East Fortune 17th-18th April

After my average results at Knockhill two weeks ago I was eager to get some proper points on the scoreboard at East Fortune. Again we had terrible weather over the weekend to deal with and a few last minute tyre change decisions also!

This season so far it seems that qualifying is my forte but unfortunately the starts on the BMW have not come so easy. In both races on Saturday I had left myself a lot of work to do after two bad starts although this made my races eventful! I worked my way back to fourth on both occasions but still these results were not what I was looking for.

Erich had made some geometry changes to the bike on the Saturday evening and we had also decided to change tyre manufacturer to keep up with the opposition, so I was confident for Sundays races after these decisions. Unfortunately the heavens opened on Sunday morning which meant we were unable to try the new tyres.

A small Crash in race one put me out for the rest of the weekend as the bike was beyond repair at the circuit. This was obviously very disappointing for me to have missed out on the points but I am still enthusiastic and ready for the next round of the Scottish championships at Knockhill.

Thank you to everyone who came along to support me. Also thanks to Charlie Johnstone, ParamedUK, Digby Brown, Motorrad Central, Alder Enterprises and Horsetiger.

 

Knockhill 3rd-4th April

It was a great start to 2010 at Knockhill this year.. What better way to start than with a Pole position! It was a great confidence boost as I was anxious to see how things would go, with the limited track time I have had. Unfortunately my luck did not continue over the weekend as a problem with the chain in race one set me back and 7th position was all I could salvage. It was thanks to my tech Erich and Steve from Motorrad Central that the problem was quickly sorted.

Over the whole weekend, the weather was terrible. The snow had only just cleared for the weekend and both races were in hugely variable conditions. Unfortunately I made the wrong tyre choice in race two and had to see out the final laps of the race with wet tyres, on a dry track. Fifth was my final position although my lap times were up there with the leader.

The BMW was awesome as expected and unbelievably fast!.. I am looking forward to the next round which is at East Fortune on 17th and 18th of April. I have work to do before I am able to achieve my goals but I am very confident that I will be on the pace over the weekend.

I would like to thank everyone who was involved in getting us to this meeting especially Charlie Johnstone, Paramed UK, Motorrad Central, Digby Brown and Erich Schonwalder.”

Snetterton BSS

After Thruxton I was in need of a confidence boost. Before Snetterton it seemed to be the pattern that practice and qualifying were a struggle. We would have a hard time to find a good set up for the circuit as we have no real reference points. With so much so much to think about, including Gearing, Suspension(front and rear- compression, rebound, preload, spring strength, air gap, ride height), tyre pressures, tyre compounds, wheel base and the list goes on. Snett was better. We had received some great advice over the weekend from Mark Hannah of Worx Suzuki. Between Mark and my mechanic Erich we made the bike feel great and even although we did not achieve a very good qualifying position (25th), we had a good bike for the race.

The race was good fun. I had a good start and it was very busy for several laps. I made quite a few passes with no real mishaps and was happy to finish the race in 15th, 10 spots up on qualifying.

Knockhill is the next round and I am very optimistic. I look forward to seeing everyone there and entertaining my local sponsors.

Thanks again to all my sponsors and supporters including ParamedUK, Digby Brown, Horse Tiger, Kinsley and Bolton, Erich Schonwalder and WMMotorcycles.

Thruxton round 4

Thruxton was good. By no means did I feel that I was setting the track alight but I definitely learnt from the weekend there. The weekend got off to a bad start with a front puncture in the first session, and believe it or not I think this was a first for me. It just felt very strange as it was a slow puncture and it came on very gradual but still ended my session early.

My dad and I were on our own for Friday practice and we were fairly rushed to get everything done, from collecting tyres and fuel to setting up and preparing the bike…gearing etc. To be honest it didn’t really work on Friday without the mechanics and I will definitely make sure we are fully staffed in future.

I think it was due to the nature of the circuit that we struggled a little. As it is so abrasive, the tyres are very quickly worn and this is where the big teams and high budget teams are able to gain an advantage by using the softest compound tyre and lots of them. I feel we done our best as a team with the recourses we have available but I am definitely more excited about the next round at Snetterton, where this may not be such an issue. I managed to gain a few places in the Thruxton race, moving up from my qualifying position so I left the circuit on a high note.

I have a very busy time ahead of me in the next three weeks to try to gain more support for the remainder of the season, to make it possible for me to compete. Knockhill BSB is also not far away so I am confident that the next few rounds will be good to me.

I am grateful to everyone involved including Kate Middleton, Annwen Gray and my sister Libby Paton for all their hard work.  A huge Thanks again to all our sponsors and friends, without your help this would not be possible.