Brands Hatch Indy - Round 9
Coming into the last round i knew i had a good points margain over 2nd place in the championship but i knew i wouldnt be able to let my riding standards drop at all as at Brands Hatch there is a few quick boys who can upset the front runners for the podium spots.
Testing on Friday went very well in the morning. I was getting a tow round with my good friend Grant Robertson who won the MRO championship this year. Times felt really good and even though i was on quite a very worn scrub i felt like i had good pace from early on in the weekend. As the day went on the tyre got worse and the track got busier so i decided to just try and practise a few things i felt i needed to work on.
Saturday morning came with glorious sunshine but the overnight frost left the track still damp in the early part of the morning and as we were out 2nd for quallifying we had to play it a bit safe as not to bin it with such an important day ahead. Qually went really well as i was P1 for 11 of the 13 lap session where i got pipped to pole by 0.008 by Byron Kirk!
P2 - 54.156
Race 1: As we were getting ready to head off for race 2 the weather took a massive turn for the worse! While we were being called to the collecting area the heavens started to open by which point it was unsafe to go out on dry tyres, So we headed off back to the garage with a quick tyre change and back out onto the grid. With the race now being wet i felt i had the slight advantage as i quite enjoy wet conditions as it suits my style. Me and Ben got away in the lead pulling out a 20 second gap over 3rd by lap 3! I was following Ben up until lap 7 where i felt i had the pace to go past which i did with ease and started to pull a bit of a gap out on him. Unfortuantly he fell off at surtee's at the end of lap 7 which gave me a clear run to the finish and i came home to win by my biggest ever margain 47.9 seconds over 2nd!
1st Overall – Fastest lap: 1:00.496
Race 2: By race 2 the sun was out but the track was still soaking wet and with a low sun it made looking for your apexs very difficult! Going into the race i knew i had a 54 point lead over Ben which if i could keep it over 50 going into sunday meant i won the championship with a day to spare so my aim was to just stay infront of Ben! I got off to a good start and got my head down early consistencly going a second quicker than anyone else on track. By lap i had a 10 second lead over 2nd which meant i could relax and just bring her home to be crowned 2014 Bemsee Rookie Mini Twin Champion!!
1st Overall – Fastest Lap 59.032
Race 3: As you can imagine the celebrations went on long into the night with everyone in my team and a few good mates in the paddock but i was still very much up for going out and putting on a show on sunday. Track conditions were perfect and with not a cloud in the sky i could feel it was going to be a quick day! Me and Ben got out front once again and had an amazing battle of which the lead changed on numerous occasions but on lap 8 i got caught behind 2 back markers into grahem hill bend which gave Ben enough of a chance to pull a little gap which i just couldnt get back on the last 2 laps!
2nd Overall – Fastest lap 52.487
Race 4: With a few more family members turning up for race 2 and it being the last race of the year i was going to put everything on the line to try and grab the win as i wanted to go out on a high! It was a carbon copy of the first race where me and ben got out front with Byron hot on our heels. I knew where my strong points were and knew where i could make a move and make it stick, which i did on the last lap and came home to win it by 0.395!
1st Overall – Fastest lap – 52.401
I never would of thought at the start of this year i would win the championship i set my goals at a few top 5 finishes with maybe a few podiums but as the year has progressed i have found my self improving ten fold every round and with the help from my mechanic Alan we have worked on numerous settings to find the right one for me. Roll on 2015 where i can try and battle for the MRO championship!!!!
Snetterton 300 - Round 8
I always had high hopes coming back to Snetterton as I had such a great time there earlier in the year and trust me it didn't disappoint me at all! On the way up I was speaking to my mechanic Allan about my goals for the weekend and the main goal was to try and stay in the lead in the championship along with knocking some time off my personal bests around here and with the weather looking promising all weekend I knew it was possible.
Testing on Friday went well but as I only had 3 sessions in the afternoon I was still getting a feel for it by the end of the day. After coming in on my second session Allan had told me id got down to a 2:08.7 which is nearly 3 seconds better than my personal best from earlier in the season which I was over the moon about.
