Peter Hickman
Hicky’s bagged his first wins of the year
Ithought last month was busy… I reckon this one has just about topped it! If I’m not racing myself at BSB, I’ve been running the Ohvale job, which basically means I don’t get a weekend off this season. Don’t get me wrong – it’s been mega and the new Mini GP class just keeps going from strength to strength.
I guess I should pick up where I left off last month, and that was on my way to Thruxton. It’s a track I’ve always loved racing at and has been good to me over the years.
This year I’m really struggling with the SC0 tyres. I’ve used the new SCX tyre at every circuit this year, but at Thruxton everyone had to use the SC0 as it lasts longer. It didn’t do me any favours, and even on the grippiest circuit in the UK I was still lacking grip; I could be fast over a few laps, but putting a full race distance together was hard work. The last race of the weekend was a complete lottery with tyres (we seem to be getting a lot of dodgy conditions this year), and I went for wets. I led at the start of the race for a few laps but as it dried, I ended up dropping back in eighth.
It was then onto Donington Park, and I was fastest on the Friday and the bike was working awesome. I missed out on pole position by a whisker on the Saturday morning, and then it rained right before our race, then dried, and it honestly completely changed my feeling with the bike – we can only put it down to the track surface changing, because we didn’t touch the bike for the Sunday, and we went out and set a new lap record in race two. In race three I got away good, but then the rain came again and the race was restarted. I opted for wets, but once again I made the wrong choice.
Thankfully, our fortunes have since changed and at Cadwell Park for my home round, we had an absolute belter – probably my best BSB weekend to date. We had great rhythm and pace from the get-go and I qualified on the front row – I’m not much of a qualifier, so that’s always a good sign. The pace was hot and I broke the lap record and won the first race, took another victory in race two, and looked set for the hat-trick in race three until I had a huge slide in turn one… luckily we managed to bring it home in second place. Overall we had a brilliant weekend!
It was round two of the Ohvale cup at Cadwell and the kids were running on the Mountain Circuit, which went down so well that even the crowds stuck around to watch on the Friday and Saturday night. That made it really special for all involved. It’s been a quick turnaround for the kids and parents, and we’ve been at the Silverstone MotoGP, racing the Ohvales on the Stowe Circuit for round three of the Mini GP series. The top three from the race get to stay over and ride with six journalists, along with Jake Dixon and John Mcphee. They also gain behind-the-scenes access to the British Talent Cup, and Harley, who is leading the championship, is going to the MotoGP press conference to ask a few questions. It’s been mega to help provide this opportunity for the young kids and hopefully it’ll help inspire them for a career in motorcycle racing.
Next up its Snetterton and Silverstone BSB. Hopefully we can keep this ball rolling!