When I was asked to race a Suzuki K6 1000cc bike in the final round of the Hottrax Endurance race at Snetterton, I jumped at the opportunity. I was really excited because it would be the first time I would be riding a 1000cc bike!

Luke Stapleford would be on the other Suzuki K10 1000 and was my team-mate. I started the weekend steady wanting to get to grips with the bike. On Saturday we had our first race/superpole qualifying session, it was a 40 min session, so we both completed a 20 min stint each. However, because we were not championship regulars we had to start the race from the very back of the grid. The race was started in the 24hour Le Mans style, and I started. I managed to get a real good start and came round the first lap in 5th position. I ran 4th/5th for my 20 min session. Then when everyone changed riders Luke went out.

We ended up winning the race and setting pole for the 3 hour race on Sunday. In the words of Keith Flint we were BUZZING!

On Sundays race I started again, but the bike struggled to start a little so I ended up in 8th position. On the first lap. I finished my 30 min stint in 5th. Unfortunately on my next session I managed to get my self a 30 second penalty for not stopping in the ‘stop and go’ box… OOPS! In the end it turned out it wouldn’t of affected us anyway. Luke and I were both pushing on, Luke finished the race and really pulled the pin in the last session.

We managed to finish 2nd just missing on the win by one lap. It was a really good weekend with lots of laughs and good results. The right way to end a season rather than the shit one I had at Brands Hatch!

Big thanks to Triff, Road and Race Performance and most of all the BLACK BEAUTY !

I would like to take this chance to thank everyone that was involved this year, without them it would of not been possible to race. YOU ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

Everyone did a great job over the season and I really enjoyed myself (when things were going right!)

It has been a very difficult season, probably the most difficult to date. We enjoyed ups and downs through out the year, even though there were more downs than ups!

But it will be good to learn from these mistakes and therefore be able to progress. It just means now i am more motivated than ever to do well next year so i will hopefully be constantly fighting at the front, instead of being at the front on an odd weekend.

Big thanks to all my sponsors who helped me this year, especially my family without them it would have never been possible to race.

BRING ON 2012 SO I CAN PROVE THE DOUBTERS WRONG!

FULL GAS!

FP - free practice was on the Indy circuit and conditions were not great, with more than half the track being damp. I took it steady for the session just getting back to grips with the bike etc.

Qualifying - Qualifying was a disater, infact the worst one of my career. I finished the both sessions near enough at the back of the grid. I tried my best and even though the bike was working ok, i just couldn't get things to come together and became really frustrated.

Race - Since it was the last race i tired to take a positive attitude and enjoy it, but that was becoming increasingly difficult since i knew i was at the back of the grid. I did try and enjoy it but to be honest it just wasn't happening. It was a really disappointing way to finish of the season

FP - Free practice went ok. We made a couple of changes to the bike so I could take the 'bumps' on the track much easier as the suspension was too hard for the track. We finished 12th.

Qualifying - Q1 went went ok, we had been taking big chunks of time off all weekend and from FP to Q1 we took 2 seconds off. I was really confident for Q2 as i had left my fast laps until the end on Q1 meaning that I was not taking full advantage of the tyres. I had also been taking a lot of advice off Steve Brogan (BSB rider) so I really felt we were in good shape for a top 8 qualifying result. Fro some reason though i only managed to go 0.1 quicker this left me in a very, very disappointing 23rd position, and to be honest I still don't fully understand why why never went a lot quicker as the bike felt nice and I didn't feel I was doing anything drastically wrong on the bike.

Race - For the race we decided to use a different gearing that i tired in warm up, i felt this was a little better. I ended up in a 6 way battle for 15th. I finished the race in 16th and once again my lap times were roughly the same as the people within the top 8. I just really need to try and sort my qualifying in order to get a good position in the race!

Thanks to all who helped this weekend.

