White Dalton Solicitors Blog

I won the last Streetfighter race by 20 seconds, enjoying riding hard for
the hell of it.
Between us we took the decision not to go out for the last GP1 race. My rear
tyre is finished so I’d be off the pace and at risk of getting lapped by the
leaders who will be fighting for the championship. There’s nothing to be
gained and Rob’s road bike, amongst other things, at risk.
This has been a fantastic weekend and a perfect way to end the season.

I won the Streetfighters race comfortably and then fitted a new soft tyre
for GP1 which got me 12th and this lap time. That’s half a second off my
Streetfighter best and a frankly ridiculous time on one of these bikes. The
GSX-R felt so good to ride and I’ve never had so much fun getting my arse
kicked in a race.

I was 5th in class and 9th overall and I’m really happy. Conditions were
drying all afternoon and it was a tough choice between wet or dry tyres. I
went with wets, along with the majority of the grid, but nearly all the
track was dry. Luckily, the few wet patches evened things out. I quickly
passed a few riders on dry tyres and then started reeling in some others on
wets. For some reason I seem to do quite well in these intermediate
conditions. With a couple of laps to go I saw Chris Barnes in the distance
and thought that at least he wouldn’t pull too many points on me for being
just one place ahead. I kept pushing and caught and passed him on the last
lap. Happily, another superstock bike got by him too, so the points gap
between us has increased slightly.
Also, a massive well done to my friend Sam for third in the RRV450 race. He
was right with the two leaders for the whole race and miles ahead of fourth.
It was a stellar ride that marks him as a top contender for next year.
All in all, a great weekeknd.

What a race! I was 6th superstock and 12th overall from 21st on the grid,
and I beat Chris Barnes too!
I made lots of changes to the set-up before morning warm-up and the bike was
loads better, with the stability needed to use all the power. In the race I
got a decent start and then began picking people off. Just to be able to do
that made the race a lot of fun and when I caught up a group including
Barnes I had to smile to myself. My best lap was a lot closer to the leaders
too.
Now I need to do the same in the second race as it’s worth double points.

I was 9th, with a destroyed rear tyre costing me the drive I needed to get
onto the two bikes that were just ahead. It was another really fun race
though.
In case you’re wondering, had I been in the Streetfighter class I’d have won
every race comfortably. Even so, I’m really pleased that I entered GP1
instead.
Thanks to all my sponsors, especially Rob for letting me ride the GSX-R
again. After the race we swapped the wheels, changed the gearing, refitted
the numberplate and he rode it home. No other race bike was ridden home from
here today!
Time for the long-ish drive home, without any trophies but with plenty of
satisfaction.