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Steve will start tomorrow’s two Superbike races at the North West 200 from a second row grid position after posting the fourth fastest time around the 8.966-mile Triangle course on the north coast of Ireland. Tuesday evening’s practise was disrupted by two red flag situations that left the riders kicking their heels for nearly an hour. Steve commented: “All the stoppages were a pain, I was quite nervous and all I wanted to do was get my head down and do four or five laps to try and chill out and get at one with the bike.” It was Steve ’s first outing on the HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR Superbike and understandably the Woodhall Spa-based rider made some minor changes to the bike. “This bike is quite a bit different to the bike I’m riding in the British Championship and I had to change a few little things, like lever height, which you never know until you get on it.” he concluded. Steve ended Tuesday’s session in fifth place after putting in a lap time of 4m 29.981s – 119.555mph in fine dry conditions. Thursday saw further improvement with Steve holding pole for two thirds of the session that was again held in warm and dry conditions. He posted a lap time of 4m 26.654s – 121.047mph and looked almost certain to remain in pole position. But in the closing stages he was upstaged by HM Plant Honda teammate John McGuinness who put in a scorching lap to snatch pole from under his nose. Bruce Anstey and Michael Rutter also posted faster times to relegate Steve to row two of the grid for the start of Saturday’s two races. “I am really disappointed not to have a front row start,” said Steve. “It is all down to having and not having a clear run through to get a fast lap. But qualifying is a different story to actually racing and I will be on the case tomorrow and doing my utmost to get the HM Plant Honda Fireblade across the finish line ahead of my rivals.” Steve will not after all be riding in the Supersport class. He explained: “I didn’t get out in the Tuesday practise because the bike wasn’t fully prepared and so everything rested on Thursday’s qualifying session. “I went out for the first lap but found the gear lever was bent preventing gear selection so pitted at the end of the lap to have it repaired. We also made a few changes to the chassis so I was more comfy on the bike and went back out with what I thought plenty of time to get a fast lap in. “But then the red flag came out and we had another lengthy stoppage before officials decided to call it a night as the light had faded making it too dangerous to continue. “I hadn’t even completed one lap when this happened and so technically I was classed as a non-qualifier. I was not the only one to be caught out this way as Adrian Archibald and Stuart Easton were in the same boat. But it does mean that I can devout all my attention to securing a good result on the Superbike so perhaps it is not such a bad thing. Roads close at 10am with the first Superbike race getting underway at 11am. It is this event that last year saw Steve ride to a close second place behind Michael Rutter after a race long battle in which the lead was constantly exchanged between the two British Superbike riders. Steve is hoping the positions will be reversed this time around. Steve’s second outing is in the feature race of the day, The Black Horse Finance North West 200 event scheduled for later on in the afternoon when it is hoped that the fine and dry weather will hold making for a fast and safe ride for all competitors and a good result for Steve who is keen to make up for his early retirement from last year’s race because of wet conditions.
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To get coverage of the North West 200 races you can access the Ulster TV channel from Sky. The listings say that it is on live on Saturday afternoon. |
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SECOND ROW START FOR STEVE AT THE NORTH WEST 200
