after only a handful of races.

鈥淚n the Super Sport race, conditions were mostly dry. I opted for a front wet tyre combined with a dry rear as it was difficult to fully judge the conditions. I had qualified on row 5 while Adrian, my team-mate, had made pole position. I made a good start and made my way to 9^th position for most of the race, until I out-braked myself on the last corner going into the last lap and lost three places. We all seemed to be running the same pace as we stayed together without swapping places on the last lap. I finished 12^th and thoroughly enjoyed racing at the Billown circuit for the first time this meeting. A nice bonus was learning my team mate had made second place on the podium.

鈥淔or the second Lightweight race, we started from our original qualifying position, middle of the back row for me. I managed a great start, making several positions and passed more during the first lap. I caught the next group at the end of lap 2 and getting set to make a pass when the red flag came out near the end of lap 3 after an incident at Stadium Corner and the race was called a result. I鈥檇 made it to 15^th from 29^th and have to say it felt like the best two laps I鈥檝e done at the S100, leaving the circuit with a big smile.

鈥淎lthough it was a challenging S100 this year for everyone including the organisers, who I must commend for making tough decisions and keeping the meeting going, the new start procedure gets a big thumbs up from me; I didn鈥檛 hear any negative comments about it, it was a good meeting. Seeing old friends and making new ones I left the meeting in great spirits.

鈥淚鈥檇 like to thank my personal helpers: Grahame Collinge and Chris Haynes for getting me out on track each evening, also the second half of the Brook Built Racing team helping Adrian Harrison. His dad Conrad, Nick Colley and son, Mucky Al, and Steve Hebden.

“Also, a special thanks to our sponsors and supporters who make going racing easier.”

Main photo credit: Tracey Harrison Photography

鈥淐roft is one of my favourite circuits; fast and flowing. And in perfect-condition racing, it doesn鈥檛 get much better. It鈥檚 been a long time since not having to roll out the wet tyres for a race meeting, and sunny conditions were very welcome.

鈥淭his round, I entered the Aprilia RS660 in the SuperTwins and partnered with Tom Collinge in the 3-hour endurance race.

鈥淪uperTwins qualifying: in the 10-minute qualifying session, I got out of the holding area quickly to get a clear few laps, qualifying on the front of the second row in 4^th position on lap 4.

鈥淓ndurance qualifying is done over a 40-minute timed session, where all riders have to complete more than three laps; the fastest rider鈥檚 time in the team is used to qualify us. As the first SuperTwin race was straight after this session, I went out first on the Yamaha R6. I took about 15 mins of the session before handing over to Tom. Tom鈥檚 time qualified the team in 18^th overall and 8^th overall in the National 600 class.

鈥淒ay one racing started with the SuperTwins. I got a bad start and completed lap 1 in about 7^th position. I managed to claw back to 4^th, but got slowed passing lapped riders and got pipped on the last corner, finishing 5^th.

鈥淎 couple of hours later saw the beginning of the three-hour endurance race. Teamwork and strategy play a big part in endurance racing. As Tom was returning from injury and not raced this year, we decided to do three 30-minute stints each instead of two 45-minute sessions. Tom started the race and we finished his session in 7^th place. We alternated the sessions for the rest of the three hours, fluctuating between 7^th and 9^th in class and 13-15 overall.

鈥淭he team did a fantastic job preparing the bikes, pit signals and getting myself and Tom ready to ride and get out on track during the rider changeover. The race went as smoothly as is possible and I took the chequered flag in 7^th position. Being a national championship, there is a strict Pirelli tyre rule and a team two places higher were disqualified, leaving us in 6^th in class and 12^th overall.

鈥淚鈥檇 like to thank the support team Grahame Collinge (pit board and wall man), Chris Hayes (fuel and support), Anthony Froggart (fuel and bike prep), as well as Steve and Jim Weatherhold for looking after timing and riders during changeover. Day 1 complete!

鈥淒ay 2 started at 12 pm due to local noise rules on Sundays. The SuperTwins was the first race of the day鈥檚 program. I made a good start, running in 2^nd before dropping to 4^th after four laps before the red flag. In the five-lap restart held 3^rd into the first corner and dropped top 4^th by the end of the first lap. I had a good second or so on 5^th but caught a lapped rider at the tight chicane and lost the advantage, again leaving myself open for an attack on the last corner, losing 4^th and crossing the line in 5^th.

鈥淭he last race of the day also ran well, running in 3^rd spot for a couple of laps before dropping to 4^th. This time the lapped riders did not affect the outcome, and crossed the line in 4^th place.

鈥淎 great weekend and who could complain, racing in fantastic sunny conditions at one of my favourite circuits. Next the team and I will be traveling to the Isle of Man for the Southern 100 road races in-between NLR RND 5 at Brands Hatch GP circuit.鈥�

Pic credits: .