2020 Season Review

The final round of the year saw us come to the Brands Hatch GP circuit, the final round of what was a reduced season having only 6 rounds. It has been a very strange year with all that’s been going on in the world revolving around COVID and the impact that it has had on everyone, so in one respect it was lucky that we were able to have a season at all. Therefore a big thanks has to be given to all at British Superbikes who made it possible.

Having started the year with a great test in Spain I was really looking forward to kicking off the season in April which was soon postponed and to be resumed at the beginning of August with a test day held on mid July. We managed to squeeze a few track days in before but with little track time due to the weather, however we still managed to gain valuable information from these track days. This gave me lots of confidence going into the official test in July. As we came into the test day I was very excited as this would be the first proper time to see where we measured up against the competition. In hind sight my enthusiasm to start quick was a mistake and I suffered an early crash. Thankfully the bike was not too badly damaged and we were able to get it repaired for the final session. As a result of the crash from the first session I didn’t want to lose out on track time so I stayed out for the whole final session where another unfortunate mistake resulted in a big crash down Craner Curves. This time we were not so lucky with the bike taking massive damage.

Following the crash my hand had also taken some damage, but the main focus was getting the bike fixed for the first round of the season at Donington Park. With a lot of work from Go Racing Development and chassis Factory we were able to get the bike ready for the opening round. However, the damage to my hadn’t was too much to be able to ride and with an X-Ray from the medical team a fractured metacarpal had been discovered. After missing the first round the focus was now on to get healed as quickly as possible. With help from a physio I was able to get a plan together with excursuses and nutrition to be able to get my hand on the mend. Snetterton was the second round following Donington, three and a half weeks from the initial break I was able to ride with little pain and discomfort. This weekend was important to get crucial laps in which had been missed from the previous weekend.

Every round from then on was about improving and getting to grips with the bike again, learning every time out. However, I was struggling to reach the same form that was previously shown at the start of the year in Spain. This trait was common throughout the following race weekends which I will admit has been a very frustrating time for me. Silverstone was probably my best racing weekend posting some competitive lap times and having a good race to end the weekend. Even though this year has been a struggle, I have enjoyed every second of it and already want to get next year going. We will have to see what the situation is regarding COVID as that could hinder any testing plans, but I am already working on becoming a more rounded racer going into next year as fit as I have ever been and as confident as ever in my ability on a motorcycle. But until then, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has been involved and helped me this year from the Nova / Go Racing Development team, to all my sponsors, family and friends. The provisional Calendar is out for next year, hopefully it will stand and we can have spectators!