BSB Testing & New Home Underway

Since I touched down in February, a lot has been going on in terms of organising my life for the coming season, but none of those have dominated my thoughts more than the first time I got to get on the new bike!

Fortunately it's been a good start, working with my new team has been an absolute pleasure so far. Mark and the MWR Kawasaki boys and girls have welcomed me and the excitement in the team is great for me to see as I feel they all believe in me and are 100% behind my championship push this year. Thanks guys!

Our first shakedown was at the opening Official British Super Bike test at Donington Park, a track that will always be stuck in my memory as my first BSB level win last year in the Triumph Triple Challenge.
Making sure I didn't let that affect me and see me put it in the gravel, I just circulated to feel my around the new bike, and I had forgotten how ridiculously fast these modern 1000cc bikes are...

The day went well working with my new crew chief, Dan Edlin and my mechanic, Taka Inufusa, as we ironed out a few teething problems with the new bike and got started on my settings. We ended with some good times and more importantly, good data!

Next up was Brands Hatch BSB test, where a rain soaked track saw us fiddle most of the day with our wet set up. We made some changes in different areas of the bike and tested a few new parts, which gave me some great track time to get used to the bikes handling and power in the wet. A very close companion of mine is now the Kawa's brilliant traction control system, which I made sure was working hard with me trying to put down nearly 200hp on wet tarmac!

After lots of fiddling and adjustments, we managed to secure the fastest STK1000 lap time! But more exciting for us, was that we managed to get 2nd in the Superbike class on our Stock bike!!! Australian Josh Waters on the Factory Yamaha R1 Superbike was fastest, us 2nd, and MotoGP rider James Ellison on the other Factory Yamaha in 3rd! That's a time sheet I'm framing for my bar one day...

We concluded the successful test and headed for Snetterton to start our two day test there.

Unfortunately the weather never played its part as we woke up to freezing temps and snowfall. We waited it out but the weather was set in and forecasted clear day the next day but still barely above freezing. We decided to call it a day as the conditions were not good for any constructive testing and the risk of incident was pretty high so close before the first race. We debriefed and left the circuit with a great atmosphere after our first two outings on the bike.

My next mission was move in to the new apartment, which is a beauty of place in a modern apartment building in the city of Nottingham, really happy to have found it! But as usual with estate agents I've dealt with, their are many empty promises that I am fighting with them over now, but that's another blog's story...