With fresh tyres on I headed off to qualifying in the hope for a front row place at least. For the first lap or 2 I was getting the tyres scrubbed in and up to temperature and by lap 3 I then got going. I caught a bit of traffic up on laps 3 and 4 and put in 2:09s so I knew I could go quicker. I had a clear lap on lap 5 which is where I set my best which was good enough to stick it on pole by nearly a full second over 2nd place.
Pole - 2:07.806
Race 1: I knew I had the pace to run out at the front but as im not known for great starts I knew it was going to be hard. Didn't get that bad of a start but I was sat behind Ben Body and Byron Kirk for the first 3 laps. From this point I got my head down and got the lead on lap 4 the only problem Ben had the slipstream on me down the back straight and he got in front into the esses under the bridge. I knew I had to make a move into the last corner and it was either going to win or lose me the race unfortunately I missed a gear coming out the corner and he out dragged me to the line.
2nd Overall – Fastest lap: 2:07.794
Race 2: As everyone could tell I was really disappointed with finishing 2nd in the first race as I knew I had the pace to win it. Got off to a good start and went into the first corner in 1st place but got overtaken into the first hairpin. So 2nd is where I pretty much sat for the first 4 laps but I knew I had more in the locker so as the last lap flag was shown I made a move into the first corner but Ben wasn't letting me come past that easy and we had a squeaky bum moment side by side at over 100mph!! So I sat behind until the back straight as I knew his bike was slightly quicker in a straight line. With the slipstream I got past under the bridge and he done the exact same move as I did in race 1 and I out dragged him to the line taking the win by 0.690!
1st Overall – Fastest Lap 2:07.739
Race 3: Sunday came and so did the nice weather! With the sun out I knew lap times would come down as long as the tyres didn't get too hot! Had a bit of a splutter in morning warm up so had a few tweaks to do on the bike which seems to fix its self by race time. Didn't get off to such a great start this time and was sat in 3rd for 2 laps by which point me and 2nd were tripping over each other and letting 1st get away. So I got past and told 3rd place to tuck in behind me to see if I could close the 3 second gap 1st place had on us by this point. By lap 4 I was into the 2:07s and going a second quicker than the leader and by lap 6 I had the lead by 0.771 which I extended on the last lap to just over 1 second! Another win!
1st Overall – Fastest lap 2:07.130
Race 4: By now it was gone 5pm on Sunday and most people were packed and ready to go home but we still had another race to do! For some reason I must of fell asleep as the lights went out and got swamped into the first corner from pole! So for the 1st lap I was sitting in 5th which I knew was not good enough so I pushed on and got up to 3rd by the end of the 2nd laps and got my head down to catch the front 2. I knew it was going to be hard work as they already had around a 2 second lead on me. I finally caught 2nd place and we were dicing for 2 laps before he slipped off at Agostini which gifted me 2nd and I tried to catch Ben who was leading but the gap was too much and my rear tyre had gone off by this point. So I just kept at a steady pace and came home for another 2nd!
2nd Overall – Fastest lap – 2:08.376
A really good weekend where I hit my goals and also kept the lead in the championship by 29 points going into my home circuit at Brands Hatch Indy. Me and Ben both go really well here but there are also 5 other people that can win here so I expect I great end to the season!!!
Brands Hatch GP - Round 7
What a great weekend! After such a good weekend at Cadwell Park I wanted to try and build on the form at Brands GP and I achieved what I set out to do! Went into this round 13 points off the leader in the championship and left 29 points in front so now it’s my championship to lose by the looks of it!
Qualifying was the first time I had a chance to ride the circuit so in my head I was happy with a position on the front 2 rows which then would give me a good chance to get out front with the boys that already had knowledge of the circuit. I exceeded my expectations and put it on Pole for race 1 which I was over the moon with as you can imagine!
Race 1: In this race I was hoping to improve on my starts and get out front but looking at the qualifying times I knew it would be a very close race and I wasn’t wrong! For 3 or 4 laps I was dicing for the lead with Ben Body and 4 others. I then made my move on the end of lap 4 to take the lead. I was leading all the way into clearways where there were waved yellows and I let off a touch which caused Ollie Read to get the run on me to the line and I got beat by 0.050 which I wasn’t very happy with myself about!
