Friday practice was a day of two halves, during FP1 I really struggled to get comfortable on the bike which is weird as I love riding Brands GP, the best I managed was P15.
We reviewed the data and my set up and make a few changes ahead of FP2. Which worked immediately as I put a lap time in for P3 but I was eventually bumped down to P5, resulting in P5 combined.
Next was qualifying, which took place on Saturday morning. I managed P11 at the end of the session, “I wasn’t happy with this one as I just couldn’t string a lap together and went slower than I did in practice, which was frustrating as I love Brands Hatch. Saying that I remained confident, the times were tight so it meant I still had a good chance in the races”. 9 riders covered 0.4sec!
Race 1 was on Saturday afternoon. It started raining around 10am and didn’t stop so we knew it would be a wet race. “I made a good start up to P4 by the first lap. By turn 4 on the second lap the leaders created a gap, I tried my best to catch them after I moved up to P3 for most of the race. On the second to last lap I came out of Stirling Bend a bit too hot and ended up going over the kerb and straight onto the grass, I had no option but to keep it pinned!! Luckily I stayed on, however it meant that I would drop back to 4th. The final lap I managed to get back into 3rd, however I got slipstreamed to the line by 0.069sec resulting in P4, not the way we wanted to lose a podium but that’s the way the cookie crumbles”.
My fastest lap in race one would see me start P3 for race 2.
Race 2 was on Sunday afternoon and I was starting P3 on the grid, the highest I have started this season. “I got a bad start and was P5 by the end of the first lap. I lost the tow to the group in front and just had to manage the gap behind form that point onwards, unfortunately for them but fortunately for me, a rider in front crashed and handed me P4 but it was a lonely race”.
Two solid point scoring rides means I have now moved up to 6th in the championship. We next head to Silverstone GP for the MotoGP round.
“I am very aware racing costs a lot of money and I grateful to my sponsors for their ongoing support, without you none of this would be possible, so a huge thank you to Amphibian Scaffolding, Amphibian Apparel UK WIZ Racing Products, Auritech, Rock Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, SP125 Racing, Facelift Home Improvements Ltd, Coverwell, Crawley Amateur Boxing Club,Muk Junkie Cleaner, MotoGusto Magazine and Helmet City Ltd”