Gary Johnson ................................
You might have read last month that we have had a bit of a last minute change of machinery for the Macau GP, as I had a kind offer from the Lee Hardy Racing Briggs Equipment Kawasaki team to run me on the ZX-10R that Jake Dixon has been racing in BSB... and luckily it goes as well as it looks! We worked really hard with it while we were there and found lots of ways to improve the setup, which they had struggled with throughout the year. My god I’ve got a lot of respect for Jake with the speed he has gone and the results he has got on that bike as they are just awesome, but I think we have transformed it into a much easier and better bike to ride for next season. Well, certainly for me anyways…
So practice went well and I knew I had the pace to be at least fifth, but unfortunately I got held up on my qualifying lap so we ended up having to start from 10th, which is tough round the tight Macau street circuit. I knew what I needed to do though and the most important thing was to get a good start, and within the first few laps I was running seventh. One place in front of me was Davo Johnson on his BMW S1000RR which was pretty darn quick, but soon as his tyre stared to wear I managed to make a pass with my easier going ZX-10R. Once in sixth place with some clear track in front of me I was able to drop a couple of seconds a lap and gently close in on Connor (Cummins) and Martin (Jessopp), and it was lining up to be a really good race.
Unfortunately though, it all becomes irrelevant when the red flags are displayed and you hear of the devastating accident which occurred with Dan Hegarty – it was just horrendous to see. When something like that happens nobody gives a f**k about the race as we are all just one big family, and I’m sending all my thoughts to his family and friends.
That said, as far as the racing goes the team and all the mechanics were great. The electronics guy Tim Seed and the crew chief Glen Richards both really know their stuff, while having Ben Stafford and my mate Pistol working with us made it a great environment to be in. I was awarded sixth place overall which I would have been absolutely chuffed with before the race, as it’s always good to experience yet difficult working with a new team when you’re straight into a race weekend. I certainly wouldn’t rule out riding their bike at a later date though, as I think we could do good things together. Watch this space!
We have all come to Thailand now and there is a big gang of us so we’ve been out on go-karts today. We’re all just partying, having a bit of R&R and everybody has risen a glass to Dan while we are out here. The girls are coming out to join us in a couple of days and we are going to go and do some island hopping. It’s off to El Nido in Palawan and then over to the Philippines, so perfect to top up the old tan. I hope you’re all enjoying the November weather back home!