2021 British Superstock 1000 - Round 7 - Snetterton

Round 7 of the British Superstock 1000 Championship was held at Snetterton over the weekend. Based on an old airfield, Snetterton is a very flat and technical track in Norfolk. It's got two very long straights were we reach close to 270kmh (170mph) and some super tight hairpins as slow as 60kmh. It's our 'local' round, being based in Ipswich, in Suffolk, it's about an hours drive to Snetterton. 3 weeks ago, at Donington, I broke a verterbrae and rib, in qualifying, which forced me to sit out the race at Donington and miss Cadwell the week after. I have been in the hyberic chamber regulary to help with my recovery and I had to pass a "fit to ride" medical on Friday before I would be allowed to ride. Thankfully I passed this and was allowed to compete at the weekend!

 

We had two practice sessions on Friday, which allowed me to see how my body was feeling on the bike and steadily work away at our set up. I was feeling a little stiff on the bike, understandbly. But the BSB Physios were a great help in keeping on top of my moblilty through out the weekend. I ended the combined practice sessions in 16th place, 1 second off top spot. Thie Superstock 1000 grid has a huge depth of talent, that we were pleased enough with this positon for coming back from injury.

 

We would only have one race at Snetterton, so Saturday was just one qualifying session for us. The weather was ideal, 19 degrees and calm winds. I bettered my practice time on old tires at the start of qualifying, then we put a new rear tire in to do the second half of qualifying. I was really happy with our set up of the bike and I got some clear track to put my head down for a flyer. I managed to go 1.4 seconds quicker than the previous day (which was a personal best for me also) to go under the lap record at a 1:49.7. There was 8 of us that went under the lap record and I managed to go 6th quickest in qualifying, putting me on the second row of the grid for Sundays 15 lap race. I was stoked with that lap time and position, I'd really nailed the lap and was proud of the lap i'd put together. With out injuries I would have been happy with that, so with the injuries I was carrying made it even more special.

 

Snetterton is also local for my main sponsor and great friends AJN Steelstock. There were over 30 guests from AJN come to support me for the day which was great to see them all! Our race was in the middle of the afternoon and it was alot warmer on the Sunday than it had been for qualifying on the Saturday. I got away from the lights ok, but got a little beaten up in the first few corners, and dropped back to 11th on the first lap. I was feeling good on the bike but it was difficult to get passed a few of the riders. I felt like I had the pace to run with teh group of riders in 4th-7th but by the time I got up to 8th they had to much of a gap that I was unable to close. I had 8th pretty well firmly cemented, until the final corner when a lunge from another rider pushed me off track and into the grass! Thankfully I stayed on, but I lost all my momentum on the start/finish straight and got passed by Luke Mossey and was pipped at the fianl turn, to cross the line in 9th!

 

Overall I am really proud how our weekend went! Another top 10 in this insanely compeititve field is always a good weekend, and to do it with the injuries I'm still carrying was a really positive weekend for us. It is now only 3 days back at work before heading off to Silverstone for the next round. We have 5 race weekends on the bounce, as after Silverstone I'll be racing a BSA Goldstar at the Goodwood Revival, then onto another 2 BSB weekends after that. It was great to see so many people at Snetterton and my crew worked tirelessly all weekend. I am so fortunate to have such an amazing support crew around me, from my Wife, my mechanics and team boss, they all have such positive attitudes and allow me to do my job at the best possible level I can. I'm so excited for Silverstone this weekend and can't wait to continue our progress!