Round 14 - Elvington 1st October

I really wanted this to be incident free - If I get enough points today, 3rd spot in the rookie championship should be fairly safe.

Qualifying went okay, solid results but nothing special. However when I came into the paddock after the Clubmans qualifying, I noticed water spraying out of the radiator - time to panic!!!

Scott, who normally fixes everything said - "put it in the van mate, your day's over!". This could not be happening. This was 3rd place in the championship slipping away. There must be something we can do. However once I told Scott that I wanted to borrow his bike to get some points - we found a solution :)

A drop of instant metal and we decided it would be okay to race. However I didnt want to risk anything going wrong so I dropped out of the trophy races and rested for the majority of the day.

As it turns out, the heavens opened and I was glad not to have to run around changing tyres and riding around getting soaked. Stuart Kitson (who I was trying to beat to secure 3rd spot, pulled in after a few laps so he'd be starting at the back of the grid with me - excellent!)

As I lined up on the grid, right at the back, I was on a mission. Full attack mode.

My rev's rose, balanced on the clutch... the flag dropped and my wheel rose - a magnificent start! I passed about 7 riders in the blink of an eye. Hard on the gas up the long straight and passed a couple more with just 3 in front of me.... leave the braking as late as I dare... no yet...not yet...shit!..brake NOW and get this thing on its ear.

I dont believe it! I'm only in bloody 1st!

I managed to hold off Matty for a couple of laps (he was racing he new bike) and we swapped places a couple of times. Then, on the last lap, Nick squeezed passed me to push me into 3rd spot. I was well chuffed though. Stuart Kitson limped home in 8th.

The Clubmans race was another close one and this time I just managed to pip Matty to get 4th.

So panic over.. 3rd in the championship was looking realistic - I just need to get that radiator repaired ready for Cadwell - the final race of the season.