Railton at Knockhill

With the race engine away being re-built after the problems experienced at Croft IN MOTO were able to supply another engine that could be used in the meantime, which meant I would be able to return to action at Knockhill.

As planned I completed a track day at Snetterton on the Monday before Knockhill to ensure that the bike ran OK and to find a good setting in preparation for round 6 of the championship.

As forecast the weekend started with heavy rainfall. The first practice was my first full wet track time I've had in over a year. Nevertheless I concentrated on getting a feel for the grip levels and a good wet set-up. Knockhill has a good level of grip in both wet and dry conditions but there are a few sections that can catch you out. I was happy with my progress and was looking forward to qualifying.

The conditions were very similar in second qualifying and a lot of riders were making progress. I managed to improve significantly and with 10 minutes to go in the 30 minute session I was lying in 10th position. I came in to check things over and with only 5 minutes left it would be difficult to improve. I headed back out at the very end to practice my start. In the last 5 minutes I was pushed back to 15th, which was frustrating knowing that if I had stayed out I might have been able to improve, as the track conditions were more favourable.

I found it difficult to improve in the second qualifying session. The conditions were similar again but I didn't feel comfortable on the bike. However I did improve by around half a second but this wasn't enough and I slipped back to 22^nd.

The conditions changed for race day and the track dried for morning warm-up which was the first dry session we had all weekend. With only 8 minutes it was important to make the most of the session and find a good setting for the race. I was happy with the set-up finishing 18th overall.

The track was completely dry for the race and it didn't look as if it would be interrupted by rain. At the start there was a coming together and at least 5 riders crashed at the second corner. I was fortunate to avoid the incident and made it back for the restart as the race was red flagged. I got a good start and ended the first lap in 14th place. I struggled in the early laps to get into a rhythm and lost out to a couple of riders. As the race progressed I clearly didn't have the pace to run with the group in front and was battling to maintain 17th. With 10 laps to go I was passed by Geoff Lapworth but he made a mistake at the hairpin and I got back through but it wasn't long before he had another attempt and this time I had no response. I tried hard to stay with him but couldn't quite hang on, which left me in a safe 18th position. With a few laps remaining the race was stopped due to the light rain that had started to fall.

All in all it was a good weekend and I was able to complete my first race of the year, albeit a short one!

Many thanks go to IN MOTO for providing a spare engine and Brent Gladwin of GR Motosport for his hospitality and use of awning which was particularly welcome in view of the bad weather on Friday and Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Nigel Shearing

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