DONINGTON PARK 29th/30th/31st MARCH 2002

Between Brands and Donington we've rebuilt the bike and ditched the Ohlins rear shock.  We've gone back to what we know and fitted a Tech 2000 shock.  Eamonn Cleere has always been very good to me and has helped me no end both with bike set-up and racing skills.

During the Friday practice it became clear that the bike was handling a million times better.  Unfortunately, due to noise restrictions we had to keep the revs low and hence I didn't manage to get any decent laps in.

Saturday: My first race on Saturday was race number 2 and I was given grid position 40 out of 40!  With only six laps to make up places a good finish was going to be hard work. By lap 2 I was up to 30th but out came the red flags and the race was stopped. A further red flag incident in the restart caused the organisers to abandon that race due to time constraints.

My second race that day saw me on pole position. What a great chance to impress. I got a great start and was leading the out of Redgate Corner. However, an incident at the first corner meant the race was stopped. We sat on the line for ages in the baking sun. When we got the signal to start engines we were held for at least another 3-4 minutes and the engine temperature was rising. I was considering turning the engine off as it was approaching 100 degrees but the race was started. I 'bogged it down' quite badly and was only 20th after the 1st lap, which is the position I finished.

The organisers decided to re-run race 2 at the end of the day. I got a good start and at the end of lap 1 I was 24th. I gradually worked my way up to finish 13th.

Sunday: Sunday dawned cloudy and threatening rain.  Back to grid 40 for my 1st race of the day.  Another good start and I managed to pick up 12 places before the 1st corner. 5 laps later I had managed to get to 14th place. On pole for my second race of the day I was determined not to mess this one up. We fitted a new tyre and I was really fired up. I managed to get a really good start and I left my braking as late as I could at Redgate and managed to stay in the lead. I held on to the lead until McCleans. By the end of lap 1 I was holding on to 2nd. I kept second for lap 2 but at Redgate on lap 3, 2 riders got underneath me to demote me to 4th. I was battling with the 3rd place rider for the rest of the race, managing to get past him once or twice but he finally out braked me at Goddard's and I eventually finished 4th only 2 tenths of a second behind the 3rd place man.

This was my best ever finish and what a rush, my Dad was over the moon and I was on such a high for ages.

 MY NEXT RACES ARE AT CADWELL PARK ON 13th/14th APRIL 2002