I was excited and eager for a good result …
Arriving at Knockhill I was excited and eager for a good result. The forecast looked a bit iffy for Saturday and Sunday so I knew any dry track time would be a bonus and could be very important. FP1 was was dry and straight away I was seriously fast. It felt strange as within a couple of laps I was p1 as I kept lowering my times from a 51.5 to a 50.6. It seemed pretty easy and I managed to consistently lap in the 50’s on old rubber which was good. I ended up fastest with a 50.6 with a 0.3 gap to 2nd place.
The afternoon was again dry and I was looking for another good session. Straight away I went p1 and was in the 50’s and i worked on my race pace, until I got pipped by Glen Richards with about 15 minutes to go. The next lap I saw Glen down so I knew I was doing good times and consistently so I pushed a bit harder and ended up fastest again. It was a very nice feeling as the bike was working fantastic and I felt very much in control of the day’s proceedings. I had done many laps in the 50’s and my ideal split times was 0.2 faster which matched the lap record.
Q1 was wet, and I settled into a nice rhythm and was comfortably inside the top 10. I was holding back a fair bit as I knew crashing in the first session would not do me much good, and the afternoon looked wet too. I ended up 6th which I was happy about.
Q2 was again wet the same as the morning but this time I wanted to be on the front row. The times were really close and I was again comfortably in the top 10. With 20 minutes remaining we started changing the ride height of the bike to get some more rear grip and we found something that really worked. I pitted for a new rear and I ended up 2nd, which I was pleased about. It was my first front row start and my best ever qualifying position in the wet.
Warm up started damp and was drying pretty quickly. I went out on inters but I didnt gel with them to be honest and had a bad session with traffic. I was still 3rd fastest which was encouraging.
I knew my best chance of winning was to do it from the front. I was really nervous and hoping the rain clouds would stay away. In situations like these I am more nervous than normal as I was expecting a podium, nothing else and it was all down to me. I got a good start and took my first holeshot which I was peaking about! (It had been a while since I last had led a race, too long in-fact!!!) Glen came past me into Carlube on Lap 1 which I was surprised about as he had started from 7th I think so he had a good start. I tried to settle in behind him but before I knew it Lowry and Webb were by and I was 4th. That was not in the plan and I had to settle down, compose myself and get back to doing the times I was on Friday. I managed to outbrake Webb into the hairpin and straight away I was on the back of Glen before passing him into the final corner on the brakes. Lowry had just over a second and I managed to get that back to 0.5 but I just didn’t have enough time or speed to pass him. On Lap 22 the red flags came out due to rain and a result was declared.
Obviously I was happy with 2nd but I need to sort my first lap or two out and maybe I could have had a good battle with Ian for the win. Fair play to him he didn’t put a foot wrong in the race and rode really well. I was really happy to be back on the box, also with how I had rode all weekend in whatever conditions and both my Centurion Hondas were a pleasure to ride this weekend. It really was a good weekend, and I would like to say a big thank you to the whole team, Paul and Gary, Alan for putting a winning bike under me, Sim and Dad my mechanics, Mike our data man, friends and family and anyone else who has made it possible for me to be on the podium. I am now up to 4th place in the championship with 4 rounds to go, 39 points behind 3rd which is not going to be easy, but never say never.
We now head for Cadwell,my home circuit and a place I have had pole positions, wins and lap records. Please come and get behind me at my home round, It would mean the world to win there.
Thank you
James
