Nurburgring World Supersport: Solid start for Hill in Germany

Tommy Hill admitted that the pace of his rivals came as a bit of a shock in the opening World Supersport free practice session at the Nurburgring this morning.

Riding for the first time in seven months following his sickening testing crash at the end of last year, Hill overcame some technical problems to post the 19th fastest time.

Speaking to MCN, Hill said: “It was a bit of a shock to be honest because everyone was on it from the first lap. It took me a few laps to get into it and I knew I had to just settle down and do my own thing.

“At the start of the session I was getting passed by two or three riders every lap on the straight, I didn’t know if it was the bike or me not having enough corner speed  so I cam in.

“It turned out that it was due to the cold temperature meant that the bike wasn’t revving out properly. We put some tape on the radiator and I pretty much got one flying lap before the rain came and that jumped me up six places to 19th.

After that the track was wet but I went back out and did a few laps just to get a feel for the bike in the conditions.”