Scottish Championships at East Fortune – 18th/19th Sept 2010

It was back to the Scottish Championships this weekend at East Fortune Raceway to continue the fight for the Premier class trophy. I was coming from a good result at Croft BSB and was hoping to carry on that form.

We had three championship races scheduled over the weekend and the prestigious Steve Hislop Memorial Trophy Race too.

It was mixed weather conditions for us, making tyre choices tricky. We were mostly riding in dry conditions but we did have a wet race.

The championship races were as fast and aggressive as ever; the lap record was broken and there was plenty of fairing rubbing and tank punching! Again, consistency was my aim as I had closed the gap between myself and the leader from 60 points to 37! I knew that I definitely could not afford to DNF but I also had to push hard to finish in front of the championship leader.

I was able to win the first race but it was not easy with 4 riders in the mix for 10 laps! The remaining two Scottish championship races were again very close and I managed 2^nd position in both but most importantly… I finished in front of the championship leader.

After these races, I have narrowed the point’s deficit to just 17 with two races to go so I have certainly not given up hope yet!

The final race of the day was the 20 lap Steve Hislop Memorial race. The grid is picked from a hat and I was fairly fortunate with row three as there are nine rows! I had a good start but was beaten to turn two by Torquil Paterson.. the 3 time winner of this trophy and lap record holder. He was able to pull a gap of around 3 seconds initially but I chased him down until I was in a position to pass at around lap 13. We caught back markers and I was extremely unlucky with the timing of approaching them. This allowed Torquil to pull a big enough gap to make catching him in the remaining laps impossible. I did not give up but was beaten to the line by 2 seconds and was 22 seconds ahead of third place! I was gutted but happy to finish and I know that I will be going for the trophy next year!

Croft BSB 11th/12th Sept 2010

I had been looking forward to the Croft round for a while as I really like Croft as a circuit and have gone well here in the past. I didn’t get off to an ideal start, finishing the first free practice session in 17^th position but I kept my head up as I knew it was close and small improvements would fire me up the standings!

We have the bike set up well now after plenty of trial and error it has to be said. In the qualifying sessions I gained more confidence in the bike and managed to secure 14^th place! My best of the season so far. Obviously I was happy with this especially as I was in great company on the grid… with very well established riders all around me!

Going into the race I was very determined to hold my position throughout to make sure I could finish in the top 15 and take my first Superstock points. After an average start, I was able to make several passes and work my way through the field and into 7^th spot! Unfortunately after a race long battle I was pipped to the line by none other than Steve Plater! Nonetheless, I was over the moon with 8^th. Again I found the tyres towards the end of the race to be very loose and hard to manage. I suppose it’s the same for all the riders.

So things are looking up for the next round at Silverstone and we are managing to continue to improve which is our main aim!