SD Racing

Currently sitting 3rd in the championship and only a handful of points behind 2nd place, after a decent points haul at rounds 3 & 4. Gutted to be missing round 5 at Cadwell, but I’ll be back in action for round 6 Knockhill 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿.

NLR Rd4 Brands Hatch GP - June 27th / 28th

Premier 1000:
Qualified - 3rd
Race 1 - 2nd
Race 2 - 2nd and fastest lap of my class.
Race 3 - 1st

One word….awesome! What a track this is. Having never completed a full lap of the GP circuit, I had limited expectations coming into the weekend, but I definitely gelled with the place. My favourite U.K. track is still Oulton Park, but Brands now comes in a very close 2nd.

I qualified 3rd in class with a 1:32.5. A good start to the weekend.

Race 1: Due to several incidents throughout the day on Saturday, our Saturday race was moved to Sunday morning and reduced to a 6 lap sprint. I started from 18th on the grid and had a good battle with Rhalf Lo Turco throughout the race, and was eventually able to make a pass after he ran wide at turn 1. I got my head down and tried to chase down Petty in P1, but the gap was too big. I crossed the in 2nd place in class with a new PB of 1:31.9.

Race 2: I started from 14th on the grid and got a decent start off the line. I was sat behind Murtagh & Boyce for the entire race, which was a good place to be, as Murtagh had shown to have real pace here here, but I didn’t have enough pace myself to attempt a safe pass. The pace was really quick and so I was happy to sit and learn. I crossed the line in 2nd place in class behind Boyce, and set a new PB and the fastest lap of the race in my class with a with a 1:30.8 😎.

Race 3: I started from 12th on the grid, lining up alongside Murtagh. My plan was to tag onto the back of Murtagh as I knew he had great pace here, and that’s exactly what I did. A few laps in he lost a bit of drive out of Surtees due to pulling a big power wheelie. I knew this was my opportunity to pass. We were neck and neck along Pilgrims Drop. As we approached Hawthorns, I let off the brakes and made the pass….what a buzz! The race was cut short due to a red flagged incident, but for me, I crossed the line first in class.

All in all, another great weekend of racing, with great people and red hot weather. I’ve added 65 points to my championship tally, and dipped into the 1:30s during races 2 & 3, so really can’t complain with that at all. My bike ran faultless all weekend, which given the extreme temperatures and the abuse given to the machinery, is testament to BMW and the build by GSG Performance and PHR.

Thoughts go to the riders who unfortunately crashed out and left with injuries, especially to Jack Morgan, who I’ve raced against this year. I wish you all a speedy recovery.

Special thanks to:
Team Abel as always for their support throughout the weekend, and especially to Shelby for the photos. Big shout out to my man Phil Abel for hitting PB’s in every race…you were flying this weekend kid 💪🏻

Last but not least, a huge thanks to Karen for making the long train journey down to support me at the circuit, and to, Mum, Dad, and my brother Scott for their continued support 😊.

I will unfortunately miss Cadwell this year due to work commitments, so next time out for me will be my home round at Knockhill…..hope to see some of you there 😉

NLR Rd3 Croft - May 30th / 31st

Premier 1000:
Qualified - 1st
Race 1 - 3rd
Race 2 - 3rd
Race 3 - 3rd

I qualified 5th overall and 1st in class with a 1:24.2. My PB before this weekend was a 1:24.7, so to go 0.5 second quicker on Saturday morning was encouraging.

Race 1: Starting 5th on the grid should have set me up well for the short 7 lap sprint, but I had an absolute shocker of a start due to an issue with the launch control and anti wheelie not working as it should. I lost a few places off the line, but then settled into the race. I crossed the line in 3rd place in class and equalled my qualifying time with a best lap of 1:24.2.

Race 2: Started from 9th on the grid and got a great launch from the line, but then got swallowed up into turn 1, again dropping a few places. I was sat behind Murtagh for a quite a few laps who was setting a great pace, before finally getting past with 3 laps to go. By this time the front group had gone, so I just concentrated on keeping position on track. I crossed the line in 3rd place and set a new PB with a 1:23.9 😎.

Race 3: Started from 9th on the grid again and ended up in a train of 5 bikes for the off. The pace felt really fast. I glanced down at my lap timer and seen 1:23 more than once. Directly in front of me was Watts, and in front of Watts was Jennings. Jennings missed a gear going into Tower allowing Watts past, and then me. I sat behind Watts for the next lap and a half. Braking into the complex, Jennings passed me on the inside but tucked the front and took out Watts with both riders crashing right in front of me. This split the group of 5 and allowed Turner to catch me up. I got the head down and tried to catch Boyce and Petty, but the gap was too big. I crossed the line 3rd in class again and set another new PB of 1:23.3. Buzzing with that 👌🏻.

