After a weekend of mixed conditions and circumstances, we have finished on the podium! 3rd place came our way today in the pouring rain on a treacherous surface.

The morning started with us waking to the sound of rain and wind,exactly what I didn't want to hear, but was honestly expecting. We got to the pit and set up for a wet warm-up. We had 8mins to just get our eye in before the race, so the plan was just to circulate for the track time seeing as we lost out on practice the day before. I rode out pit lane, shivering from head to toe and already wet from the rain, and got riding. I latched onto the back of one of the locals until Phast Phil Atkinson, fellow SA rider, came riding around my outside like I was a rookie at this. I immediately threw all plans out the window and set off in pursuit to learn from someone who was obviously doing it better. The session ended and we returned to the pits in P1 and P2!

Being 2nd fastest in the wet warm-up was great, but the race is what counts, so that became the next focus point.

We waited, without any delays this time, until 2pm when we headed off to line up for the race. The clouds had not relented and the rain was light but steady, leaving the track thoroughly soaked. We pulled off for the sighting laps and I quickly found out that a brand new wet rear tyre is extremely slippery when wet! I had a few high side moments, and decided that consistancy was going to be key to finishing this race.

I took up my 7th position on the line, the lights went out and I got another good start into 3rd place going into turn 1, when I saw Phil Atkinson, on my outside, all of a sudden in full opposite lock on his bike! A rider had crashed on the brakes and taken him and 3 other out with him in turn 1! Luckily I was not involved and held onto 3rd place. Tom Ward then passed me in the last corner at the end of lap 1. I decided to just settle and try match their pace as the conditions were strange to me and I didn't want to push harder and risk crashing. On about lap 5 I was passes again by another rider that looked like he had a bee under his bonnet and was off! He crashed in the next corner big time, and caused a red flag, which ultimately ended the race.

I had finished 4th overall, but the rider who finished 2nd after the flag was not in our class, thus bumping me up to a podium position. A very complicated finish with red flags and jump starts, but at the end of the day we held 3rd!

Our bike sat in the podium holding spot on the "3rd" mark below the famous Brands Hatch podium. I had a great interview with Eurosport and headed up the stairs. They called us onto the podium and awarded the trophies, and then our champagne - it was an incredible feeling!

We had made it, in our first British meeting with all the odds against us, onto one of the most famous podiums in the world! I made sure to spray the champagne as far as I could and all over my elated dad standing below with his mouth open...

What an end to the weekend we've had.

We are now back home in Colchester, and getting ready for round 2 at Thruxton coming up this Thursday. So we're home today, tomorrow, and then this Thursday morning we're off again!

I will post some photos and news from the weekend soon, you can also check out www.triumphtriplechallenge.com

We have had quite an introduction to British Racing - Rain, dry, rain, oil, dry, safety car breakdowns, delays and more!

This morning started off clear and chilli like a normal English morning. Then the rain came down, wet the track, and then riding started...

Luckily we had put our wet tyres on a set of rims yesterday, incase we had to make last-minute decisions in tyre choice because we sat with minutes to go before even putting any wheels on the bike, not knowing whether to use dry or wet tyres with the ever changing conditions. We opted for a wet front and dry rear as there were dry spot on the circuit were we could get the power down.

We had an 8min warm up to get a feel of the track, in conditions I have never ridden in before, it was much needed track time. I ended a dismal 14th. But qualifying was yesterday so we were still 12th for race 1.

The rain came and went many, many times during the day, bringing all sorts of crashes and delays in proceedings with it. First off being a Ducati dropping its guts all over turn 1, 2, 3 and 4! This saw 5 bikes crash all at the same time, then add a light to rain that, and more delays! We were scheduled to race at 2:30pm, but were now delayed to 3pm.

Next was the British Supersport 600cc race which was on just before us. The rain drizzled down, again setting these tricky, in-between conditions. A string of crashes saw the 3rd red flag for the day, and more delays. The sweep truck came on to clear oil on the track, got to the bottom of Paddock Hill, and burned its clutch out!

Now a 5 ton washing machine was stuck on the circuit when we were meant to be on our sighting lap. They got it cleared, but by now it was 4pm and the Superbikes needed to qualify, so they bumped us even further down the pecking order...

They sent the sidecars out first for their race to clear the oil,then the Superbikes went out for their 3 qualifying sessions. Eventually at 5:40pm we got told to get to pit lane for our race! We kitted up for the 4th time, and the rain came back...

We slapped the wets back on and bolted out before we could be stopped again!

I took up my 12th position qualifying spot on the grid and waited for the lights to go out. The start went well and I got up to 5th spot by turn 2. I struggled to get used to the wet tyres and strange conditions and eventually finished 7th. A result we are very happy with considering the top 20 riders were all within 1sec of the leader in lap times!

We start in a much better 7th position tomorrow for race 2,and hope to see better circumstances too!

Vodafone has decided I don't need communication,so my phone has been down all day (and still is) so hopefully they will sort themselves out tomorrow and I can keep the updates regular.

Thanks for all the support - we really appreciate it!

Until tomorrow, cheers!

Tough day off track...Tough time on track!

Today, luck was not on our side. From this morning, having to walk a good few kilometers to and from the main pits for rider's briefing and scrutineering, amongst others. To this afternoon when the cold set in, and I had to try qualify in strange conditions and with no practice...

After a very lengthy hour rider's briefing, we headed back to the pits to get a nice relaxing lunch in and think about the circuit and my lines before practice. ...Until the clouds opened up. It was then panic stations to get our wet tyres onto the spare wheels in case we needed them for practice, so a good 1km trek to the Pirelli stands and another back, we were sorted but I was starving and very irritable - the worst way to get onto a race bike. I scoffed down some lunch and got ready to head out.

We all lined up in pit lane to kick off the 2012 Triumph Triple Challenge with the first official practice, little did I know that I wouldn't be part of it. I pulled off with the pack and my bike cut out as I opened the throttle! We have never, ever, ever had a bike let us down before this! I limped back to the pits and my Dad, with Gary Atkinson's help (Thanks Uncle Gary!) got the tank off the bike to see if it was a fuel problem.

We lifted the tank and fiddle some wires and pipes and got it running fine! Slapped it all back together and pulled off, and had it cut out AGAIN! We stripped and assembled, and stripped and assembled one last time only to look up and see the checkered flag.

We had missed our only practice session for the weekend.

I now had to try qualify with no track time, on top of only ever done two sessions on this circuit (both in high heat, not ice cold) and with everybody set up and ready to go. It was another scramble to the tyre changers for me while Dad sorted out the fueling. I hopped on and got out but the ask was too much. I sat in 16th, worked my way up to 8th but got dropped to 12th after coming in to make adjustments and ran out of time.

In 12th, I am still only 0.4sec off pole. The top 20 riders are covered by just 1sec!

Today is nothing to be remembered, so we're looking to tomorrow for improvement through the day. We're on for morning warm-up (all 8mins of it) at 10:26am, then race 1 at 2:30pm. Keep your fingers and toes crossed!

Check back for tomorrow's update. Also check our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates during the day.

Twitter - @JamesEgan81
Facebook - James Egan #81

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Cheers!

Dad's ride for the weekend - the caravan's water tank!