Straight out into qualifying this morning (no free practice!) in damp conditions was not the best way to scrub in the brand new tyres that had been fitted yesterday, but it had to be done! A few gentle-ish warm up laps, getting used to the new engine and brakes and finally giving it enough to put in a decent-ish lap time, qualifying in 13th place, so not too bad. First race with the tyres was going quite well until I got stuck behind a back marker and lost the pack I was with, so ended up in 11th place which was 10th for points as Mal Wheeler was on the Ducati UK guest bike one place in front. Second race was time to give it all as the tyres were nicely scrubbed in and I was back into the groove. Customary flier of a start got me up to sixth in the first bend. I lost one place on the brakes to Couchie from VD quite early, then had a tustle with another guy and got back past him twice, but he shut the door at the Old Hairpin which caused me to lock the front and get all crossed up. It's a horrid corner anyway but sliding the front there is not advised! By this time he'd pulled a lead and I lost him by 4 seconds as the flag was waved, bringing it home in 8th place and a new best of 1:54.45 - not much quicker than last year (only by tenths) but it was the first race of the season! Roll on Brands in 4 weeks time.
