Round 2 of the Showdown was at Silverstone this weekend and doing the Double here means I have now extended the championship lead to 47 points going into the last round in 2 weeks time at Brands Hatch GP.
I Qualified on Pole, doing the fastest ever lap of Silverstone on a Superbike with a 2:03.9 lap. This would have put me on this years Moto GP grid, so I was pretty happy with that time. However the cold temperatures and nature of the track here meant that for the race it was going to be crucial to get the tyre to last the race distance.
In Race 1 I set a pace in front to try make a gap without over working the tyre but the lap times weren’t fast enough as Ellison and Byrne could stick with me. Ellison made a pass and I was happy to follow hoping this would mean I could ride easier and save the tyre. With 5 laps to go Byrne also made a pass, this forced me to change the plan and try get to back to the front early. My tyres were feeling badly worn but I could see the others were in bad shape too, I made the moves and was back in front with 2 laps to go, I forced a 1 second gap and held it to take the win.
In Race 2 I started from 6th on the grid, I made a good start but got squeezed wide at the first turn and dropped to 8th. I had what felt like a long battle with Mossy and Iddon, for a number of laps but once clear of them I had an easy time making passes until reaching the front. In the lead I could ride my own lines and rhythm making faster laps. I saw everyone behind suffering excessive tyre wear as a result of the hot pace they ran in the early laps. It was now easy to stay consistent and the gap grew to over 4 seconds at the finish.
Photo Cred: Glen Coombs
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