Team Blog
Brands Hatch
Tuesday, 14 April 2009Hi everyone, round 1 at brands was good for me and a solid start to the season. Qualifying was so tight with 0.2 of a second in the top seven riders! I ended up third on the grid 0.1 off pole, front row which was the aim.
My crew chief Pete Jennings set the goal for the races at two top five finishes, i felt very confidant about that. I led race one from the start, the pace car came out early and after it went in i didnt push hard enough as i thought the tyres needed a bit of time to heat up again and i dropped to fourth. Steve Plater crashed at druids and put me back to third where i stayed to the flag. My tyre spun on the rear wheel which caused it to go out of balance and chatter bad so i couldnt really push hard for the last ten laps. To get on the podium in British superbikes felt great. Big thanks to all the Hydrex Honda team!
I got away in the lead again in race two and even had a 1.5 second lead on my pit board on about lap 9. Unfortunately my tyre spun on the rim again, its a common problem with superbikes but for me the problem was bad and i had alot of chatter. It looked on tv like i just fell apart like a cheap watch but that wasnt the case! I ended up fourth place at the finish after leading two thirds of the race.
Overall we beat our pre season goals for round one, i had a front row start a podium and fastest race lap so i feel competitive already and we know what we need to work on for oulton park. The Hydrex Honda team worked hard all week and deserved two podiums but theres plenty more to go at and my confidence is building so roll on oulton!
Stuart #3
Posted by Stuart Easton
Good luck for your WSBK debut this weekend Stuart and for other upcoming BSB rounds.
You are flying the flag for Scotland doing a fantastic job!
We are all behind you up here in Scotland!
Posted by lhe01 (22 Apr 2009)
Hi Stuart
Good to see you up at the sharp end and congratulations on the award for passing the Stihl sign first and getting two points for that championship.
Wish you would be coming to the NW200 so id have 2 super Hydrex racers to cheer on!
Keep er' lit!
Posted by Jonny (16 Apr 2009)
Hi Stuart. i was watching the races from track side and thought that your skill and control (especially in the second race) was superb. It's really ashame that you had some technical problems that hindered your lead or else you would have shown the rest of the competition up! (including the former MotoGP boy). It's going to be a very interesting season and I by no means think we have seen your best performance yet. Best wishes mate you have all my respect and confidence.
Posted by Norman (15 Apr 2009)
Hi Stuart.
Fantastic results at Brands well done! Brilliant to see you running at the front with the best of them.
For anyone who has followed your racing for a number of years as we have, I am sure they will agree that for you this is a long overdue, and well deserved opportunity on a truly competitive bike. Well done and long may it continue!
Best wishes for Oulton and the rest of 2009.
Posted by Neil B (14 Apr 2009)
Hi Stuart.
Fantastic results at Brands well done! Brilliant to see you running at the front with the best of them.
For anyone who has followed your racing for a number of years as we have, I am sure they will agree that for you this is a long overdue, and well deserved opportunity on a truly competitive bike. Well done and long may it continue!
Best wishes for Oulton and the rest of 2009.
Posted by Neil B (14 Apr 2009)
Hey Stuart, what a fantastic couple of results for you, Pete and the rest of the crew. Fingers crossed the lads sort out the tyre spinning problems and you grab that top step.
Posted by Craig M (14 Apr 2009)
I knew that you must have had a problem in race 2 to fall back from the lead like that. You were romping to your first BSB win and you were robbed Stuart. 4th was poor reward for your had work.
You put Karl in the shade on Monday and no doubt opened a lot of eyes but your fans already knew how good you really are! You just needed a decent bike to prove it.
All the best for Oulton and hopefully you will get your debut BSB win there instead and I hope that the tyre spinning problems become a thing of the past.
All the best Rat Boy, you show em!
Posted by Gaz (14 Apr 2009)
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What a cracking effort at Assen Stuart, I was well impressed that you managed to outqualify Tamada, a rider who has beaten Valentino Rossi! You should be very proud indeed.
I am going to Oulton Park on Monday as a V.I.P. of Hydrex, so hope to catch you then!
All the best!
Gaz
Posted by Gaz (28 Apr 2009)