2nd Overall – Fastest lap: 1:42:407
Race 2: This race ended up being a 2 person race with me and Ollie battling out for the win as Ben had a technical problem which stopped him from getting out in this one. I was following Ollie up until the last lap where I made a strong move into sterlings. Coming up to clearways I tried to brake as late as possible to get the run up the straight but Ollie had other ideas by diving up the inside which surprised me to say the least. Another drag to the finish and lost out by 0.075 again!
2nd Overall – Fastest Lap 1:43:443
Race 3: Sunday’s weather was a bit changing with a lot of rain in the morning and then the sun coming out with a few showers in between so tyre choice was a big factor in this race. Starting 2nd on the grid I got off to a great start and knew I had to put the hammer down to grab the win this time which is exactly what I did. Ollie had a big moment into paddock hill bend which gave me a bit of breathing space and I went on to take the race by a clear 8 second over 2nd place and 31 seconds over the 3rd place finisher also setting the quickest lap by nearly 3 seconds faster than anyone else.
1st Overall – Fastest lap 1:47:466
Race 4: The weather changed for the better and we had a 95% dry track with just a few damp patches at the back of the circuit under the trees so back to dry weather tyres it was. Got another great start and got out front until Ben Body came past mid way through lap 1. The lead kept changing between me and Ben until the last lap where I made my move to take the win by 0.393
1st Overall – Fastest lap – 1:44.299
A great weekend in all with no issues to myself or the bike and to come out of this round in the lead of the championship is something I couldn't of dreamed of a few rounds ago so just want to thank Allan for his support and help at every race and the rest of my little racing family. Also Steve & Sarah Jordan for their work on the bike, my family for supporting me as per usual and everyone else that has helped me so far this year.
Cadwell Park - Round 6
So Cadwell went really well with a few days testing before which I believed helped massively. Also I had a whole new suspension setup to learn which I thought would have been a lot harder than it actually was but Steve Jordan who set the bike up for me done a great job and the base setting was perfect! Thursday was all about learning the circuit and what the bike could do with the new setup. Friday was going very well until my engine decided to blow towards the end of the afternoon. Luckily I borrowed an engine off a fellow competitor so Allan my mechanic spent the next 8 hours getting that in the bike and running for Saturday.
Qualifying was a bit nervous for me as it was the first time out on the engine after changing and no one really knew weather it would work or not. Luckily enough it was all good and I managed to grab Pole in the rookies and 10th overall in the main grid.
Race 1: First race went really well as I got off to a good start and tried to hang on to the back of the main group for a few laps which pulled me along in front of the next rookie and I finished 6 seconds ahead of him which I was over the moon about as of Friday evening I may of not even been racing this weekend. 11th Overall 1st Rookie Fastest Rookie Lap - 1:42.7
Race 2: This race was a bit harder as Ben Body (the rookie championship leader) got a great start and was in front of me for the next 3 laps. I made a move on him into Mansfield on lap 4 and decided I would try to dictate the pace as I felt I was stronger through the middle section of the lap. I held on to take the win in the rookie class again by 0.334 of a second!
13th Overall 1st Rookie
Race 3: Got a bit of a terrible start in this one and had a few bikes in between me and Ben for the first 2 laps of the race from then I pushed on to get onto the back of Ben and try and find my pace. I made a move on lap 4 at the end of the park straight but ran wide which allowed him to get back underneath me into Chris curve. The last lap flag came out and I knew I had to pull something out the bag to grab the win in this one, so I made a move into Mansfield again and ran slightly wide so we entered the chicane side by side and I just about held on, messed up the last corner by missing a gear and just about took the win by 0.050 seconds!
12th Overall 1st Rookie Fastest Rookie Lap – 1:43.2
Race 4: Got a very weak start and got sat up by a few riders into the first few bends put me about 4 or 5 bikes behind the leading rookie. Ben started to pull away so I knew I had to push on to try and keep with him. By lap 6 I had caught back up to him but by then it was slightly too late as I was too far back on the park straight to make a move. So I came over the line 0.8 behind the leading rookie.
