Racing as an individual in a team focused series isn’t an easy thing to do in terms of tactics. If a team lets me get away, it takes away vital team points for them so you find yourself heavily marked; by everyone. However as the defending champion I felt it important to keep myself in contention for the overall victory for the Johnson Health Tech GP series this year.

The first few rounds were OK, average and so-so. I was caught behind a crash in an early round and lost valuable points and going into the last round I was a little too far behind to have a realistic chance of winning. However as it was the last round, team tactics finally played into my hands. I knew the top two teams would need to focus on each other, not me, so there was going to be a chance for me. OK, I hadn’t planned on taking that chance after about 500 metres of racing, but it seemed to have worked out OK.

As we exited the twisty section of the Stoke on Trent course, I had a 10 metre gap as I looked back. Yes it was lap one, but I thought the least I would do is stretch the bunch out and create a selection of leading riders out the front and give me less of a headache working out how to win the event in the latter laps. I’d been on the podium twice in this event in its two year history, and been beaten by Matrix Fitness – Prendas rider Dani King both times. You can’t complain too much about getting beaten by a quality rider like Dani, but it was about time I moved up to the top step of the podium. Read More→