Well, what can I say, this is the blog I have been looking forward to writing all season, the one about our first double win for the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki team and cementing my place in the title shootout showdown and where better for that to happen than my home track Brands Hatch, even if I now get labeled as the Brands specialist lol ;-) typically me though it’s a week late coming but hey, what do I always say, better late than never right!!!???
I know I mentioned in my previous blog after the Oulton weekend that I was gutted not to have won there and both myself and the rest of the team left there really revved up and determined to turn things around, especially knowing the next round would be at Brands where there’s always a good turnout to support us and also with Tommy Hill doing such a good job at Oulton we didn’t need to be losing touch in the podium credits stakes!!
The Brands hatch GP weekends always start with the first day of practice on the Indy circuit, we all know why it has to be done that way but the official test was just a chance really for us to have a bit of a run around before the real work started on the full Grand Prix track, the two in some ways just don’t compare though, I’m actually not a massive fan of the indy circuit but the GP one, well, that’s a whole different kettle of fish, the first laps around there really make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up!!!
Practice and initial stages of qualifying went real well, we’d been in the mix all weekend but when my crew chief told me before the final qualifying session we would need a 1.25 second lap time to get pole and I wasn't sure it would be possible as we were riding really hard already doing mid to low 1.26’s, you can’t rest on anything though in this job so with one final attack I pushed as hard as I could and did a 1.25.8 to take Pole position, It put us in a good position for the first race but we knew Pole was one thing and racing for 18 laps (around 30 minutes) was another so we needed to keep pushing.
Race one felt great, after a great start I made a mistake on the first or second lap at Stirlings and Michael Laverty got by me, alI I wanted was to try and get some laps in and then settle into a decent rhythm, I spent a little bit of time getting past Michael but once I did first my pit board said Michael was there, then it changed to Haga then it changed to Brookes and I thought flipping hell give me a break!! After what seemed like almost an eternity It felt fantastic to win the first race at Brands Hatch even though I was more than a little bit aware Josh Brookes was all over us there at the end, I know you only need to win by the smallest margin possible but that was a little bit too close for comfort!!!
After wininng the
first race I knew the second one was going to be difficult, for the 2nd
race I’d qualified 4th which means the inside of row one and the
camber down there is real steep so it’s usually real difficult to get a good
start, especially in the wet however wet wasn’t a problem for once this
weekend!! The 2nd race was almost like a mirror image in some ways,
in both races I got the lead pretty much straight away and I both races there
were yellow flags out on the GP section on the 2nd lap, I almost
thought I was dreaming at one point!! 18 laps is a real long way with +.0 on
your pit board, again the names changed about a little but at the end it was
Josh and I going at it, we had a fantastic battle, colliding up at Druids with
Josh trying some brave moves to force me into a mistake, I just tried to be as
precise as possible and then I saw Josh alongside me down the straight finish
line and I thought 'oh no, he then tried to pass around the outside at Paddock
and I wanted to let off a little to not let him passed but I didn't want to run
wide and ruin the drive up to Druids, but fortunately i held on and was able to
push really hard for the last three laps which got the job of breaking him
slightly done only then on the last lap I made a small mistake on the exit of
Surttees which could’ve cost me as that’s the corner that leads out onto the
all important back straight and then to make matters worse i missed a gear
between Westfield and Sheene Curve and I thought that's it he’s going to do me
now as I had seen plus zero on my pit board but fortunately I held it and
crossed the line for a double win!!!
There are a few of us who were really fast last weekend, and indeed have been all year, three of us, Tommy, Josh and myself have all cemented our places in the showdown now and have everything to fight for but there’s a couple of others that are strong too, Haga and Laverty spring to mind immediately who will almost certainly end up in the Showdown so it’s going to be tough, none of us can give an inch right now and those all important podium credits are still up for grabs!!!
There are a few of us who were really fast last weekend, and indeed have been all year, three of us, Tommy, Josh and myself have all cemented our places in the showdown now and have everything to fight for but there’s a couple of others that are strong too, Haga and Laverty spring to mind immediately who will almost certainly end up in the Showdown so it’s going to be tough, none of us can give an inch right now and those all important podium credits are still up for grabs!!!
Brands put us in
a good place, I got a decent start from pole position and then won both races
even though Josh kept me honest, it’s critical now not to rest on our laureIs
and continue pushing real hard in preparation for the Showdown.
We now have a bit
of time off for the summer break, a month or so in fact so we’re off to our
place in Spain to chill out for a bit, that and to absolutely hammer myself
cycling around the local area, it’s great training, loads of the big cycling
teams come down and spend time there so I’ll be doing my best to chase them
down, hopefully they’ll all be knackered after the Tour so I might get half a
chance ha ha!!!
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