TT star Conor Cummins says 'mission accomplished' as British season ends
Wednesday 19 October 2011
TT
Isle of Man TT star Conor Cummins, reflecting on his 2011 season, says it is ‘mission accomplished’ after a successful return to racing following injury.
The Manxman suffered severe injuries when he crashed during the Senior race at the 2010 TT. He returned to action at the beginning of this year, contesting the National Superstock 1000cc Championship with Blackhorse Kawasaki and selected road races, including the TT, with the McAdoo team.
Despite not sitting on a bike between his crash and March, he made good progress on the short circuits, claiming a best results of 7th at Oulton Park.
Speaking after the British season ended at Brands Hatch, the 25-year-old said he was happy with how the year went, and he was now ready for 2012.
His final race at Brands Hatch was abandoned after serious crashes, a disappointment for Cummins after one of his best qualifying performances of the year.
He said:
“Brands was definitely one of my better qualifying performances and I made a great start to the race so it was a shame it came to nothing. Safety has to come first though and with 2 serious accidents out on track, they had to stop the race - it was just disappointing that we couldn't have the race re-started.”
“It was Brands where I had my first race outing of the year back in April and compared to the meeting last weekend, they've been like night and day.”
“Back in April, I couldn't change gear properly and had no strength in my shoulder so I've had to work extremely hard all year to get to the point where I am now and I can't quite believe how big the difference has been.”
“It's been a difficult year, character building as they say, but, overall, I'm chuffed with how it's all gone. I've treated it very much as a rebuilding year, but it's gone far and above what I expected and it's great to be able to ride a bike fast again and have my confidence restored.”
Cummins added:
“It’s definitely been a case of ‘mission accomplished’ and I'm really looking forward to 2012 now and having a real good go.”
“My head's straight, I can ride a bike - and ride it fast - and everything's there for me to get back to where I was in 2010 and winning races again so I'll be training hard all over the winter to give me the best possible chance of doing just that.”
“I'd like to say a big thank you to the Blackhorse Kawasaki and McAdoo Kawasaki team and also to all my personal sponsors - Solway Slate & Tile Ltd, PokerStars, Houses to Rent, Isle of Man Sport Aid, Motorsport Merchandise, Shark Helmets, TCX boots, Scott Leathers and Kenyon Crowe.”
“I'd also like to say thanks to everyone who's supported me and wished me well this year - it's meant an awful lot and has been a great help in getting me through the year.”
Cummins has one more outing this year, a return to the Macau Grand Prix where he'll be hoping to go one better than his 2009 result when he finished a close second to Stuart Easton. He will be riding for the Paul Bird Kawasaki World Superbike team at the meeting, which takes place from November 18-20.