ROUND 1: Navarra, Spain
It was a unique experience for everyone going to Spain to race in a British Championship, though adding significant additional costs to our racing budget, it was a memorable experience. The track and facilities were all new/refurbed, we got 4 days of track time which is considerably more than a usual round whats not to like?
Testing was five 40 minute sessions split over the Thursday and Friday, which allowed all the riders to get a good understanding of the track, the corners, the hazards and get progressively quicker thought the test. Though it was very cold first thing, would you believe it was -2 degrees at 7am and we were out on track at 9am where the track temperature had only risen to 8-10 degrees but warming up. Would have made sense to delay starting by an hour and finish later. Sadly on the 2nd day, first session, I went down on one of many 1st gear slow corners, losing the front along with several other riders throughout the session. Minimal damage and just war wounds on the leathers. Not sure if it was the track temperature being a contributing factor?
Saturday was a full on day as we had 3 sessions; Free Practice 1, 2 and Qualifying, followed by the first race of the weekend which was last on the days schedule. Free Practice 1 saw me break down on my out lap with a technical fault, the support crew took the entire session to get me back to the paddock, which was rather annoying as it was a simple fault fixed in seconds so I could have got back out on track.
I’m giving myself excuses but I am still relatively new to the bike and certainly the track as was everyone, but with every session I was improving, dropping a second here and half a second there but still not quick enough for my expectations. Qualifying came around and I was predominantly on my own for the first half. I kept making subtle mistakes equating to .3 at at every corner, which accumulated to a lap time in the early 1.54’s until I got a into a pack with some slightly faster riders whom I managed to hang with for the last few laps improving my lap time that set me up for the race: 1.53.5
LET’S GO….CAN WE GO? CAN WE….
Race 1: was a bit panicked at the start. I stalled the bike in pit lane which was my own fault, I thought the bike was in neutral when it clearly wasn’t. In a panic I turned the bike around and ran down the pit lane with it to the team to get it started. However the entire team were out on the grid with the starters waiting for me, and it was only fortunate that our rider coach happened to be walking along and spotted me. So by this time with less than 30 seconds left before pit lane closed we got the bike going and got out and made my way to the grid.
Funnily enough I chose to leave the bike running on arrival to the grid (I wonder why?), there was less than a minute until the flag dropped, there was no point. My start, if I do say so myself, was one of my best, from P22 I made it up to 14th by the end of the first sector but I was unable to keep the pace and was caught by riders behind dropping me back to back to 15th where I was fighting for the last point, unfortunately losing out and dropped to 16th just outside the points on the last laps.
Race 2: I had another great start making up positions until I ran on at turn 2 dropping me back down the order again into the groups behind. On lap 4 catching back up to the group in front, coming out of turn 14, the rider right in front high-sided leaving me with no where to but run into their bike. This caused a red flag, but both of us were OK although we had a little trip to the Medical Centre as a formality. I knew I was on a hot lap too as I had yet again improved my time to 153.1 on the previous lap and we were chasing down the group in front. However race control decided the race be restarted as a sprint, therefore my lap time was deleted which mean I started from last place in Race 3.
Race 3: I wasn’t anywhere near where I wanted to start from, right at the back. It would appear that I had also used up all my good starts too, as I didn’t manage to leap frog ahead as the 2 races before but remained in a group of 6, fighting and battling the whole race. I led the group for nearly the entire race, however on the final run to the line I decided to moved across the track, thinking the rider behind would be slipstreaming, but I actually gave the position away to them by doing this as I slowed down whilst doing it. I should have remained in position.
Overall I didn’t set the track alight as I wanted to, however I learnt so much about riding the bike in a competitive situation, and as I have said, I improved my lap times every time I got on it which is the positive. There’s been a lot of talk and opinions to BSB racing at Navarra, its to remain on the BSB calendar for the next few years so its something that we need to accept. Its set in a stunning location, the weather was great, albeit cold first thing and the locals extremely welcoming and friendly.
We can only hope that they can organise some kind of discount on the long boat ferries for the teams/riders to get out there, whilst also making it affordable for more British spectators too, as it was extremely expensive for us to get there compared to a British round. There are track changes afoot which we hope will improve the flow of the track, the facilities were OK but could still be improved. Was difficult for our Team coach to spot riders around the track in order to give feedback, so not sure if it was the same from a spectators perspective as we just had to use the roof terrace. Once it gets busier this will be impossible. Oh and Dad says they need to sort out the service in the bar! But nonetheless it was a great experience and start to the season, however I am looking forward to being back at home in the UK and racing at my favourite track, Donington for Round 2.
