Frustration as TT star Conor Cummins misses out on championship points
Wednesday 28 September 2011
TT
Isle of Man TT star Conor Cummins was left frustrated again as he battled for more points in the National Superstock 1000cc Championship around the Silverstone circuit at the weekend.
The Blackhorse Kawasaki just missed out on points when he finished 18th – the fifth time he’s crossed the line in that position this season.
Cummins missed racing at the new-look Silverstone Grand Prix circuit last year as he was recovering from injuries sustained at the 2010 TT, so this weekend was first time on the new layout.
It took him some time to get used to the 3.6-mile circuit, but he worked on the ZX-10R’s set up and reduced his lap time in every session, eventually qualifying 25th.
A good start to the 11-lap race saw the Manxman leap up to 20th at the end of lap one, and although he briefly slipped back to 21st he was back up to 19th at the end of lap four.
He overhauled Jonathan Railton and Michael O'Brien to move into 17th, but a major front wheel slide saw him drop back to 20th two laps later. Cummins managed to climb back up to 18th at the chequered flag, but was left frustrated.
He said:
“Having missed the meeting last year, it was tricky learning the circuit as it seemed that only the first and last corners were the same and I struggled all weekend to get the bike to handle how I wanted it to.”
“The race itself was going ok though up until the mid-race point when I had a huge slide which nearly had me off. I managed to save it with my knee, but that told me that I was riding over the limit so I decided to stick with a pace that wasn't going to see me crash out.”
Cummins added:
“The last 3 meetings have seen me suffer a number of front end issues and it's what's holding me back at the minute. I can't hit my apexes and so am having to scrub off speed on the way in to the corner just to make it round.”
“It's frustrating for all of us as the whole team are working their backsides off to try and sort it out - the effort going into the job is superb. At the end of the day it was another finish and I have to keep reminding myself that this is what the year's all about.”