Brands Hatch Indy - Round 1 - BMCRC

Going into the first round of 2015 I felt very confident of my pace but set myself realistic goals as I knew the step up from Rookie Mini Twins to MRO Mini Twins was very big. I went into the weekend hoping of a few top 5 finishes and maybe a podium spot if the conditions suited.

Testing on Friday started off very well with conditions being dry and these were the conditions I needed to improve my times in. In the morning I had found out one of my front fork legs were leaking so we stripped both out for a full rebuild which Steve Jordan done a great job and got them ready to get me out for the first session. In the first session I equalled my best times from last year in colder conditions so I was very happy with this. As the day went on I got quicker and quicker and felt very confident going into the first race day on Saturday.

Saturday morning came and it was still very cold and slightly damp. I wanted to play it safe and get through qualifying ok so I stuck a wet front on and a scrubbed rear tyre. Throughout the session I could see on my pit board I was within the top 3 and on the last lap I got my head down and went all out taking pole position by 0.037 of a second which I was over the moon about!

Pole – 54.001

Race 1: I was glad to be on pole position for the first race as I knew with the work I’ve been doing on my starts I could get out into the lead and set my own pace. The lights went off and away we went, by the 2nd corner the red flags had come out though due to an incident on the start line which involved 5 bikes. Lunch was called early so we waited around for the restart to take place. On the restart I got a very good start and led for 4/5 laps before getting into a battle with Paul Wilby who finished 2nd in the MRO Championship last year. On lap 9 I made my move and used the back markers to my advantage and managed to take the win by .282

1st Overall – Fastest lap: 52.072

Race 2: With spirits being high from race 1 I went into race 2 pretty confident I could run the pace at the front. I got another great start and proceeded to set the pace for the first 5 laps. Wilby got past me just before we hit the back markers and he used them very well. By this point I was .9 behind him and just had to settle for 2nd place which I was still very pleased about.

2nd Overall – Fastest Lap 52.152

Race 3: The weather turned for the worse by Sunday morning which I for one was very happy about as I knew I was pretty consistent in the wet. I got a great start and got out in the lead and started to make a good gap to 2nd place. By lap 5 I had a 5 second gap over 2nd and I could then settle into a rhythm. The back markers slowed me up a bit as you had to run quite a bit off line to overtake and in the wet this is very tricky!! With my head down I set my best 3 laps in the last laps of the race taking the win and fastest lap of the race!

1st Overall – Fastest lap 56.964

Race 4: The last race of the weekend was by far the most trickiest and challenging. The conditions were very confusing with it being very wet in some places and bone dry in others. The wind was also very strong which made corner entry very difficult. Once again another great start and set the pace for 4 laps. On lap 5 I made a mistake coming out of druids which lost me around a second and Wilby got past and started to gap me. Me and Richard Goode ended up getting into a bit of a scrap with both of us having massive moments. In the end took another 2nd place.

2nd Overall – Fastest lap – 57.575

I am very pleased with the amazing start to the year I could never have imagined I would have left the first round equal leading the championship especially coming up straight from the rookie championship. I want to try and take this form into round 2 at Snetterton 300 and be up the top end so I need to dig deep keep fit and keep it pinned!