FP- We went well in free practice, until my contact lens fell out! Still we managed to finish in 10th and was feeling confident for the qualifying later on that afternoon. We had a good set up from the test we were at a few weeks back, so we didn't mess about with set up all weekend.

Qualifying - Qualifying went ok, but I was expecting to be much further up the gird. However we qualified in 15th position, but if we found that extra 0.1 of second we would have been 8th, thats how close it was!

Race - We had two races this weekend as the race from Oulton Park was held on Saturday. I finished in 12th position, not great but I was glad to have some points in the bag since the last few weekends have been really poor!

On the Sunday race, I finished 11th with my fastest time of a 36.6. This was the same pace as the boys had been running in the top 5. So I was pretty happy knowing I could still run the pace at the front. Just shows how important a front or second row start is!

Overall, was a good weekend with two point scoring positions. I am looking forward to Silverstone and think this should be a good race.

Big thanks to Mark Hanna, the team and my sponsors.

Peace!

FP - We tried a different set up in the practise but it never worked properly the bike was hard to turn in to the tight corners.

Q1 - In Q1 we finished in P12 after changing the set up of the bike and putting the lighter fork springs back into the front end. This made the bike turn a lot nicer. However some parts of the track were damp, so the times were a few seconds off the dry pace.

Q2 - Once we picked up the pace in the dry, the bike was once again struggling to turn. This was costing me a lot of time and unfortunately I ended up P 22. Not where i wanted to be.

Race - We tried a totally different set up for the race, and used data from the previous year. We also shortened the wheel base of the bike to help it turn quicker. However i still struggled to turn the bike. Not a great weekend but after a test a Doningtion Park, I now have the bike back to where i want it. So i am looking forward to the race there next weekend.

I would like to say R.I.P to Ben who was tragically killed in the race.

FP - Unfortunately I only managed to do a few laps as I ran over some oil and lost the front. It was a small crash but still a silly mistake.

Qualifying - Q1 went ok, I had a few issues gearing and set up. I started the weekend at a slight disadvantage as some of the other riders had been testing there the week before. However i was on the same boat as most. In Q2 I knew what had to be done and was looking forward to that. Half way through the session we put a new tyre in ready for some quick laps. But unfortunately, I trailed the front brake too long and lost the front. This meant i was pushed back to a very disappointing 28th position for the race!

Big thanks to Dougy and the boys for fixing the bike for the race. They did a great job.

Race - The race was not brilliant for me. I have to admit after the two crashes I was riding over cautious. It also never helped that the bike in front was spraying oil out the back of it and covering me in it.

I am sorry to the team/sponsors for the poor performance over the last two rounds.

I am confident that we will be back at the sharp end for the rest of the season!

FP – Free practise went ok with some adjustments to gearing and suspension and getting back into the swing of things round Oulton park we finished free practice in 10th. I was comfortable with the set up but new some changes were needed for qualifying later that afternoon.

Qualifying – We changed the gearing for Q1 and it worked better as we were able to carry more speed coming out of the corners. We finished Q1 in 11th but I knew were I wanted to be and was not that happy with 11th, I was looking to be on the front two rows at least. Q2 the next day was supposed to be wet, but the track luckily dried off for our practise. I was pushing hard all sessions but only managed to match my times in Q1 a few boys went quicker and I was pushed down to 14th. I was disappointed but it was not the end of the world because I knew we were near enough guaranteed rain on race day.

Race – Unfortunately the race was cancelled due to the severe rain! I was gutted but also glad in a way as conditions were really bad with the track having oil on it as well and riders were crashing left right and centre! Anyway thanks to the team and on to the next one!

The Snetterton round was a tough one as I struggled all weekend trying to get on the pace. In free practice we were trying to work out gearing and set – up. I felt that the bike was working nicely and there were no immediate problems that stood out. However we were about 3 seconds off the pace.

