The first set of pics are through from PLJ Photo. They’ll be up on my website tomorrow (www.jamiewilkinsracing.com). In the meantime, here’s a taster.

I’m busy preparing the bike this week in good time for round two – the usual oil and filter change, plus a new starter relay to make sure it fires up on the button and I’m not late for any more races! Also today, two awesome new pairs of Renthal handlebars arrived. They’ll improve the position on the bike and they look great too.

Tie a knot in a hankie, set all your alarms, and put a Post-It on the dog because the first round of ThundersportGB will be shown on MotorsTV (Sky413) on Monday March 30th at 7pm. Every class delivered really exciting racing, so don’t miss it.

Also, just confirmed today, PLJ Photo will be supplying their exceptional images all season. The first load will be appearing in the Gallery section of this site in the next week. They’ll be available to sponsors, supporters, and media too.

Next item on the agenda? My local paper, The Wiltshire Times, will be covering my race season, and the first report is on the back page of this weekend’s edition and also on the website (www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk). The paper sells more copies than several UK bike mags, so I really appreciate this valuable support.

Finally, round two at Cadwell Park is rushing up and I can’t wait. I have a feeling that the S&B Auto Academy Aprilia Tuono, on fresh Dunlop D211GPs this time, will be very good there.

Best wishes.

After a week of riding the usual route to work the weekend is here.  The sun is shining and I do not have too much of a hangover.  I am up and on my bike to meet my old mate Simon Quantrell at Weedon on the A5. 

It’s a fantastic sunny day and the wind blows out the cobwebs of the night before.  The purpose of this early rise is twofold.  One – to meet my old mate Simon before his Wife gives birth to their first kid meaning he has lost his weekends for the next 18 years and two – to meet Jamie Wilkins who is racing at Mallory Park.  (Check out his blog)  As you will be aware we sponsor Mr. Wilkins and a perk for me is free tickets to the racing – BRILLIANT!!!

We take the cross country route across to Mallory Park – some fantastic roads.  Simon is on his mint Fazer 1000 which handles really well round the twisties and the sun shine makes the hour or so ride superb!  My GSX1400 is all good but a little quiet after the standard cans have been put back on for the MOT. 

We get to Mallory.  This is my first time here and straight away I realise this is a super friendly place – the security even let us in late with our freebie tickets – top chaps.  Mallory is great – from up on the hill you can pretty much see the entire track.

I will not repeat the racing from Jamie’s point of view as it’s on his blog!  We meet up gets some photos of his awesome looking bike and then leave him to it prepping for the afternoon race.  I may have indulged in a burger (why am I this shape?) and we lie out in the sun watching the racing!  Fantastic day!

After the racing we blast back across to Leamington Spa where Mr Q lives and then meet his cousin and Wife for dinner!  I eventually get home at about 12pm after blatting back down the M1.  A perfect Sunday me thinks!

Today was a mixed first day’s racing, with a happy ending. I crashed in the first race, then returned to win the second one.

After overnight rain, morning warm-up was dry, bright and useful. I checked a change to the set-up and found a bit more speed, nipping under 57s for the first time and topping the timesheets, even ahead of the Supertwins sportsbikes that share the Streetfighter grid.

The start of the first race was hectic and I got caught out by the slightly colder left side of tyre, sliding off gently entering Edwina’s chicane. Only my pride was bruised, but the bike needed a bit of attention.

My friends Ricky and Mart got stuck in helping me clean it, patch up the bodywork, and fit a set of bars loaned by Chris from Moto46. Thanks to them, I made it to the grid of the second race with less than 15 seconds to spare.

This time I got a better start and slotted in to second at the first corner, behind a Supertwin bike. I pushed hard, matched my best times, and took the class win by a good margin. It’s great to score a win on the Aprilia, make up for the crash, and kickstart the season. Hopefully this will be the first of many.

Thanks again to my sponsors S&B Automotive Academy and White Dalton, and of course my friends Mart, Chris and Rick.

