It was nearly 6 months since i last rode my bike, without quite a few mods too. I'd come straight from the port at Birkenhead to Mallory and was feeling a little bit tired but still well up for it.
Firstly i want to say a massive thanks to Mike (
BMC RACING), Rod and Leon
Jeacock for taking my bike to Mallory, fuelling it up and basically setting my mind at rest, its all very much appreciated.
QUALIFYING
I was hoping that i would show well in qualifying but it was slightly more disappointing than i expected.
The weather was perfect, the bike was perfect, i wasn't.
I felt so unfit, mainly due to the tiredness from working and the travelling but i was trying and didn't think i was doing that bad.
Well i qualified 8th and felt slightly disappointed but not to worry, it was going to be different in the race.
RACE 1
I got an awful start and thought i was just going to keep going backwards but on the first lap the race was red flagged after a crash coming out of the bus stop.
So to a restart and i made a screamer of a start and upto 5th going into Gerrards, i felt quite comfortable and felt i was gaining on the bikes in front, but as it was in there yet another red flag so we were taken off the grid and told that that race would be the last one of the day.
Race 1 Re-Run
I was determined to do a lot better in this race and see what happens. Again i got a really good start and from 8th i was upto 5th going into the first turn and felt really good. After a few laps i was slowly gaining on the battling pack in front until my mate James Simpson on the orange zxr400 came past but over cooked it going into the hairpin, and not happy with doing it once he managed it another two times then even went on the grass going into Edwinas.
As it was i was overtaken and pushed down into 6th by number 56 then after getting stuck behind a back marker James passed me at the bus stop and the following lap the race race was stopped.
So after a frantic 7 laps id finished 7th with a best time of 1:01.254 which is way off my best time but everything taken into account it wasn't a bad first run out for the new bike
Race 2
After a so so kind of 1st race i was looking to improve and hopefully get a top 5 finish, with a couple of bikes missing off the front row i was feeling hopeful but didn't realise that they had started from the back of the grid.
Anyway i got a half decent start and was top 5 or 6 then got passed and was sat in 7th.
After a few laps i was taken by a green zxr 400 and then proceeded to have a bit of a tussle for the remaining laps, but i was unable to keep him at bay and finished 8th.
i had done a best time of 1:01.358 and i was knackered.
The good points to come out of the day was i really enjoyed the bike with all the new parts and it was a pleasure to ride.
My main aims now are to get out on a test day and get to grips with the bike again and also get my fitness levels up.
So hopefully next time out we should be looking at top 3!
