Snetterton Round 5/6


National 600 Superstock Championship

James East

Round 6 features two races after a cancellation at Knockhill due to poor weather conditions.

Free Practice
A dry but windy session takes place and James pushes through to finish 11th with a time of 1:11:608, despite being hindered throughout the session by his new leathers which did not fit.

Qualifying 1
With his old trusty and comfy leathers on James heads out and improves in time but not places, ending the session in 14th on a 1:11:106, suspension troubles were corrected after this session, with rear end grip being the issue.

Qualifying 2/ Practice
On Saturday morning the supersport session was red flagged, due to parts of the circuit lifting and breaking away making it unfit to ride. After this problem was corrected by the organisers and officials, the 2nd qualifying sessions for superstock were cancelled because of the circuit being modified to eradicate the tarmac problem. James would be forced to qualify in 14th place from his earlier time despite achieving a faster time in the later given practice session which saw him produce a 1:10:919 which would put him 13th in the session.

Race 1 ( Knockhill postponed race )
James would start from 20th place from his Knockhill qualification time, but his efforts were nearly immediately halted when another rider crashed into the back of him at the first corner taking him down, along with 2 other riders. James could not re join the race due to a snapped front brake lever.

Sunday Warm Up
James completes a good session getting a feel for the bike and conditions on old tyres ending in 13th on a 1:11:507.

Race
Starting 14th this time, James gets a good initial launch but is blocked in the first corner and further on, forced to take avoiding action at turn 2 because of the first lap mêlée’. James ends lap 1 in 18th place but quickly passes competitors and moves through the order. Easty battles the whole race in a pack of riders to finally head the group and finish 11th with a vastly improved fastest lap time of 1:10:219.

James – “In one way I am gutted with the weekends performance due to the first race DNF, but on the other hand I am happy that despite the fact we had set up issues throughout the weekend, we still found a good pace in the end and improved, I want to move on to Silverstone with a clear mind and a good plan so we can achieve the top 5 results I want. “

Thanks go to:
James’s father John
Stefan Pollard
Ian Brookman – Academy GPUK
Steve Lynham Motorcycle Repairs
R&G Racing
Homechoice Carpets
Impact Signs
Motrax