Brands Hatch (Round 1)

Due to us receiving the new bikes from Stobart Honda at such a late stage, our pre-season testing has been very limited. I completed 30 laps at Mallory park a couple of weeks ago and that gave us time to iron out a few teething problems. But the first time I used the bike properly was in Friday morning’s free practice at Brands Hatch – the very first action of the new 2008 British Superbike Championship season.
The practice sessions went very well and my aim was to use these sessions to get familiar with the new bike and tyres. The whole paddock are on Pirelli tyres this season . . . for the first time, the British Superbike Championship has become a one-tyre series, much like the World Superbike Championship has been for the past few years.
My speeds throughout the three sessions increased as I got used to the bike and how it handled. These sessions were valuable to get a good understanding of what the bike was capable of.
The weather for the qualifying session on Saturday was overcast and spitting with rain, but it cleared up halfway through the session. At this time we decided to change the tyres, opting for a softer rear, it was at this point I started to push the bike harder.
I realised I had got a good lap time and decided to come in as to save the bike and tyres. The time was 1-28.921 which, around the Brands Hatch International circuit, means an average speed of 93.15mph.
I could have pushed for a faster time but didn’t want to end up in the gravel, and the earlier time was enough to get me onto the fourth row of the full BSB grid as leading privateer. John Laverty was only just behind me on the start of row five – he could well be my main challenger this year for the British Superbike Cup, although there are a lot of decent riders in it.
The following morning we woke up to the snow, and I was really disappointed that Sunday’s racing was abandoned. But you can’t help the weather, we were lucky to get two good days prior to it and it means hopefully we will be in even better shape with the bike when the meeting is re-run on May 11.
Apparently the grid positions we all qualified in at the weekend will stand for the rearranged race, although before that we’ve got to turn our attentions to Thruxton on April 20.
With Thruxton being in Wiltshire, it’s really Quay Garage Racing’s local round and it’s one we always want to do well in. I took a bad fall there last year and gave my bad ankle a pretty big hit, so it will be good to get a good ride in this time.