I should have guessed when we got to Brands that luck probably wasn’t going to be on my side for the weekend when I was allocated garage 13 (although my mechanics got out the white tape and changed it to 13½). And I was right, as I was forced to retire on lap 13 of both races. My day of misfortune started when oil leaked onto my rear tyre in the first race, and continued in race two when my rear tyre spun on the rim, eventually making the bike impossible to ride. It was so frustrating because we had solved our problems from earlier in the weekend and I was riding well. In race two I was catching a group that eventually finished in the points so, with just a tiny bit of luck, I feel I could have scored my first points!
We then had a few weeks away from the track after brands and it was good to have a few days away on a family holiday. I certainly came back refreshed and ready to attack the last four rounds of the season.
Assen was our next stop on the calendar. The free practice session on Friday was challenging to say the least as it was difficult going to the circuit and having to set up the bike from scratch, not having any data from last year and also riding the track for the first time. So I didn’t really know what to do with the bike in the early stages of the session. But I took more than three seconds off my time and was just half a second off Steve in the afternoon qualifying, and found a good set up direction to go for.
I then took almost two more seconds off my time on Saturday, as my knowledge of the circuit improved and I got more comfortable with my set up. I ended up 25th on the grid so was going to need a good start to stand any chance in the races.
