600 Superstock Championships

Ross is contesting the 600 Superstock Championships as part of the British Superbike series, having moved up from a successful 125cc campaign last year. The step up in cc will bring a steep learning curve for Ross & the team, both in riding and bike preparation. To gain the maximum benefit (for all), we will be taking part in as many rounds as our budget will allow.

Brands Hatch, Kent (Indy circuit) 10 - 13th April

The first meeting of the year was on the Easter Bank Holiday weekend at Brands Hatch, on the Indy circuit.

Friday first practice saw Ross putting in some good times of 50 seconds on old tyres, however second practice was wet so we, along with most others, gave that one a miss.

Saturday first qualifying and a couple of minutes before we took the tyre warmers off, it started raining. We quickly banged in a pair of wets and Ross went out, only to find that half the track was dry and the wet part was drying fast. Ross had no choice but to abort the session as changing back to dry tyres was not an option, given our location in the paddock.

Sunday second qualifying and if Ross was to avoid the shoot off race for the final places this was his last chance. On the pit wall monitors we could see his times coming down, it was a dry day but slightly misty - still all seemed to be going as planned. Suddenly, looking down the pit lane towards Paddock Hill we saw yellow flags. Glancing at the monitor we saw the message "No 67 crashed Paddock Hill - rider ok". After the bike was recovered from the Scrutineering Bay it was too damaged to continue. It had barrel rolled through the gravel trap ripping off the tank and smashing the fairing, seat & exhaust. Needless to say, on race day we were spectators.

Onward and upward onto the next round at Oulton Park, things couldn't get any worse could they?.

Oulton Park, Cheshire 2nd - 4th May

The Oulton Park B.S.B meeting was on the Bank Holiday weekend 2/3/4 of May.

You only get one practice session on the Saturday and Ross was off the pace, possibly due to not having ridden since the Brands Hatch crash, later on that day saw first qualifying and although Ross took seconds off his previous time, we still had an issue with the gearing.

Second qualifying and two or three laps had gone by and all seemed well until the pit lane monitor came up with "No. 67 stopped at Shell Oils with a technical problem". After the session Ross rode the bike back to the pits and the bike seemed ok. The bike had selected a false neutral and decided to err on the side of safety.

Having not set a qualifying time it was all down to the shoot out race, However this was not to be. During warm-up on a wet cold Monday morning a rider had crashed at Britten's leaving oil on the wet track, Ross crashed on the oil, along with five other riders. If there had been another half an hour we could have repaired the bike, unfortunately the clock beat us. If it was not for bad luck we would have no luck at all!

Next round Donington Park, bring it on.

Donnington Park, Derbyshire 23rd - 25th May

Arriving for practice on Saturday, saw the day start dry but cloudy and a cool 12 degrees. We took an educated guess on the gearing (not too educated as it turned out), Ross turned in a fastest lap of 1.43.451 and while the gearing was in the right direction we were already on the back foot compared to the majority of the other riders.

Deciding on a 48 rear and a 15 front Ross went out and said the new gearing was better. Ross posted a time of 1.42.619 but it was not enough to avoid the shoot out race for the last ten positions. In the shootout race Ross's lap times went back to 1.43. When he came in after the race he said the brakes had gone off. On inspection the brake pads had glazed over. A lesson learned, inspect the brake pads before every race!

Needless to say, Ross didn't qualify for the Championship race, but he did manage to have a race, which is more than can be said for the two previous meetings - a success of sorts!

Thruxton, Hampshire 29th - 31st May

Having only been spectators at Thruxton before, we could only rely on a friendly word with the other teams to give us a clue on gearing.

Friday practice and Ross was 38th overall and in first qualifying managed 40th with a time of 1.24.470.

Saturday was dry and very hot and after a little advice from other riders we settled on a 15 front and 45 rear. Second qualifying and Ross had to finish in the top 40 or that would be it, as due to the amount of competitors there would be no shoot out race. Ross posted a time of 1.23.785 which put him in 41st place missing qualifying by 0.200 of a second. However someone dropped out which meant Ross got to race, but we did not find out until Sunday.

Sunday, after an eventful race, Ross came 26th out of 40 - Result!

Brands Hatch, Kent 7th - 8th September

The Brands Hatch circuit is daunting enough for an experience rider.

Practice was once again a question of what gearing worked best. This once again put Ross at the back, and if you do not get on it in first practice you will be on the back foot all weekend. By the end of second qualifying Ross was in 42nd, but due to the high attrition (blow-ups, crashes) he manage to get on to the grid.

After a decent start which moved him up a few places the race was red flagged. In the restart he got a poor start and finished 32nd.

Croft, Croft on Tees,  N. Yorkshire 11th - 13th September

Free practice was sunny and dry as Ross got to grips with a new circuit. All was going well until he pulled into pit lane to have a quick drink. The bike would not start off the button and had to be bump started.

After practice further investigation revealed what appeared to be a knackered rectifier. By the time we had traced what looked like the fault we missed the first Saturday qualifying session. Ross managed to get out for second qualifying, but lack of track time left him in 36th place.

Come the race and the electrical problem reappeared in less than a lap causing Ross to retire.

Snetterton, Norfolk 19th - 20th September

The weather for practice could not have been better, dry and sunny, but this being Ross's first visit to Snetterton we had to try and make an educated guess at the gearing. Unfortunately we were well wide the mark which left Ross at the back of the field.

Qualifying one later in the day and after asking three different competitors what gearing they were using, I got three different answers. The gearing we chose didn't seem to make a difference and Ross finished at the back.

Qualifying two on the Saturday went the same way as qualifying one, the only chance was the shootout race. The shootout race was wet and Ross was not very confide nt in the wet and came last meaning Ross didn't qualify for the main race.

Silverstone,  Northants 25th - 27th September

This round of the Championship was being held on the 2.2 mile International circuit, and Ross had tested here 2 weeks previously, so he knew his way around.

Free practice went well until Ross high sided at Luffield. Luckily he had only bruised a foot, but the bike had taken a beating. By the time the bike was fixed Ross had missed 1st qualifying. The second session on Saturday you could see Ross was feeling the effects of the crash and lack of track time, which left him back of the grid for the race.

During the race the steering damper decided to fall apart, another retirement.

Oulton Park, Cheshire 9th - 11th October

The final round of the British Superstock 600 Championship saw us at Oulton Park. Having been here before at the start of the year we were hoping for a quick start, but Ross fell of on the second lap of practice. The bike was not too damaged so was fixed quickly, but Ross felt a little too beat up to go out for first qualifying.

Second qualifying and Ross was raring to go. His Scott leathers had been altered so he thought he would give them a try. Within a couple of laps he came in complaining that they were restricting movement. With less than 20 minutes left he dashed off to put his old leathers on. Ross had just qualified for the shootout race. In the shoot out race Ross finished 10th and made the main race.

The main race was wet and Ross does not like the wet but he stayed on and finished the race, coming in 30th out of 40 starters.

We would just like to say a big THANK YOU you to everyone who has helped us throughout the season, and if there are any new developments regarding Ross and next years racing programme, we will keep you posted via this website.