The weekend didnt get off to the best of starts….. We hit some bad traffic in and around Carlisle city centre so we knew it was going to be a push catching the 8pm ferry crossing we were booked on from stranrear. Turning into the port, smiles on our faces because the ferry was still in the port, only the smiles were soon turned upside down when we got told the gates would be staying locked and we would have to wait until 11pm for the next crossing! Doh, we caught the next boat, got to belfast at 2.30am and finaly set up camp at 3.3o in a very nice KFC carpark- SWEET!
Sunday morning- Qualifying went well, 7th in super pole so this would give me a good pick of the gate for the day.
Race 1- I made a real good drop of the gate but found myself a little wide around the first turn coming out of the corner just inside the top 10. I rode a little tight in the opening laps but soon found a good rythem and started picking off the riders infront. I managed to run in 3rd position for most of the race untill the two lap togo point, i left the door open in a corner and lost two positions. 5th at the flag.
Race 2- Top ten again from the start, i worked up to 7th early race and started making ground on the guys infront. I then made a small mistake in a right hand corner, lost the front end and hit the sand. This made catching the group infront near impossible. 7th!
Race 3- 8th place on the first lap, the track had become real physical so i knew it would be a long race, i kept checking my lap times and worked on keeping them as consistant as possible. i picked a couple of riders off and finished 6th.
A good day, the results gave me 6th overall and moved me up to tenth in the championship!
