Race 3...consistency is KEY!
Only a week after coming home from JuniorGP I was back on a plane on the way to round three for the British Talent Cup at Knockhill in Scotland. To be honest, I was dreading coming back to this track after last year. I struggled more around this track than any other track on the calendar by far. But after a really good conversation with Coach Torres and my dad, I had a much more positive attitude and ready to take on the weekend.
We arrived Thursday afternoon and helped load in with the team. This weekend's schedule was setup different due to a lot of the riders having to take final exams in school prior to summer break. On Friday, prior to getting into my routine for the race weekend, I got to spend some time with my sponsor DRC Race Leathers and some friends to friendly but highly competitive karting races. It was so much fun and really set the tone for me for the weekend. Friday afternoon started our weekend activities and after the track walk and multiple cycling laps around the track, I had a very different perspective on the circuit. The track really isn’t that scary, the previous year I thought the track was horrifying but now a year later, the elevation didn’t have the same scary effect on me. Now I was really looking forward to the weekend and ready to give it my all.
The schedule was very different this weekend so we were putting all of the sessions into 2 days instead of 3 so preparation was gonna be very important this weekend. The FP’s were really positive but the major part was getting accustomed to the tires and bike again. Remember in Spain I raced on the Bridgestone tires, while here in the UK I race on the Dunlops. I was able to adapt really quickly and was ready for qualifying with a game plan to put it on the front 2 rows. I couldn’t have executed the plan any better and we put it on the back of the 2nd row which after my FP position, I was very pleased with this result. I was in the top15 for both FPs while working on setup and dropped to qualifying P6 less than .7 from P1. It did feel a bit weird not having a race on Saturday and having them both on the Sunday but I was ready for double the action on race day.
Sunday morning started off with a bang!! In warmup I was only a tenth of my qualifying time which was a massive confidence boost heading into the races. Race 1 was unfortunately red flagged after 7 laps completed so we got a restart with 12 laps and this gave me another opportunity to fight with with the top 3 guys. Unfortunately once again another rider takes flight (high side) right in front of me just like at Donington and this caused the top 3 guys to go again. I couldn’t believe it but finished p5 at the end and how could I be mad, another top 5 and good points especially with narrowly evading another crash. This race was definitely all about staying on the bike, there were many crashes but thankfully everyone was relatively ok.
Heading into race 2 I was ready to fight with the top guys again and I did just that. Had quite the moment out of the final corner and let the top guys go ever so slightly and wasn't able to fully close the gap, only was able to manage the gap. Again the race was red flagged after 2/3rds of the way so the race was over. Another top 5 with more solid points. To perform this good at probably my least favorite track shows massive improvement. I was 3 seconds faster then last year and 2 seconds faster then last years lap record, improved my time every time out. Overall it was an amazing weekend, I felt so good mentally and physically on and off the bike. I can feel that first race win, it’s coming I promise.
Massive thank you as always to my Microlise team; Sandy, Jay, Alan and John. The bike was phenomenal this weekend. Coach Mike & SDK for the prep before the weekend. To Mr. Bowes and the Bowes family for taking care of me while I am here racing as well. My team at home; Tim, Buch and my Dad for making sure I prepped for every race weekend. It truly does take a village!
Bring on Snetterton!!