Two or three weeks isn't really that long an amount of time is it,that's all it had been since we last raced at Brands hatch but in that space of time quite a bit has happened. First and foremost we as family Byrne got a couple of weeks away in Spain, it was meant to be a holiday but wit the showdown looming around the corner I took my bicycle to ensure I got some training done too, 8 rides and just over 500 miles later I'm actually pretty relieved to come racing just to get a bit of a rest lol!!!!
Oulton park then, a triple header, a cool track, hopefully some small improvements to our bike, some good training done, all to play for!!
Typically here the first session started wet, fortunately right at the end of the session it dried out, I got about 5 or 6 laps in and everything felt there or thereabouts, we ended the session fastest without taking any risks and had some data to look at going forward so all good.
The afternoon session was dry, because we'd done so little an amount of laps in first practice we started the session on the used tyres, I got in a decent enough rhythm early on and sat behind Kiyo for a few laps as we circulated together, we'd made some changes to the bike since the first session and whilst some points were ok some weren't quite so good, after doing near on race distance I got the in board and came in to talk to the guys, a small change was made again and a pretty big change engine management wise and off I went again, the bike immediately felt much stronger power wise, it actually isn't or wasn't but the feeling was good, with my tyres scrubbed i got my head down to push on, Alex at that point had half a second or so on me, my first flyer was going great, the bike felt good, I had Michael Rutter about three seconds up the track to chase down but about halfway through my lap another rider pulled in behind Michael and blocked my lap completely, the positive thing about it was I ended up matching Alex's time on my 6th lap so it was all good, I knew after the engine changes we'd made we needed to take another step for Saturday morning but. I felt really positive with the changes made and couldn't wait to start riding the following day!!
Friday evening a I got out for a bit of a cycle around the track which was fun, only 20 odd miles just to spin my legs a bit, I hadn't ridden my bicycle since Monday because of travelling so it was nice to get out albeit only for an hour!!
I'm pleased to say that the changes we made seemed to be a step in the right direction, the bike was working really well and I was enjoying riding it, qualifying went pretty good, I'm never much of a Pole man as I've said many a time before my aim is always to get on the front row and that we did, I also managed to lap a quarter of a second faster than I had back in may which was a good step but the really pleasing thing was the fact I was less than a 10th of a second off of Alex who claimed Pole so P2 for the afternoons race it was then!!
With this weekend being a triple header with so many points, podium credits and a very strong realistic chance of cementing our place in the showdown it was important to use my head, I got a great start when the lights went out and settled in well over the first few laps, eventually I got onto the back of James Ellison who was leading and hats off to him he was setting a really fast pace, I was riding around the whole time thinking of Brands a couple of weeks ago when James sat on my back wheel all race long, I was more than comfortable on his wheel but there were places he was strong and places I was but unfortunately mine came immediately after his so he'd open a gap then I'd close it, the whole race I was on his wheel thinking I need to pass but all I kept doing was catching right back up to him and simply couldn't put my bike in a position to pass so P2 it was..
My lap time in that race qualified me on Pole for the 1st of the two races the following day and with morning warm up passing without any dramas we were back on the grid before we knew it!!
I had a plan for race 2, that plan was to get out front and try to stay there, initially Alex lead and stayed there for a good few laps but once I got in to the lead I managed to keep it all the way to the flag despite a fair bit of pressure from the guys behind and in doing so I took my 50th all time BSB win, when I arrived in the podium area the organisers had two big banners, funnily enough one with a five and one with a zero with loads of pics on so that was a lovely touch!!
For the final race of the day I knew things were going to be difficult, we were all on a really similar pace and were all fast in particular sections of the circuit, I once again got to the front and lead for the majority of the race however this time I lead at a consistently faster pace, it was weird in a way because although my pace was faster I wasn't trying any harder, at one point with about 3 or 4 laps to go I had +.3 on my board, I was trying to maintain my pace riding my lines etc then Josh came underneath me at turn one, some bloody .3 I thought, I managed to pass him straight back but not long after he was back through again, whilst I could live with his pace it looked like he'd done the perfect job of conserving his tyre because whilst his bike was no faster he just had that little bit more initial grip than me that was punching him off the turns real good, in the end it was enough and another P2 for me, that's two races that weekend lost by a 10th of a second each!!!!
Upon reflection I'm pretty happy with the weekend though, we definitely made some good steps, steps that we can build on with the a rapid solicitors Kawasaki, we know what we need to do to improve too, it's not like we're where we are and don't know which way to turn, I'm happy too because we just completed round 7 of the championship and in my opinion that's the first time all year I've genuinely been beaten, not that I want to get beat, don't get me wrong for that I'm gutted but its testament to the job we've done as a team so far that it's not happened until now and as I said we know what we need to do to improve so its all good.
I said it on TV and I'm going to take a minute to say it again now, I'd like to dedicate that 50th win which is a bit of a milestone to my boss Paul Bird, I haven't counted how many but I can assure you a pretty big percentage of those wins have been down to the bikes, team and support Paul's put into my career, big thanks Birdman!!!
Now it's onwards and upwards, at the beginning of this season I hoped to achieve the big 5 0 this year, now I've done it and there's still five rounds to go, fingers crossed we'll be able to add a good few more wins to that tally and hopefully the small matter of a record breaking 4th BSB title.... Now that, would make me happy!!!
Take it easy guys and girls... See you at Cadwell Shakey #67