17th Overall 2nd Rookie
This weekend I can easily say was my best weekend racing so far this season! It was a real mix of emotions after the engine going on Friday all I was thinking is I would be sitting there watching the championship chance slip away but with all the help from Allan and the rest of the guys in the paddock we managed to get me out there and I hope I repaid them in some way with the wins! Need to thank my Mum, Perry, Dad, Allan, Kurtis, Vince and Dave Turner for the sponsorship and help getting me out there this weekend!
Donington GP - Round 5
Learnt a lot in a short space of time considering I hadn't been to this circuit before and we had no test day! Had to learn the way round in 15 mins of warm up on Saturday morning and finished 2nd rookie overall....
Qualifying went really well for me grabbing pole by 0.4 of a second which I was really pleased with considering it was the 2nd time I'd even seen this circuit.
Race 1 went well with a good start and got away at the front with the leader at the time and brought the bike home in a comfortable 2nd place.
Race 2 went just as good as the first got away at the front with 3 other rookies. On lap 5 the leader crashed out at the Melbourne loop which gave me and Steve Costin a good battle to the finish and I lost out by 0.1 of a second so another 2nd. I also set the quickest rookie mini twin lap of the weekend in the race which I was very chuffed about in a 1.47.2 lap.
Race 3 went pretty much the same as race 2 other than I was leading for half a lap until I hit a false neutral on the start finish straight and lost it again to Steve who finished 2.4 seconds ahead of me.
Overall I'm happy with how the weekend went and how much I had to learn in a short space of time. Thanks to all the people who helped me get here and also all the people that helped me over the weekend hopefully will see you all at Cadwell Park for round 6!!
Oulton Park - Round 4
Quick run down of how things went last weekend at Oulton park....
Test Day Friday:
Test day started off nice and wet and without much experience on wet weather tyres i wasn't feeling too confident but its all about learning how far you can push on those tyres. So for the first 3 sessions i just tried to gauge a feel for the wet weather as i was expecting quite a bit of it over the weekend. The last few sessions of the day dried up and was able to get some decent paced laps in ready for qualifying in the morning!
Qualifying:
The weather really threw things into a mess for me once again at qualifying as i got the tyre choice wrong and went out with full wets on a nearly bone dry track! So ended up going out and doing 5 laps and just tried to get a good enough time in so i wasnt too far down on the grid. Came away with a 2:00.583 which put me 11th overall and 2nd rookie.
Race 1 - Saturday:
Just as we was about to go out for the first race of the weekend the rain came down and the heavens absolutely opened up so lunch got called to give us enough time to get the full wets on for race time. Got a pretty bad start as i was still getting used to how much i could push on the wet tyres. Anyway i worked my way through and got on the pace towards the end of the race to take Ben who then slipped off the track with 2 laps to go so i grabbed 1st rookie and 10th overall at which point the red flag came out for an incident up at druids but great start to the weekend!
Race 2 - Saturday:
This race got cancelled due to the weather as there were rivers running around the track and frankly it was just too dangerous to race in those conditions.
Race 1 - Monday:
Feeling quite confident with starting 10th on the grid and my next rival down in 18th on the grid i headed out to the start line but could feel there was a slight issue with my bike. As we pulled away for the warm up lap i noticed the bike coughing and spluttering but knew i had enough fuel anyway to cut a long story short i literally made it to the first corner by which time the bike had given up on me and that was my race over. Feeling absolutely gutted by this point as i feel race win number 2 was on the cards!
Race 2 - Monday:
After the issue in race 1 i got the bike back to the garage and quickly tried to rectify the problem which was a minor issue but one that really wound me up! Anyway bike sorted i headed back to the grid for race 2 which i now had to start stone dead last back in 23rd! I got a great start and over took the 3rd rookie who started in 16th into the first corner. As the laps went on i made my way through the pack and by lap 5 i had overtaken the 1st rookie to take 10th overall and 1st rookie place which i held for the next 3 laps. Everything was going well until the last corner of the last lap which is lodge, as i came through it i got on the gas a bit too early which chucked me up into the air but i managed to hold onto it by which point i was on the grass and i then tried to get on the gas to still hold onto 1st position as i knew Ben was close behind. This then chucked me off the bike about 50 yards from the finish line so as you can imagine i was feeling very angry with my self for making such an error!
