Arriving in Spain on the Wednesday the weather was not too good, it was damp and cold but by Friday the weather had cleared up for the first and only two hour practice session. I was able to get into my rhythm and put in some good lap times. The weekend was looking pretty good !!!!
The bike was performing well, qualifying sessions confirming this, as all three riders
managed to put the team in 7th position on the starting grid.
After a very encouraging Bol d’Or in terms of performance but disappointing in terms of the result, we had to score points in this round but also try not to take any risks to avoid accidents.
My team mate, Gregory Junod started the race and managed to place himself well in 4th place on the first lap before being overtaken by the official factory bikes. We managed to maintain 6th place with a healthy advance on our direct competitors, Yamaha Folch and National Moto.
As the relays continued, the bike was performing well thanks to the excellent work by all of the team and mechanics. We managed to keep a regular gap on our competitors and with our fingers crossed, continued to keep a good race rhythm going, maintaining 6th place. During the last hours of the race Honda TT Legends were forced to abandon the competition following a crash and we found ourselves in 5th position.
At 2 o’clock in the morning the race finished. I was delighted with our 5th place, the performance of the team and my two team mates who did an excellent job.
We now have some points towards the championship and have even more motivation.
We were the first ‘private’ team to finish behind the official teams of BMW, GMT 94, Suzuki and Yart.
This year, unlike previous years, all the official bikes are reliable and able to finish the race so it is very hard for a private team to stay with them on a regular basis. We are still missing about a second on their performance. Nevertheless we still finished nearly two laps ahead of the other private team who finished in 6th place.
We are all working in the right direction and are improving step by step, the objective being to finish on the podium.
The next round will be at Donington Park, an exceptional circuit, new to the World Endurance Championship and I am really looking forward to competing there.
I would like to thank all my sponsors who are helping and following me for the remainder of the season.
