 BSB Round 3 Thruxton
Steve rode to three points-finishes at Thruxton on Monday claiming seventh for AIM Yamaha in the British Supersport race before jumping straight onto the JJL UK Diggers.com Racing Honda Fireblade to power through to 13th and 14th in round three of the 2006 Bennetts British Superbike championship.
Deputising for the injured Chris Burns, Steve spent most of Friday getting the R6 Yamaha set up to qualify in seventh place for a second row start to Mondays third round Supersport race.
He spent much of the 20-lap affair dicing with the leading group, briefly moving through to hold sixth spot before losing out to Tom Sykes in the closing stages and crossing the finish line in seventh.
“It felt good to be back on a Supersport bike,” said Steve. “And once we got the set up sorted I was able to move forward.”
No sooner had he completed the Supersport race he hopped straight onboard the JJL Superbike for race one in that class where he qualified in 20th place for a fifth row start.
But Steve was a little too keen to get away and jumped the start. “I was a bit too enthusiastic to get underway,” said Steve. “I went through two rows before the rest had even thought about it. When the pace car came onto the circuit I decided to nip in quick and do my ride through penalty but was stopped by the officials who thought I was just joining the race. They soon got radio clearance from above to let me go and I was able to catch up with the backmarkers before the car went in.”
At the restart Steve came through from dead last to complete the 22 laps in 13th position and secure his first points finish for the new team.
Race two saw Steve power the bike through to 16th place in the early laps where he became embroiled in an exciting eight rider battle for position which lasted until the final corner of the last lap. Everything came to a head when two riders in the pack fell at the club chicane leaving Steve to forge ahead and claim 14th place at the chequered flag.
Asked if it was tiring doing three races in one day Steve replied; “No, not at all. It is hard work but Thruxton is not such a physical circuit like Oulton or Cadwell so it wasn’t a problem for me.
“It takes a couple of laps to get dialled in to the Superbike again, when you first jump on it feels like an articulated lorry compared to the Supersport bike as obviously the R6 is a very much smaller machine.”
As soon as the final race was completed at Thruxton Steve made tracks to the airport and set off to France to prepare for the Le Mans 24-hour race. He is riding as part of a three-man team for Kawasaki France. Testing is on Tuesday and Thursday with qualifying on Friday and the big race staged over Saturday and Sunday.
From a Press Release by Helen Pask
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