Second qualifying was damp so the grid for Saturday’s races is set from the first session. That means I’m on the front row as fastest Streetfighter and second overall behind the top Sound of Thunder bike. I’ll be aiming to win the races overall though, definitely! Can’t wait.

We’re off! It’s cold but dry at Mallory, so I got stuck straight in from the first session. After four months off the track I built up the pace and soon felt comfortable, and the Aprilia Tuono Factory is singing.

By halfway through the session I was lapping consistently and smoothly in low 57s. When the timing sheets came out that put me first in the Streetfighter class for the provisional grid. The Sound of Thunder class is mixed in with the Streetfighters, but only one of them pipped me.

All in all, it’s a great start to the year and it calmed the nerves some too. Wish me luck for the afternoon’s second qualifying.

Hello and welcome to my racing blog with White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors. The season begins this week, on Friday 13th no less, at Mallory Park with a three day meeting. So, now seems like a good time to give you some background to this racing venture – it seems odd to call it a ‘team’ when it’s only me – and how it came about.

I am racing in a club called ThundersportGB (www.thundersportgb.com). It only started last year, yet it’s really shaken up club racing in the UK by setting new standards of organisation, racing, and track time. Now in its second year, it’s the biggest club in the UK and entries are sold out way in advance. The calendar takes in all of the UK’s top tracks over nine rounds, including a very special support race slot for every class across four days at the MotoGP event at Donington in July. There’s no better way to go racing than with ThundersportGB. You can follow the action on MotorsTV (Sky413), or better still come along and watch live.

My class is called Streetfighter A. It’s for naked bikes with up to 130bhp at the wheel, and very few other rules. You can convert a sportsbike or use a factory-made model, and tune a smaller engine or use a stock big one. The beauty and entertainment of the class is in the variety. They say that these are race bikes for real men, but they let me in anyway. There’s also a Streetfighter B class which has a limit of 95bhp. Although there are no capacity limits, these classes are predominantly made up of 1,000cc twins/750cc fours, and 600cc fours respectively.

For 2009 I’m campaigning an Aprilia Tuono 1000 R Factory, on loan from Aprilia UK. It’s virtually standard as it’s one of the highest spec naked sportsbikes around, yet its performance is amazing. The engine and chassis are identical to the RSV R sportsbike, which has always been an outstanding track bike. The only tuning is an official Aprilia Akrapovic exhaust system, plus a Dynojet Power Commander and Quickshifter, yielding 126bhp at the wheel. You can find out more details on my Tuono in the Bike Profile section of my website (www.jamiewilkinsracing.com). As I write, it’s ready bar the graphics, and it’s looking really mean. I can’t wait to race it.

White Dalton is co-sponsoring my racing, and I’d like to say a big thanks straight away. In particular, you can see the firm’s green and white livery on my helmets, with a cartoon racing barrister on the back. I’ll post up some pictures of the helmets in a few days. I’m actually a client of White Dalton, following a sound T-boning from a car on the road, which is how I know the firm. The team did an outstanding job for me, and now I hope to repay them with some great results. Further support comes from S&B Automotive Academy in Bristol.

Right now I’m already feeling nervous about the first round at Mallory Park. The weather has been so turbulent lately that we could get anything at the weekend. The short and bumpy circuit isn’t my favourite either, though I think I’ll enjoy it more on the Tuono than the 180bhp superbike I rode last year. I won’t make any predictions or set any lofty targets at this point. The next round is at Cadwell, which I don’t know that well. So the early season plan is to be competitive, score some solid results, and get through it with me and the bike in one piece. After that, I love – I mean adore – every other circuit and I’ve had good rides at all of them in the past. I’ll be looking to get on a roll and consistently fight at the front, getting the White Dalton helmet on TV and on the podium. I’m so excited it’s ridiculous.

Look out for regular updates here, including live news from each event. Wish me luck!

Jamie