Rory entertained a 40,000 strong crowd to a display of top class riding in his debut ride as the only UK wildcard rider in the European Moriwaki 250 Junior Cup at the Brands Hatch round of the British Superbikes at the weekend.
With only 30 minutes dry practise time and 20 minutes of wet qualifying Rory was on a very steep learning curve having never before ridden a 4 stroke motorcycle nor the Brands Hatch GP Circuit.
Rory said: “we (Rory and dad Mike) had worked out a basic set up in the pit garage and tweaked it after several laps into practise so I was happy with the way the bike handled in the dry, then in the wet qualifying we made a few other changes to secure 10th place on the grid
For race one on Saturday the track condition was dry. I got a good start (it was my first on that bike) and I managed to get up to 8th going into the first corner. I managed to work my way up to 7th and pull away from the group behind me. During the race I was getting quicker and quicker as I managed to do the same lap times as the pack in front. I finished the race in 6th position and was really happy with how it went.
Sunday was dry and I knew that if I could get away with the leading pack I could battle for podium positions ……. I got a really good start and was up to 5th going into the second corner, I managed to make some great passes on the first few laps and got into 2nd place! I held 2nd for the rest of the race until the last lap when I made a small mistake and dropped back to 5th. Unfortunately I didn’t have much time to recover and regain any places.
I learned a lot in a short period of time and am really proud of my results. I really enjoyed being part of the Moriwaki 250 Junior Cup at Brands and racing against great riders from all over the world.
Throughout the weekend my Bennetts appointed mentor Neil Hodgson (ex British and World Superbike Champion) was there to offer me support and advice and I did some TV, online media and magazine interviews with him and whilst I was on track Neil was chatting in the commentary box throughout the race to a 40,000 strong crowd. Big thanks to Dad, Bennetts and to Neil for all their support over the weekend.”
Rory’s next outing will be at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire on 26-27th July for round 10 of the Dunlop Aprilia Superteens Championship.