Brands Hatch 12/13 May 2007

It was back to Brands Hatch, scene of my baptism into the world of motorcycle racing. I'm usually quite nervous before the first race, but after my last race ended with a big crash, the nerves were at an all time high. Luckily when the lights went out, so did the nerves and I just got on with it. I remember passing Alan Smith but it wasn't until I picked up the result sheet that I found I had won the Rookie race, with Alan Smith and Mark Lister only 1 second behind me. As comebacks go, they don't get much better than that.

With the second race came another good finish and my first dice with Mark Lister. I managed to pass him on lap 3, but then he passed me on lap 5. Our lap times were almost identical and I chased him to the line where he beat me by two tenths of a second. I had to settle for second placed Rookie.

The first race on the second day was run in torrential rain. If the first corner isn't bad enough with 40 bikes all bunched together, imagine what it's like when you can only see three of them, the rest hidden by a wall of grey mist in which anything could be happening.

It took me some time to get a feel for the wet weather tyres, as my experience in the wet is limited to about 2 hours in total over the last eight years! I finished in third.

The final race was another lesson in the steep learning curve. Check the condition of the track, don't just look at the sky. I thought the track was still wet, but it was bone dry. Consequently I made a wrong tyre choice and had to settle for fourth place.

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