Christian Iddon ...............................

Here’s what BSB’s championship leader has to say

Winner winner, chicken dinner. I’ve had two of them since my last instalment as the BSB circus has completed rounds two and three of the series and as I write this now, I have the red plate.

The red plate, by the way, is something from the off-road world. Basically, the leader of the championship gets to have a red background on their numberboard. We don’t do it in BSB but we totally should – it’s cool. I’ve led this championship after both the Knockhill and Brands rounds, and both times I’ve posted a picture of a red dinner plate on my Insta. Needless to say, almost everyone has zero idea why – but you guys do now!

So, we made our way up to Knockhill for the second round and it was one I thought was going to be tough but it went pretty damn well. I won the first race, which was kind of a surprise. Okay, perhaps not a surprise, as I’d had pace throughout practice and quali, but it certainly wasn’t entirely expected. Sunday’s race two and three were a bit of a disappointment, to be honest. I rode poorly and struggled with a full fuel load in the first of Sunday’s encounters, then fell fowl of a red flag situation just prior to receiving a love tap by Danny Buchan, which had dropped me to fourth (having been in a podium position the entire race) as the red flags flew.

Actually, I had clawed my way back to second when the red flags were shown but unfortunately for me, it goes back to the last completed lap when I was further down the order. After winning on Saturday, it was pretty disappointing to leave with no silverware on the Sunday – especially given that I had pace!

I was still pretty chuffed though, as I got my imaginary red plate for the journey south to Brands. The results don’t show it but Brands Hatch has been the hardest track of the year for me so far. I went third and fifth in the first couple of races but honestly, my pace was just lacking that little bit and I was hanging out my backside for those results.

Just before the final race, we got a shower and that horrible ‘what to do’ moment came on the grid. It’s so early in the championship but it was in my mind that I needed to keep racking up the points, so tyre choice was key but I made my decision and stuck with it. I was going inter front with a slick rear, and for the first time in a very long time I felt it a little. I’d managed to put the championship points and a safe finish to the back of my mind to make the call but I wasn’t sure. I even turned to my other half and said, ‘I feel a little nervous about this’.

The look of surprise on her face when I said it means she really wasn’t expecting me to say that – and that expression made me realise the words I had uttered. I managed to get the treacherous first few laps out the way and the tyre started to warm as the track dried, and I was reeling in the leaders at a rate of more than two seconds per lap. Basically, I had the race won by what should have been a country mile – only for the red flags to fly once more! So, we had a seven-lap sprint race to go, but for some reason everyone was allowed to change tyres. My massive advantage was wiped out immediately and when the notification came up that everyone could change tyres (putting everyone on slicks), some choice words came from me, to say the least.

My side of the garage were doing their best to calm me down. They knew entirely we had that one in the bag, but also wanted to make sure I got myself back in a good frame of mind for the new sprint race about to go down.

What did eventually go down was an absolute thriller of a battle and one that thankfully we came out of on top. I’m pretty sure that most will agree it was the race of the year to date (if not longer) and I honestly haven’t felt that kind of elation for a very, very long time. I still have a pretty sore throat from giving it the ‘F-Yeah!’ the whole way around the cool-down lap!

So, it’s all going good so far – but this year is so tight in terms of riders and also of the calendar being so succinct and tightly packed. It means that keeping the ball rolling and the momentum running is no easy task at all, so there is zero room for complacency and only a focus to keep doing what we are doing.

Outside racing, I have my stag do coming up soon. Thankfully I’m not a drinker so being tied to a lamppost naked while being spanked by some hired-in ‘talent’ is unlikely. Instead we have a motocross track booked, and we are geared up for a couple of days of motocross, mountain biking and barbecues. That’s all from me for now. We are back to capacity at the races once again, which is absolutely epic, so if you make it to a race, give me a wave and a cheer!