First practice came and went with no dramas at all, we actually started the session on used tyres from Brands hatch because Thruxton is notoriously hard on tyres so we didn’t want to start on new ones and waste them just getting up to speed, as it was I managed to get up to speed pretty quickly anyway and topped the session on the used ones, I came in to make a few changes and had been bumped down by the WFR bikes but we exited with new tyres and despite getting held up a bit by slower riders I managed to go P1 again so a good start to the weekend.
The second session actually went pretty well too, we worked a little bit more on our chassis settings and got the bike working pretty good, in fairness a few of the boys fired in super soft tyres at the end of the session so we put in a new pair of race tyres I felt very confident of remaining at the top of the time sheets without using a super soft but I got a bit of traffic through the fast turn two and up into the complex which ruined my lap a bit, that said I only ended a 10th off the best time but in P4 so no big drama.
Saturday morning we woke too yep, you guessed it, rain!! I couldn’t believe it, that said Thruxton is a mega place to ride in the wet or dry and lets face it after my performance at Brands it’s not like I didn’t need a bit of time on the bike in the wet, initially I went out and really struggled with the bike, we seemed to have loads of rear grip but no stability or feeling from the front tyre whatsoever, we used the session as a bit of a test though and made a few changes and got things quite a bit better, I still felt like we needed to make some big steps but nonetheless I actually ended up P4 and only a couple of 10th’s off fastest so to be so close with not such a good feeling from the bike was pretty positive.
Qualifying started out pretty tricky, not fully wet yet far from dry, we waited for a bit before exiting and then went out with a wet front and intermediate rear, I got to P1 real quick but the track was drying pretty quickly, I managed to put a lap in to get through to Q2 despite the front tyre feeling like a bit of chewing gum so we were all set and ready for Q2.
Immediately we exited for Q2 with an intermediate front and slick rear as the track was drying quickly, I checked with my crew chief that we’d have time should I need it for a slick front and he said yes so I exited, immediately went P1, then went half a second quicker but after that lap I thought right, time for a slick front, I pulled into the pits and the boys set to work but something happened and delayed things and to cut a long story short I never had enough time for a final flier so I got dropped out of Q2, I was not happy!!!
Obviously starting from the 4th row was far from an ideal situation however looking at things positively it was a massive improvement on last year starting from the back of the grid, with this in mind for morning warm up due to the cold track temperature we tried the harder rear race tyre as there was a strong chance the softer version would cold tear anyway and not only that if the temperature didn’t pick up a bit throughout the day racing the softer one was going to be a bit of a risk, we also tried a slightly different front fork setting although after just two or three laps it was clear that whilst it fixed part of our problem it instigated some bigger ones, we made a quick setting change during the session then I went back out and managed a pretty respectable lap time on the harder rear so at least now we knew we had the option of running either depending on the track temperature.
Sitting on the grid for race one despite being on the 4th row I actually felt really confident of a good result, I knew that if I got some work done early on hopefully I’d be able to tuck in and get towed around for a bit in order to preserve my tyres a little, we’d decided to race the softer option and knew we could be fast on it and if a little careful could easily do the distance too, I got a decent start and made up a few places straight away, it’s fair to say that throughout the race I had my fair share of dramas, the biggest one being the front brake lever bending down meaning I couldn’t pull it enough, this was causing all sorts of dramas because I kept running in everywhere way too hot then panicking and workingthe rear tyre to hard, I had a couple of big moments and then scared the shit out of myself alongside Michael Laverty because I got a run on him but couldn’t get stopped and thought we were going to collide, as I rounded turn 1 I put my hand up and had to use my throttle hand to rectify the problem with the lever, I thought there was only one person behind me but as soon as I sat up about 4 of them passed me, b*****ks I thought, now I’ve gone and done it, straight away I got back on the gas and got going again but on the approach to Church (the fastest corner probably in the UK) I grabbed the brake shifted from 5th to 4th but the angle I’d put the lever to was right against the hard plastic protector on my finger so I squeezed but the levercouldn’t move so once again I steamed in way wide, I finally got myself together and eventually got back to 4th which was far from ideal but considering the dramas I’d had it was something to build on for race two which going forward I’d now start from P6 so second row.
We opted for the same type of tyres for race two as we knew that starting from closer to the front we should be able to slot in straight away and manage the job, as we lined up to start I knew I needed a good start and thankfully I got a half sensible one, I immediately slotted in around 3rd or 4th and very quickly made a move or two, before I knew it I was chasing Tommy and feeling incredibly comfortable, I couldn’t tell you the lap times I didbehind him but I felt so comfortable that I decided to try to pass him and see if I could get a bit of a run on my own, now Thruxton is traditionally a really hard place to get a break from the pack but I gave it a bit of a go regardless and managed some pretty fast times early on but always riding on the side of caution in terms of not hammering my tyres,
Leading the way in race 2!!
I was riding so much smoother and trying to be as kind as possible to my rear tyre whilst lapping fast enough to keep everyone else behind, as the laps started counting down I was thinking just keep it going, just keep it going but the rear tyre was starting to roll a bit and was spinning a fair bit in places, it got down to about 3 or 4 laps to go and I missed a gear due to wheelspin on the run down towards Church which messed things up a little and lost me some drive, I felt that horrible feeling of my bike being sucked backwards and knew someone was slipstreaming me, sure enough Tommy came passed and held me off on the brakes into the final chicane, at that point I just thought right, don’t panic, just follow him and lets see what he’s got, I had a bit of a slide trying to get a run on him through Church and then Josh passed me and I was like for gods sake give me a break, there was nothing left to give other than 110% which I tried but whilst they never got away I never got them back, I had another wheelspin miss gear on the run to the finish line and nearly lost my 3rd place which was close but fortunately we managed a podium, I feel good about the fact I gave my all but I’m pretty gutted we didn’t take the win, in fairness to Tommy and Josh they did the sensible thing and let me do all the work, I used up a bit too much tyre and when they saw that they pounced, in hindsight maybe I should’ve done that but on the flip side I really enjoyed leading and riding too and that’s what it’s all about.
Using all the track and some!!
We know now what we need from our bike to go forward and where we’re lacking a little so the boys have a plan already, a few days scrawling through data just to confirm my comments should see us start at Oulton park with a good plan, one that will hopefully take me two steps higher up the podium!!!
Massive thanks to all the fans for coming to say hi and showing their support, to everyone in my team for their effort and to you my followers for sitting reading this and last but not least a BIG GET WELL SOON to our hospitality man Baz who badly broke his ankle over the weekend slipping down the stairs, see yuo soon buddy!!!! Take it easy, Shakey 67
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