Well i managed to stay on the bike both races and the engine stayed in one piece as expected. The weather was a bit unsettled but by the second race was dry.
Race 1
Well i managed the morning practice fairly easy enough and it didnt take too long to learn the track, i followed a few other riders and got a feel for the rain tyres i had put on, it was the first time in 9 months since i had raced the bike and the first time ever i had ridden on rain tyres, so i was a bit nervous to say the least....
Practice had been and gone and i now had to wait for the race, the weather was misersable early on but the temperature was getting up and the track was drying, this made things a bit tricky as i was still unsure on what tyres to use. It was about half hour from my race and thought id stick with rain tyres even though it was drying out but i had no way of telling by how much, one of those gambles i suppose.
The lights went red and then out it was go......well i made a real hash of the start and from the start i had gone backwards from 28th to near last, throught the first few fast corners then i started to get myself together, finding a good line and getting a bit of rythem, the track looked pretty much dry all the way round, well there was a dry line, and i tried to keep on it, i knew the rear tyre would last and the front felt really good even though i had felt it moving around early on.
A few laps had been and gone and i felt relaxed and in a rythem, the bikes in front were getting closer and my confidence grew, i was beginning to reel the bikes in front in and i only had a few laps left.
I knew where i was faster and was getting faster lap by lap, by now the tyres were moving around quite a bit but i was loving it the feel of the bike was great and i was getting to know the track and where i could make up time.
By now the last lap flag was out and i was on a mission to make up a few places, we rounded the 3rd then 4th corners and was now on the fast parts of the track i rounded village then on to church corner and i had really good drive,i was in about 30th position and i could see a gaggle of bikes closing in, there was the long run down to the chicane and i was gaining all the time, past the 300n yard marker and the bikes in front seem to shut off, within the next 150 yards i had passed about 6 bikes on the brakes and was into the final chicane, out on to the start finish and it was all over, what a final lap, i had finished 24th out of 35, and had set the 13th fastest lap time which i was well chuffed with..... Roll on race 2......
