Triumph Triple Challenge.... 13-14 September - Snetterton
THE 9TH RACE... coming soon

Triumph Triple Challenge.... 15-16 August - Oulton Park
THE 8TH RACE... coming soon

Triumph Triple Challenge.... 19-20 July - Brands Hatch (Indy Circuit)
THE 6TH RACE...

Friday Practice
Just the same as all the other race meetings the weather was going to be touch and go. It had rained slightly on Thursday so all we could do was wait for the conclusion in the morning. Funnily enough it was very dull and cloudy but dry. I purposely went on track with old tyres because I knew I would have to race at one point in the weekend on worn out tyres. It was my first time on the Indy circuit on the triumph and I was really looking forward to it. As the day progressed my lap times started to drop. I felt extremely confident and was eager to see what the time sheets would show.

Saturday Qualifying
The weather had picked up a lot from the practice day. I could not wait to see what would be the conclusion of qualifying. In the first qualifying session I didn’t do as well as I should have done, for some reason whether it was the nerves or just me trying to hard I was messing up the last, most important corner which leads onto the start and finish strait. Nevertheless I still ended up in 4th only half a second behind the leader. I was quite annoyed with myself because I knew I was faster than that.
In the second qualifying I performed to a much higher standard. I ended up 3rd in the end but I put a very fast time in when I knew my rear tyre was going off. The time was also under the previous seasons lap record of a 50.215. In the end I did a 50.161, just 0.040 of a second behind pole. However we had a plan for the superpole race which seemed to work a treat. We put a new rear tyre on because the race was only short and it would be just enough to scrub it in for both of Sunday’s races.
In the superpole race I was ready for a good battle. When the race got underway I made a good start. I was in third by the end of the first lap and was progressing forward quickly. By the beginning of the third lap I had hit the lead. I thought I would be nervous when I hit the front but I wasn’t. I had a boost of confidence I put a few extremely fast laps which let me escape the chasing pack. I came to the last lap still in the lead. A quick look behind be gave me a great feeling, I had managed pull a few seconds. I finished the race two and a half seconds in front of second.  I also managed to break the lap record to become the first triumph rider in the 49 second bracket with 49.867. In the end it was a fantastic days racing. If only Sunday would have gone as well.

Sunday’s Races
There isn’t much to say about Sundays races. Apart from it was a disaster. The first race I went out full of confidence ready for another great race. However after a bad start from which I had to catch from 10th position, on the third lap coming around the first corner I went around the outside of another rider to be clipped by his foot peg, taking my arm off the handlebar causing me to make a swift exit from the bike. The crash was anybody’s fault, just a racing incident. That was the end of that race and my first DNF since Cadwell Park at the beginning of the year.
The final race was my first DNS of the year. I set off on the warm up lap to find a fault with the brakes. I pulled in after the warm up lap as I wasn’t going to race with faulty brakes. It wasn’t worth risking a big crash.
I could not believe my luck after such a good Saturday. Because of the two missed points races I had dropped in the championship to around 5th. I can still catch up but I am going to work extremely hard in the last three meetings of the year.

Triumph Triple Challenge.... 28-29 June - Cadwell Park
THE 5TH RACE... coming soon

Triumph Triple Challenge.... 24-25 May - Silverstone
THE 4TH RACE... coming soon

Triumph Triple Challenge.... 10-11 May - Brands Hatch (GP Circuit)
THE 3RD RACE... coming soon

Triumph Triple Challenge.... 26-27 April - Cadwell Park
ROUND TWO

Friday Practice
Friday practice was very productive. I focused on trying to learn the track rather than to race the other riders on the track. In the seven 15 minute sessions my lap times dropped to just 2 seconds from the lap record. I was ready and confident for Saturdays qualifying.

Saturday qualifying
The weather on Saturday didn’t seem to be able to make its mind up, neither dry nor wet. Luckily enough the rain held off for the first qualifying enabling me to have fully dry qualifying session. Unfortunately I got held up behind a few of the slower riders meaning that I only had one or two fast laps, I finished the session fourth on the grid. I was quite happy with my performance.
Still dry, I had a plan for the second qualifying session.  I had to try to get out early in front of the other fast riders. I got in front and with clear track ahead of me I shot off to set a fast lap. Within two laps I had moved to third on the grid and was getting faster and faster however a fallen rider caused the session to be stopped due to the medical assistance needed. I was pleased with my performance felling very confident for the superpole race.

Due to the many stoppages throughout the day the superpole race had been moved to Sunday morning.

Sunday Races - Superpole race
Starting from third on the grid I made a good start, 3rd into the first corner. The leader managed to put a very fast first lap in breaking the tow that I and the second place man had. It was now a battle for second place. Throughout the race it was a hard fought battle until I saw the rider in first crash at the hairpin on the fourth lap. I knew I could win the race so I pushed as hard as ever for the lead. Coming to the last lap I was in a good position to take the lead. A swift manoeuvre put me just in front but on the outside line for park corner after the back strait. Unfortunately, too eager to take the lead I highsided throwing me over 6 feet in the air to come crashing to the ground with an awful thud. I was unhurt but had to react quickly to get out of the way of the oncoming bikes. I was very disappointed with the outcome of the race but looked ahead to hopefully compete in the next race.

