Here, the former Foggy Petronas team manager reviews the soaking wet Scottish event - which saw the team's Supersport rider, Stuart Easton, also compete in the Superbike class while Michael Rutter continues to recover from a wrist injury.
Easton finished 14th and 11th in the BSB races, but was forced to retire from fourth in the BSS race after a tyre problem. Rutter is expected to return to BSB action at
Oulton Park on July 13-15.
Q:
How has your first weekend with Isilon MSS Discovery Kawasaki?
Jack Valentine:
Very good overall. I was very impressed with Stuart. Although I’ve not worked with him before I’ve known him for a few years. In fact he’s hung about other teams that I’ve worked for so much that I’ve considered getting him some team clothing… The big shame over the weekend was the Supersport race. We were looking at a podium there for sure, but with the conditions and the tyre we had, he had no choice but to pull out as it was shredded. Maybe we should have had dries on, I think Tom Grant who got a podium did - but even people with inters were sliding out of the race. It was one of those races that really was a bit of a lottery. I think Pirelli had the edge at
Knockhill in those conditions - they had the top five in the race I think, with some riders on wets and some on dries. It’s one of those things and we’ll bounce back.
Q:
So how do you think Stuart performed in the Superbike class?
Jack Valentine:
Very well indeed. The second race was a more representative result I think. 11th was around the result that we were looking for. In the first race we had a bit of a problem with the back-end being a bit loose into the corners, but with a full-race of feedback from Stuart we were able to make some changes. We softened the bike up a bit to make it feel a bit more planted and we used a different tyre. I was thrilled with 11th to be honest as he’s not a regular Superbike runner.
Q:
What do you think about the performance of the bike?
Jack Valentine:
To be honest I think it is on a par with anything out there, as was the ZX-6R. We’ve got a good handle on the chassis performance, but we should have some new engines from Oulton Park onwards for the Superbike, so that should be a welcome boost to performance for Michael, who can’t wait to get back out there. Both riders love the circuit too, which always helps.
Q:
What was it like getting back into the BSB paddock?
Jack Valentine:
Like coming home really. I know a lot of people in the paddock as does Nick Morgan, and we both like a laugh, so it wasn’t too surprising to see people taking the mickey by going up to Nick and saying: 'I see you’ve got Jack in to sort you w****rs out!' That’s the sort of atmosphere you get in BSB, despite the serious nature of racing.
Q:
And what’s it been like working with the team?
