I guess all riders have a bad weekend at some point and for me Mallory was just that, it was a nightmare to be honest! I’ve always had mixed results at Mallory in the past, good and bad but this weekend I could only salvage eighth place after crashing out of race one at the first corner. I was struggling a bit with the big through practice and qualifying, we missed second practice as the track was half  wet and half dry and we didn’t want to risk anything silly so early in the weekend.

I could only manage to qualify in 11th position on the grid, we did find a couple of issues with the bike after qualifying, which my mechanics worked hard to rectify. By morning warm up the bike felt great and I set the fastest times I’d set all weekend, which I knew would stand me in a good position for the race if I could get a good start. I did get a good start and took the wide outside route which suites the Ducati but as riders on the inside of me pushed wide I got caught up with Billy McConnell and down I went and that was my race over. I was gutted as I really wanted to get stuck in and get a good result for the team.

Race two and the worst case scenario happens, we’re all sat on the grid ready to go and it rains, then it stops and is sunny, which put everyone in a dilemma as to what tyres to run. Shakey and I both opted for slicks as we knew the track would dry pretty quickly if it didn’t rain again. I got the most shocking start and spun up until the first turn – which I got round this time, all-be-it in 17th place! I knew I’d have my work cut out and when the track started drying I regained the grip and started fighting my way through the field, the front runners were long gone but I knew I had to try and get the best result I could. In the end that turned out to be eighth position, I’m a bit gutted but have to put it behind me now and focus on the rest of the season.

I’ve a busy few weeks before Oulton, I’m off to Italy to see Spidi, off to see Airwaves at the chewing gum factory and this weekend I’m up at Chesterfield for an open day at Clay Cross. It’s all go, I have a few weeks now before Oulton and hopefully trying to get out and do some Moto X riding next week.

Fingers crossed Oulton will bring some better results for us and we can leave Mallory as a distant memory.

Cheers

Leon #2