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They say it always rains in Scotland, especially around the time of the the Knockhill BSB round. But in our experience it’s not always when you want it to.
Knockhill was always going to be a tough one for us we’ve never been to this track before. So we had to guess on initial set-up, right from the off.
We were greeted by sunshine when we arrived at the track on Thursday which was perfect for me to walk the circuit and complete some laps on my cycle, so I at least had an idea which way it went.
Unusually the weather forecast was right and we woke to rain on the van roof on Friday. What was already a tough weekend was about to get even harder.
I used the first wet session to learn the track and start piecing the corners together. I had no idea what my lap times were, they didn’t matter at this point in the weekend. This was my chance to have a look around, learn, make mistakes and keep learning and by the end of the day I felt good on the bike, in the wet conditions and was excited about qualifying.
Even more rain soaked the Knockhill circuit on Saturday. The 125's were first on track, so it was an early start for me & the team. My first qualifying session went reasonably well considering my lack of circuit knowledge and I’d already improved a further 3 seconds on yesterday’s times. I was just outside the top 20 on the grid. I was content with that.
Confident of further improvements in the second qualifying session I went out the gate all fired up. Looking back maybe a little to fired-up, when only five minuets into the session I got too eager on the throttle and my 125 told me who was boss and high-sided me off. Thankfully I got away with just a few scrapes. I joined the long queue for the hose-pipe to wash the mud away. I was so frustrated with myself for making the mistake so early on in the session. I knew it would have an impact on my grid position as I’d had no time to improve. I ended up in 23rd position and 3 seconds behind pole. I knew I could have gone better, but that’s the way it goes.
Sunday arrived and so did more rain, which to be honest I was pleased to see as I was no only used to riding this circuit in wet conditions. So I was up for it being a wet race, especailly as I felt good in the wet morning warm session. So to spoil my plans the sun came out and the track began to dry.
We had some Dunlop slicks fitted but we were back to guessing about set-up again as we only had a wet setting. As I lined up on the grid I thought 'you've just got to go for it in the first corner'. So I did but the race was stopped prematurely due to a multiple bike crash [I hope everyone was OK?].
Even though I’d only had a few laps before the red-flag it gave us the chance to make a tweeks to the suspension before we were back on the grid for the re-start.
Second time round I got that good start I wanted but a bit of over excitement on my part saw me make an error and I ran too deep into the first turn. I lost any advantage I had. I was left to circulate in a lonely 18th place. It had however turned out to be a great experience and I’ve learned so much; the track in both wet and dry conditions, ready for when I return next season.
On reflection I’m happy with my fastest time I achieved in the dry. It was only 3.5 seconds off the fastest lap of the race. So considering it was my first time in the dry at a track I’d never seen before I did good.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures at Knockhill, next time out sees the BSB at the all new Snetterton 300 circuit. I can’t wait! (1st, 2nd & 3rd July.)Sam
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