For both qualifying sessions I struggled again trying to match the pace at the front. I was pushing as hard as I could and felt that my lines were not too bad and the bike was working OK. However we ended up in 25th position eventhough we made a big effort over the weekend to walk and cycle the track trying to learn were I was losing time, so I was really disappointed not to qualify better. It was hard not knowing why we were so far off the pace when we are usually at least within the top 10.

In the race I made a good start and over the first few laps made my way up to 15th and was at a good pace to be within the top ten. However the race was red flagged. I started the next part of the race in 15th and was hoping for a strong finish within the top 10, but unfortunately I made a mess of the second start and was pushed wide in the first corner. We finished the race in a very disappointing 25th. We will defiantly be back at the front were we should be at the next round!

FP – free practice went ok. We had spent the 30 minutes working on a wet set up and the forecast for the weekend was to be wet. The track had a lot of standing water and we were using scrubbed wets, however I was happy with the set up and we finished practice in 4th.

QP – Qualifying 1 on Friday was extremely wet again. I finished Q1 in 5th position; due to the fact I crashed half way through the session as I lost the rear of the bike going through turn 1. The team did a great job of fixing the bike in time for Q2 on Saturday, but unfortunately I posted my fastest laps towards the end of the session, when there were yellow flags out on track due to a lot of riders crashing, and therefore my laps were disqualified. So what should have been a front row start ended up being a 3rd row start down in 12th position. I must admit it was my fault for not obeying the rules, however because there were so many crashes due to the bad weather it meant there were not many laps were the yellow flags were not out!

Race – Race day was dry and I knew where I wanted to be, on the podium. I made a good start and was working my way through the pack and managed to get up 4th position just behind the leaders, when a rider from behind me ran far too hot into the corner and forced me off the track. I lost over 3 seconds that lap and fell down to 9th. I closed the gap and worked my way back to 6th finishing just under a second or so behind 3rd. I was disappointed with the result, as I knew I could have been back on the podium, but still 6th isn’t the end of the world and its good to have some more points in the bank! Big thanks to the team and everyone who made the effort to come up and support me!

Free Practice – FP was all about familiarising myself with the track again and trying to get a good base set up for Q1.

Qualifying – Q1 was difficult I couldn’t find the right lines and I was not able to improve on any of my times from the morning session. We finished the first qualifying in 24th position. After a debrief with the team and speaking to more experience riders I went into Q2 with a plan, I knew where to change my lines and we decided to change the gearing. We ended up in 10th position for the race on Monday, I was happy enough but wanted to be on the first two rows!

Race – Race day was wet and we were last race of the day at 5pm. I knew I was capable of a top 3 result in the wet conditions and was looking to pick up from where I left off at croft! However, me being stupid I went into the race with a dark visor and due to the terrible visibility I had to retire after lap 2. I was so disappointed after making a ‘school boy’ error and throwing away valuable points. I will make sure it will never happen again! On wards and upwards from here and looking forward to the home round at Knockhill!

FP – Free practise was wet, and it was the first time I had been on the Kawasaki in the rain. It was just the case of getting used to the track and the bike in the dodgy conditions!

Q1/Q2 – Qualifying went pretty well and we ended up 5th on the grid for the race. I had some issues in Q1 with gearing and suspension set up so we finished Friday in 7th position, but I knew I could improve if the weather held up for Qualifying on Saturday. It was dry on Saturday and the bike worked well and we ended up 5th just missing out on the front row 0.006 of a second. I had some more set up issues I wanted to address as the bike was not stable through the fast section of the track. I knew if we could sort this we would have the pace to run at the front.

Race – the race was declared dry however, the track was still damp and a constant light shower of rain made race conditions really dodgy so it was a struggle to choose the right tyres. We decided to take the gamble and go with full dries… and it paid off! We finished the race in 2nd position, and I was over the moon with the result! Big thanks to the team and everyone who helped, bike was mega and the boys did a great job of setting the bike up for some knee down action!

