After the massive improvement over the year so far, we wanted to end the season with a bang and bring the bike home in a good position!
FP - P23
I had to learn the track during practice, and I was struggling to judge the throttle on the blind exits. My learning definitely showed as my corner speed was not as far off as it would have been in the early rounds, which was positive, but I still felt a bit flat that we were at the back.
QP - P23
I managed to get into the main group in qualifying, and put in an early banker a lot quicker than my FP time, however it dropped me down to P23 after a few minutes. I pushed 100% for the rest of the session, but I constantly reached traffic in the last sector and ruined almost every lap! It was so frustrating because it left me at the back of the grid and with a lot of work!
Race 1 - P11
I made a good start to Race 1, and gained a lot of positions on the brakes, however, I got sat up at the apex of Turn 1 and lost a lot of what I gained! I ended up in a group battling for what would eventually be P9, and kept my powder dry until a few laps to go when I got an awesome slipstream towards Turn 1 and jumped up to the front few! I kept near the front going into the last lap but wasn’t quite brave enough on the brakes into Turn 10 so had dropped back slightly. I recovered with an overtake into the last corner to salvage a P11, but knew I had a lot more to give.
Race 2 - P8
Rain wasn’t a welcomed surprise in the gap between races, and I was gutted, thinking that I would rock around the back like the pace I had previously shown in the wet. I got a decent start and managed to negotiate a Turn 1 crash, gaining a lot of positions in the process, and tried to charge to a comfortable position so I could gain feeling and confidence in these conditions without battling. I was feeling good, but at this point couldn’t see the group ahead. Although I was getting quicker every lap, I got caught, which was the perfect hurry up and made me realise the potential still in the track. I pushed on, pushing more and more until I saw the group coming back towards me! I caught them very quickly and then took my time overtaking them, being careful not to make a mistake. During the last few laps, my screen had somehow become fogged up, meaning I could only see my peripheral vision and missed my last lap board! It was a shame because I had very good pace and could have picked off a couple more if I was more aggressive! Still very happy with a P8 to finish the year with my best result, in conditions we have struggled in for the entirety of my career!
Overall a weekend of two parts, a struggle in practice and qualifying before some screen biting in the races! I’m incredibly happy with the improvement over the season, coming from P25 in Misano to P8! Bit of an early end to the season but we’ll knuckle down over winter and see what happens next year!