Another great weekend of racing, with great people and great weather. I’ve bagged some decent championship points with the three 3rd places and regularly dipped into the 1:23’s during that last race. so can’t complain with that at all.

Special thanks to:
Team Abel as always for their support throughout the weekend, and especially to Shelby for the photos.

Last but not least, a huge thanks to Karen, Mum, Dad, Scott for their support as always 😊.

Next we head to Brand Hatch for round 4, where I’ve had very little running around the GP layout, so I’ve got a lot to learn….and quick!

Sitting 5th in the championship after some solid points gained at round 2. Looking forward to rounds 3 & 4 😎

NLR Rd2 Donington GP - Apr 25th / 26th

Premier 1000:
Qualified - 3rd
Race 1 - 1st
Race 2 - 2nd
Race 3 - 1st

Endurance Race:
Qualified - 1st in class
Finished - 3rd in class, but……later disqualified!

Qualifying went well. I set a 1:35.2 to qualify 10th overall, and 3rd in class. The times were a little off from where they should be, but that’s seemed to be across the board and due to the cold temperatures on Saturday morning.

Race 1: Started from 10th on the grid and got a great launch from the line, passing 3 riders on the run up to turn 1. I was running in 6th overall for 2 laps before being passed by Cooper. I sat in behind Cooper for the majority of the race and was able to take the place back on the last lap, to take the class win!

750Km Endurance Race: SD Racing #93, formed of me, Phil Abel and Rob Contreras. I felt we had a strong team and could compete for a class win. We qualified well with a 1:34.9 which put us 4th on the grid and 1st in class. I had a bad start and dropped several places off the line. I wasn’t too concerned as it’s a long race and I knew I had the pace to start picking riders off. I completed the first stint and brought us back to 1st in class. Rob went out next and was setting great lap times to keep us 1st in class, but unfortunately crashed at turn 1. The new rules state that the next rider cannot start until the crashed bike is brought back to the garage. Shelby and Tyler put in a heroic effort to get the bike back in record time that allowed Phil to head out. By this time we had dropped down to 6th in class and 6 or 7 laps down. We had a huge challenge ahead of us to compete the race with only 2 riders and to try and salvage a podium place. Slowly but surely we started to claw back places and by the end of this mammoth race we crossed the line 3rd in class! Unbeknown to us, we had been disqualified as Rob had only completed 14 laps when he crashed out. This is a rule we were unaware of and to be honest, I don’t understand. I get a disqualification or a penalty if we had gained and advantage, but the fact is, we had become disadvantaged by losing a rider from the team, yet this was enough to disqualify us! After such an effort by Phil and I to pull back the places and to the entire team for their efforts on pit wall and in the garage, this was disappointing to say the least.However, it is in the rules and we probably should have caught it ourselves. Huge thanks to Paula, Shelby and Lexi for manning pit wall, the pit board management, signals and encouragement from them was perfect, and to Tyler and Ben for helping out in the garage. So good to have these guys fuel the bikes and check tyre pressures etc after a long stint in the seat.

Race 2: Started from 9th on the grid and got another great launch from the line. I went into turn 1 in 5th place, but I was passed by Cooper halfway round the first lap. I sat behind Cooper for the next few laps, but then quickly realised that I hadn’t fuelled my bike for the longer 12 lap race. My low fuel warning flashed up on lap 6 of 12. To make sure I could finish the full race duration I had to short shift everywhere to keep to conserve fuel. This slowed my lap time down and allowed several riders to pass. I had completely lost where I was in the race as I was concentrating on getting to the end before running out of fuel. Amazingly, I crossed the line 2nd in class, and 11th overall!

Race 3: Started from 9th on the grid and again, got another great launch from the line. I went into turn 1 in 5th place overall and 1st in class where I sat for the first 4 laps, until I was passed by Morgan and Petty. An incident at Macleans brought out the red flag and a restart to the race. The re-started race was a short 3 lap dash, with all riders lining up in their original grid positions. I got away well from the line and held position to finish the race 5th overall and 1st in class.

All in all a great weekend of racing, with great people and great weather, even with the disappointment of the endurance race disqualification. I’ve bagged some decent championship points and regularly dipped into the 1:33’s so can’t complain with that at all. The new bike is a joy to ride and just felt better and better each time I was out.

Special thanks to:
Sean at GSG Performance.
Levi at Max Moto Graphics.
Team Abel as always for their support throughout the weekend.
NLR for putting on a great event, and to the orange army for their dedication to racing as without them it would not be possible.

Last but not least, a huge thanks to Karen, Mum, Dad, Scott and friends back home for their support as always 😊.

Back to work now for 4 weeks, before heading to Croft for Round 3 😎