TV listings

- Thursday 19 May 21:30-22:30 - British Superbike Extra
British Eurosport 2

- Saturday 21 May 11:00-12:00 - British Superbike Extra
British Eurosport 2

- Saturday 28 May 21:15-22:15 - British Superbike Extra
British Eurosport 2

FP – In free practice, it was just the case of trying to find the right gearing/set-up and getting used to the track again since I had not been there since the final round last year. I had a real problem over the weekend with my hand that I injured at the Brands Hatch crash the week before, however I knew I would just have to try and power through it!

Q1/Q2 – Throughout the sessions we still struggled to find a suitable gearing, this was costing me a lot of time and was still over 1.5 seconds off my time from last year’s round. We finished qualifying in 14th position overall. I was pretty disappointed but knew we were still trying to find the right gearing/set-up plus my hand was giving me more problems than I was expecting.

Race – We tried a different gearing in morning warm up and this seemed to be closer to what we wanted. It was an incident packed race with riders crashing everywhere. I was in a group of riders battling for 8th position. I had some problems with brake fade, and with my hand causing me a lot of pain we finished the race in 13th. It wasn’t where I wanted to be but at least we scored some points after the crash at Brands Hatch. I have a couple of weeks to try and get my hand sorted for the next round at Croft, where hopefully I can show what I can really do! Big thanks to the team.

FP – Free practice went ok, we struggled at the start as we were using a different seat unit therefore it had altered my whole riding position. Still it was good getting back into riding again. We finished FP with a few issues that needed to be sorted for Qualifying 1.

Q1 – It went well in Q1 after we made the necessary changes to the bike and also changes with riding style. We finished Q1 in 6th position just under 0.1 off pole. My ‘ideal’ lap was 0.2 seconds quicker than my actual lap therefore I knew I had the pace for pole all I had to do was link up all the best corners.

Q2 – Unfortunately in Q2 I only managed to match my time in Q1. I just couldn’t link my lap up. Therefore we ended up in 11th overall.

Race – I made a good start off the line, but unfortunately there was an incident in front, forcing me to sit up and I lost 10 places! I started to make my way through the field matching the times of the top 3. However, I made a mistake under braking and lost the front when trying to pass another rider at the top of Paddock Hill bend. Thankfully I was not really injured and the team is currently doing a great job in fixing the bike ahead of Oulton Park this weekend.

Brands Hatch – The test went well, the team and I worked on trying to get a good set-up with the bike and sort the gearing. Towards the end of the day we were happy with some consentient times and race simulations.

Snetterton – It was the first time round the new track, so we spent most of the day learning the track and finding a suitable gearing. Once we found a good base set up we started to push on, however it started to spit with rain round the back section so we missed the last session. Anyway it was still a productive day.

In FP I had to familiarize myself with the track again, as I hadn’t been to Donington Park in over 5 years. After FP we made some changes to the gearing and we were ready for qualifying, I had managed to put some laps together that were good enough for pole, so I was really happy.

Race one went well. I had a good start and got the head down, I took the win be over 8 seconds. My lap times were better as well.

In race two, I had another good start. However this time one of the other riders had tagged on to the back of me, a couple of laps later he passed me for the lead. I followed him until the last lap and worked out where I was stronger than him on the brakes, he ran a little wide on the last corner and I made my move. I won the race by 0.007 of second!

Over all it was a perfect weekend, big thanks to the team!

The test started with a 4-day test at Cartagena and then a 3-day test at Guadix.

Cartagena - It was my first time round the track, on the new bike and with the new team, therefore I spent the first few days gelling with everyone/everything. On the last couple of days after we managed to get a good base set up, I started to push for times. I ended up doing a number of mid 1.39's.

Guadix - The weather wasn’t the best, so we only got one and half days on track out of three. However we did make some good progress in regards to settings.

I am looking forward to the UK tests later this month.

This season Dan will be racing for 'Road and Race Performance Kawaskai'

It will be his second year competing in the National Superstock 600 championship.

"I am really looking forward to this season and I am hoping to pick up where I left off last year!"