Leighton Walker, Mallory Park, April 27

Bike: Suzuki RGV250V, Club: New Era SuperClub

This qualifying business is a fantastic idea except for the fact that at 9:00am you’re expected to put in a fast lap time in 8 minutes.

Well I was pretty knackered from the real late night before hand that seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyway I managed to qualify 3rd on the grid just behind Matt Doughty and Steve Tomes (front row) which I was happy with.

Race 1

I lined up to the grid to discover that Steve Tomes had dropped out due to a mechanical failure.

Green light! I was second off the line behind Richie Welsh but by the time I’d got to Edwina’s I was winning it. I led the next two laps but was passed by Matt.

We diced for four laps before my brakes went off. At one point I went up the inside of him into Edwina’s just because I couldn’t stop! It went wrong from there on.

The rear tyre also went off as I was trying to compensate for early braking with getting on the gas earlier. Matt left me behind as I kept running hot into both Edwina’s and the hairpin and sliding the rear through Gerrards and out of Edwina’s.

Sod it! I settled for holding on to second place as my lap times deteriorated from 58.6 to the 59s. I managed to hold on and took second.

Race 2

A battle of wits commenced before race two, as it had rained heavily about an hour before, Matt and I jokingly advised each other to opt for wets. So, I got to the line (with new inters and brake pads fitted) finding that there was a definite dry line around the circuit and Matt was on wets! I had a little laugh to myself but he didn’t look impressed.

The green light came on and I was about sixth off the line. I managed to catch up with Matt and Steve (who had sorted his race 1 break down) at the hairpin in the same lap. I past Matt’s already struggling Aprilia in lap 2 and followed Steve Tomes. This guy was pretty quick and it wasn’t the driest of tracks.

Considering my lack of experience in the damp conditions and the fact that Matt must have been well down the field I decided to let him go and keep the second place.

This second place would almost certainly put me head of the championship so that was it, I’ll have that thanks!

I found out later Matt was 11th and so handed me the early championship lead.

I was pretty happy with the weekend overall as its only the second race meeting I’ve done on this new bike and I have plenty of room for improvement.