Round 2 and a BIG CRASH....
I am calling this one the "rollercoaster" round!
After a successful round 1, my confidence was high, I felt really good and was ready to continue the progress. In the weeks in between the two rounds I was studying everything I could about Oulton Park. Never being here had me a tad bit nervous but I knew I had to get grasps with it so I wouldn't struggle to hard at the track.
The team obviously has tons of data from the many years that they have been racing here. So putting together all the pieces from the track walk, to data review and some video games; I felt good getting on the bike for the first set of practices. I stayed well within the top 10 during practices and was really enjoying the track. It definitely suited my style of riding and I learned so much each time we went out.
Sunday came around and qualifying went well. I ended up qualifying P8 and although not the best starting point the game plan is to always be able to stick with the lead group. The race started and I began to put the plan into action. Patient through most of it and then the attack came. Started picking them off and making my way to the front of the pack with one lap left to go. Then the high side happened. I wanted to get on the throttle sooner than usual in that turn and get the drive to the line, but Scarlett was not having any of it and she sent me flying. Juju Racing Airlines was born. Thankfully my airbag kitted DRC suit did its job along with my HJC helmet. But let me tell you this....getting inflated in an airbag while your adrenaline is pumping from just being missed by the other riders is INSANE....I couldn't breathe. All I was trying to do was open my suit and the flagger were trying to get me away from the track. Once that suit was opened I could finally breathe and did a body check. All was good and worked. A big scare for everyone watching but thankfully no issues. Good Gear is worth every penny
Monday morning came around and I was heading out to Warm up feeling good. The team asked me to check over the entire bike before fully going head on. They had just finished rebuilding it last night after the crash. Some new plastics and a new swing arm. So I took 2 laps to feel everything out. All was good and I hit pace. Managed topping the charts in warm up and my confidence was high again. I didn't feel any pain either so my body felt good as well.
That all changed once race time came. I felt fine for the first 5 or so laps and then my knee started bothering me. I had to compensate with the pain and had to alter my riding style. In doing so, I couldn't push hard enough to make moves on the lead group. So instead of making another mistake, the plan changed and I decided to just stick with the lead group and gain some points for the weekend. I finished the race P8 and extremely sore. But I was glad I was able to stay in the championship hunt.
Although I was frustrated with the crash from Sunday I know its part of the sport. I tried pushing the limit and took a risk. It didn't work in my favor this time. Brought home some more points, lessons learned and still in the championship means a successful weekend. A new track for me and doing this well really shows the quality of the team behind me and the hard work we are putting in.
As always, so much appreciation for my Microlise Cresswell team, my mechanics for an amazing machine. Jay and Elle for keeping me fed, safe and ready to ride. Also, shoutout to Brandon Paasch for coming by and hanging out with me along with the insights for Oulton Park. Super cool having a fellow Minigp racer with me.
Thank you to everyone for the messages and reaching out after my crash. I feel the love and appreciate you all. Currently I am preparing for Round 3 for Donington Park. I have done the full layout here before, however this round the layout is a bit different. Either way, I will be ready!