All in all i have to try and take the positives away from this weekend and treat it as a learning curve. I won the first race and was 2 seconds quicker a lap than the next rookie, Bike issues stopped me riding in race 1 on Monday so not my fault and in race 2 i was quickest rookie and put in the 6th quickest lap overall which im very proud of!
I would like to thank the anonymous sponsor who actually got me to Oulton and im sorry i couldn't repay you with a few more race victories but i will try and be back fit and ready for Donington GP in 4 weeks time
Silverstone - Round 3
Well where do I start with this weekend at Silverstone....
Test Day Friday:
Test day went really well for me as we all looked at the weather forecast and presumed it was going to be absolutely soaked but to my amazement I opened the van doors Friday morning to bright sunshine got 4 sessions in throughout the day and the bike felt great and was setting some quick lap times and holding with a few boys that are quite a not quicker than me!
Qualifying:
Qualifying didn't go too well for me as when I pulled Into the collecting area I noticed I was one of only maybe 3/4 people out on a wet front and a dry rear everyone else seemed to have full dry tyres on anyway pushed on and tried to get a few quick lap times in before I wrecked the life out of the tyres and got P3 not all bad so still a front row start!
Race 1 - Saturday:
Got a good start and got into P1 by the 3rd corner then me and Ben seemed to pull away a bit from 3rd place and that's how it stayed until on the 4th lap round at the Farm Curve I lowsided coming through the fast 5th gear left hander! Never mind bit of a burn on my left arm few aches and pains but I'll live!
Race 2 - Saturday:
Managed to get the bike repaired up with the wonderful help from Allan only done minor damage with a snapped foot peg, snapped gear lever and slightly bent left bar. Got it back through tech inspection and got my race head back on! As I crashed I had to start all the way back down in 14th which I knew was always going to be quite hard to cut through the pack! Got a blistering start and ended up around 6/7 after the first 2 corners and by the end of the first lap I was already back into 4th. 2 laps later I took 3rd place and started to build a lead but I was never going to make up the 6 second gap to the front 2 with only a lap and half remaining so relaxed and took my first podium of the weekend!
Race 1 - Sunday:
As I done quite well to get back to 3rd in the last race on Saturday it meant I started back in 3rd on the first race on Sunday. I got a great start which put me into first going into the first bend but then got quickly over taken by Ben on the 3rd corner. He seemed to pull away while Me, Stu and AJ had our battle for 2nd and 3rd place. I took Stu on the last lap through Stowe and held the line for vale unfortunately Stu got taken out by a back marker on the last corner but I came over the line in 2nd!
Race 2 - Sunday:
The last race of the weekend didn't start too great for me! Bogged down off the start line and ended up in 7 going into the first bend! Got my way back to 3rd by lap 2 and that's where I stayed until the last lap where I made a brave move on AJ for second and held it through the slow left and right before the start finish straight to take another 2nd for the weekend!
All in all after a crash in race 1 on Saturday I never thought I'd still going on to take home 3 trophy's so thanks everyone that helped and everyone that has sponsored me!
Snetterton 300 - Round 2
Finally home after a long weekends racing!
Race 1 went well as I started on pole got overtaken on lap 1 but soon got the place back and built a 7.5 second gap by the end.
Race 2 kinda went the same and thought I'd done the double win but got hit with a 10 second penalty for creeping forward on the start line.
Race 3 I started 4th and stayed there for a few laps until me and Ben Body pulled away from the pack and I made a move on him on the final lap which gave me my second win of the weekend.
Race 4 was going well as I held the lead for 3 laps until Ben once again got past and the race got red flagged due to an incident with the 400s so ended up with a 2nd place!
So in all got 2 wins a 2nd and a 4th but overall had a great weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it! Bring on Silverstone!