Thundersport Round 1 @ Mallory park

The first round of the Thundersport calendar came round very quickly. It seemed only a few weeks ago when i was buying Christmas presents and wondering which bike i should buy to race this year, but then Thursday came and we were off to Mallory Park for the first outing of 2011...

We set up camp with GP2 contender Josh Daley, and with friend Ryan Myler and Sam Ludgate, the three of us all racing in Superstock 600 class.

Friday Test day
We awoke to a dry day, always a bonus. I hadn't ridden at Mallory since the Plum pudding races on Boxing day of 2009, so was keen to get some laps under my belt initially, before beginning to look at the bike setup. The thing i like about the Thundersport paddock, is that with the experience around the paddock, riders don't tend to be too crash happy on the test days, realising the importance of actually making the race day! So with a very flowing day with few flags, i got up to pace on the track and spent the day still getting used to the bike and working at my pace.

Saturday race day 1
Saturday saw all the qualifying in the morning, with an 18 lap race scheduled for the afternoon. I went out to qualify and was lapping consistently, but found i did not have the ability to improve, despite knowing i should have been. I had change of direction issues and bad drive on exits in a couple of places on the track. I qualified in a disappointing 20Th position, and immediately knew that for the first race, i needed to make a couple of changes.

I made these changes, and in the first race, from 20Th position, i made a good start, immediately lapping over a second faster than in qualifying, and making my way through the field, finishing in a solid 14Th position. This gave me confidence to run at a quicker pace than i previously had done on this bike. Positive progress made for the next races.

Sunday Race day 2
Sunday saw two more races, both slightly shorter, at 14 laps each. These races would have me start from 20Th place again, which was a frustrating position to be in. As we prepared for the race and removed the tyre warmers, i was told that my front tyre warmer had burned out. The wire had burned and broken near the thermostat, resulting in me leaving for the grid with a cold front, knowing that Gerrards, possibly the longest, and one of the fastest corners in the UK was the first corner of the race! I did what i could on the warm up lap to get heat into the tyre, but caution forced me backwards on the first corner. I lost several places, choosing not to risk all on cold rubber. I began to work into the race after a couple of laps and started to pass people, finishing in 19Th place.

Race 2, with hot tyres (Thanks to tyre warmer from Charlotte & Alan @ the KnightRR racing team) i got a good start and made a few places off the line, but in the pack going into Edwina's chicane on lap one, i had to run straight through, this lost me lots of places, and yet again i was forced to fight to make places to get back to where i started. I pushed through the whole race, and despite my situation, thought that this race helped more than any other over the weekend. I finished in 16Th position.

Summary
I went into this round, with no clear goals, as far as times and results go. I had hopes of racing the bike for the first time where i could push the bike for the first time properly. My qualifying highlighted some issues that i have resolved with the geometry for the future, and my first race gave me more confidence with the bike which transferred to the next races and will continue. The last race was also very valuable, and riding through so many riders gave me plenty of time to get used to the close and aggressive racing again. It was a succesful weekend. I now have an understanding of where I am, where the bike is, and i can make much better plans about what i want to achieve in the next round.

At the end of the day, i'm a racer, and I want to be at the front, however i know what needs to happen for results to come, and i am aiming to improve every single time i ride to reach my goals. I can't wait to get back out!

I need to thank lots of people for the weekend. My Parents, 'Mexico' Paul Cooper, Claire Domoney, Rachael Whitehead, Chris Rustage, Anthony & Carol Birchall, Ryan @ Moto-racespares, Pipewerx exhausts and Rich @ Signs Express Lincoln. I wouldn't be able to do it without all of your help. Also it goes without saying, thanks to Ryan Myler and Sam Ludgate for a competitive yet fun weekend!

More soon, Donington on Saturday, and WSB support race in 8 days time too!

Bongo