Race 2   
Race 2 didn’t see any end to my bad riding. The race started good with a 7 way battle for the lead. The lap times were much slower than I was capable of. 5 laps into the race I was still in 5th getting quite impatient as I was running out of laps and needed to get to the front. On the 6th lap I made a very inexperienced mistake running wide before the mountain loosing the front end. I was sick with anger as it was an unnecessary crash which lost me another possible 25 points. I knew I had to salvage what I could from the weekend in the last race.

Race 3
Race three started worse than ever. Missing a gear on the start dropped me back to around 15th giving me a hard time to try and get back to the top. I battled though the long race to fight my way back to 7th. I didn’t push too hard so not to crash again. I had to get what points I could from the disastrous racing.
More determined than ever I will go to Brands Hatch with a new frame of mind ready to fight my way back up to the top of the Michelin Young Guns Championship.

Triumph Triple Challenge.... 22-23 March - Donington Park
THE FIRST RACE

Friday test
The weather conditions were very severe. I was hoping the sun would come out but it didn't’t, so I had to make the best of the track time I had. The early morning sessions were in the dry. I got a few good laps in however because of the strong winds riders were falling off left right and centre. This meant a lot of stoppages to the sessions as the marshals had to clear the track of the fallen riders. The afternoon was completely different; the heavens opened thoroughly wetting the track. It was my first time on the Michelin wet tyres. I was looking forward to seeing how much grip I could have in the wet conditions. I made good progress and was confident I could do well in either dry or wet conditions. I was extremely excited to see how I would do in qualifying.

Saturday Qualifying
The weather on Saturday was no better. The conditions were in between wet and dry. We made the mistake of using wet tyres for the first qualifying. As soon as I got on the track I knew we made a mistake and that I could not compete in the conditions so I pulled in just three laps later in order to not wreck the extremely soft Michelin wets. When the results of the first qualifying were published I was very annoyed about being second last but I knew it was not worth trying to go any faster as it would have destroyed the wets which I may have needed for later in the weekend. So I kept my hopes up for the second qualifying hoping for a better result.
It looked as though we would have dry second qualifying. I was really excited to see what I could do on a level playing field against the other riders. I could not have hoped to go any better than I did. I was 3rd until the last lap of qualifying where I got knocked back to 6th. I was very happy because I knew I had more to give in the later race.
Starting from the second row of the grid, I could not wait to get the race underway. The track was dry however the temperature was dropping by the minute so it was very difficult to keep heat in the tyres. I made a good start to the race in about 5th by the first corner. Two riders in 3rd and 4th crashed out of the race leaving me in third. I made progress into 2nd place catching the leader by the third lap. Just as I was about to take the leader he crashed out leaving me alone over 10 seconds ahead of second place. With just 2 laps left I knew I had won the race if I didn’t fall off. My lap times had slowed by around 2 seconds so not to crash. I won the race by over 5 seconds. I could not believe it. I had won my first race on the Triumph 675. This also meant that I would be starting from pole position in Sunday’s races.

Sundays Races.
Sunday was the main day. Both the races would be televised and I was in the spotlight on pole position. The first race did not go as well as I could have hoped. The conditions were not wet enough for wets but too wet for dry’s. Very  very tricky conditions. The race got underway and I made a good start. I was in third for the first two laps but as my wet tyres diminished I started to drop back. I could have pushed harder but I knew that it was not worth crashing as I needed the points. I eventually finished the long race in 5th position. I wasn’t too happy about the result but I felt I made the right decision to not risk crashing. Hopefully I would do better in the second race.
About an hour before the last race it started to snow. I was gob smacked. I was praying that the wind would dry the track. We took the risk of going out on full dry’s which was what everyone else was on. We were all in the same boat come rain or shine. The race got underway and again I made a good start in third by the first corner. By the second lap I had progressed to overtaking the two leaders however as I went for the overtake the red flags were out and the race had to be stopped. An incident had occurred with two riders which needed urgent medical assistance. I was worried that the tyres would loose all heat making the track very slippery. When the race got restarted I made a horrible start. I was in around 12th at the first corner. This had made much more work for me to do in order to catch the leaders. By the end of the first lap I was in third around 3 seconds behind the leaders. I doubted I could catch but I put my head down and put in some very consistent fast laps. With just two laps remaining I was up with the leaders. It was now a three way battle for the lead. On the last lap I slipped into second place knowing I had the chance of another win however Mark Cringle had the inside line into the last corner meaning that I had no way past. I had to settle for second place.
The weekend, although it has the worst weather I had ever seen, went far better than I could have imagined. To have a win, a second and a fifth on my first 600 race was incredible.
I left donington second In the championship with 56 points.

Spanish test at Guadix for the Triumph Triple Challenge....

Day 1
I was a bit nervous on the first day. I hadn’t seen the bike since the crash at Mallory Park. We unloaded the bike off the truck and everything seemed to be ok. The weather was overcast but warm. I soon got my confidence when out on the track and my lap times started to drop rapidly. By the end of the day I had full confidence on the bike with grip but we were struggling with tyre wear. A few clicks on the suspension sorted that out and I was back on track with more confidence than ever.
Day 2
Day 2 at Guadix I started from were I left off the day before. My lap times were again dropping and I was getting more and more confidence with the Triumph. I was getting to know the other riders in the series and the series organisers.  The day went great, we had no problems just plenty of track time.
Day 3
The final day of testing I had to see just how fast I could go. With the help of a white power suspension specialist we got the bike set up perfectly; so with a new rear tyre I went out to try and do as many fast laps as I could. I did over 35 minutes in the 1 minute 22’s. I was very happy with this and now could not wait to get to the first round of Donington Park.