2023 Has Kicked Off in Spain...

The season has started with a team test held in the Circuito de Velocidad in Cartagena, Spain. I had visited Spain last year with the Dexter family but it was for vacation and not racing related. I was super pumped for this trip though. I was finally going to ride in Spain!!!

The first day was all about getting reacquainted with "Scarlett". I have grown in size and weight and needed to make sure we made the necessary adjustments to the bike to capture that. My head mechanic Sandy and I had plenty of chats over how the bike was feeling and in what direction we needed to go. By the end of Day 1 we were noticing some inconsistencies with the bike readings on the data weren't quite sure what the cause of them were. I knew the bike felt strange and the data was confirming that feeling.

On day 2 of the test it was all hands on deck to figure out what was happening with the bike. A massive effort from Sandy, Jay and Alan resolved the issue before the morning sessions were complete and we were finally able to get some good feedback. Man I was feeling really good on the bike now. She was doing exactly what I was telling her to do and the data showed the same responses. I felt good, the bike felt good and the team was in harmony...all along being in Spain. What more could a kid racer want right? But I wanted more...

The target for Day 3 was to put down as many combined and consistent race pace laps as I could. There were a handful of ETC racers there as well and one being the runner up from last year. So I tagged along with them for a few sessions and pushed hard to keep their pace. Learned a ton from chasing them and used that info to keep pushing in the sessions where I went out on my own to keep increasing my race pace. The total of laps completed for the three days was 175 laps around the circuit. We gained valuable data and it should help massively in setting the bike up for this year.

When I got back from Spain I got to spend sometime on the 450 with a couple of SFLMinigp events. I also got to visit grandma in NJ and spend some quality time with the family on the beach. Its all very necessary to have a balance especially before the season starts. At that point, everything is targeted to making sure I'm prepped and working towards each race weekend. 

The team in the UK is ready, the team in the US is ready and I am certainly ready to get this 2023 British Talent Cup season underway. Looking forward to a strong showing, podium finishes and a battle for the championship at the end of it all. 

Stay tuned for more blogs as the year progresses....BRING ON 2023!!