Thruxton British Superbikes Round 1 - Or is that 2?

After the disappointment of not getting to race at Brands Hatch I had the daunting task of traveling right down the south coast to Thruxton, a track I’d never even been to spectate at before, let alone ride! It also happens to be the fastest track in the country and one I’ve always wanted to ride, so I was excited about riding a new circuit.

In free practice I focused on learning the track but we’d got the gearing very wrong and the bike was topping out for what felt like 5 seconds down the back straight out of Church.

In the first qualifying session it was wet and I’d geared the bike up some 3 teeth taller than before and it was spot on for the wet conditions. I had a great time out there and I was loving every minute of it. I came in from the session to find I was in 9th and I was really chuffed with this.

The second qualifying session was also wet and in the first few laps I actually thought the track was worse than in the morning but having seen my pitboard I was dropping down the order and the others were all going faster! I had to get my arse in gear so I went back out and tried really hard and improved my time but I ended up qualifying 15th. I was still pleased with this though as I’d never been there before and out of over 50 riders trying to qualify for the 40 man grid it was ok. I also out qualified the official factory Triumph effort of South African Allan Jon Venter, so I was really pleased about that!

Morning warm-up was a bit of a hash-up as we tried to use a set of part worn tyres from Brands but the BSB people told us the tyre stickers were wrong and I couldn’t ride on that tyre. I missed half the session then got out on a half wet and half dry track which, in all honesty, was pretty much a waste of time.

Pre-race I had a visit from World Supersport rider Craig Jones after good friends Alan and Alison Lamb sent him round to see me. I’d met Craig once last year and found him to be a really down to earth lad considering his incredible riding ability. Craig agreed to run me round the track on Brian Nicholson’s laptop. It was great getting some tips from somebody like Jonesy and it was really good of him to give up 20 minutes of his time to help me out. He gave me some great tips and to listen to him was really interesting.

Come the race, I was pretty nervous as it was my BSB debut. A lot of the Superbike and Supersport riders were watching, infact most the regulars were. There was also a big crowd, plus the Eurosport TV cameras! We all set off like lunatics on the warm-up lap and it was bone dry. This wasn’t good for me as I’d only ridden the track in the dry once and I had the wrong gearing on! Anyway the start was the most manic I’ve ever experienced but it was great. I got boxed out and I was down to about 19th at the end of lap one. I then ran onto the kerb out of Church on lap 2 and had a real scare, then nearly high-siding out of the Club chicane I realized I was trying too hard and had to settle down.

I fell back down to 23rd place in a manic pack and really struggling with my bike’s speed down the back straight - something which we’d realize was a problem after the race as the bike was the slowest through the speed trap! I was catching Nick Clark and Joe Ackroyd back up when all of a sudden David Haire crashed and caused a red flag on lap 11. I was gutted as I thought I could have made up a few extra places but it wasn’t to be and that was the end of my first BSB race. Considering I had a lot of rear grip issues and lack of setup time in the dry, let alone having a bike that was the slowest on the whole grid on the fastest track around 23rd wasn’t that bad!!!

One things for sure the racing at BSB is far far more competitive than what I was used to on the amateur club racing scene.

By: Sam Middlemas