GP27 – BSB MOTORSTAR – RND 3

Oulton Park:

Here we are 5 weeks into the season and we are already at round 3! The beginning of the season has been extremely fast paced and I have had to spend a lot of time, at home, in between the first 2 rounds consolidating what I have learnt, taking in some testing and all whilst still completing my training schedule.

FP 1 and due to being able to take advantage of some testing the previous weekend, I was able to come straight out of the blocks fighting. I immediately settled into the rhythm I had found during the previous test. This ensured that I posted consistent times, finishing the session 11^th fastest and only 1.2 seconds off the top 3.

FP 2 was wet which, excuse the pun, threw a spanner in the works. With little to no wet time on the bike yet this session (luckily you may think) we were chasing our tails for the whole session. The 20 minutes flew past and we didn’t get a chance to make any effective set-up changes. I finished the session further down the order than I care to remember, but taking the positives, we collated a great deal of data on what didn’t work in the wet!

Q1 the rain had stopped, the track had dried and there was even a little glimmer of sunshine. All was looking good, until the quick-shifter stopped working early in the session. I entered the pits and learnt that the lead had worn, over time, and now was it’s time to snap! I had to dig deep into the back of my memory and remember to manually roll the throttle when changing gear. This messed up my rhythm, causing me to try harder yet go slower. I ended the session a lowly 18^th and was “frustrated” to say the least!