Riders Review by Sam Middlemass

Salus Approved Inspectors are sponsors of local superbike rider Sam Middlemas in the Ducati Tri Options Cup.  Here Sam reviews his 2017 Ducati Triops season for us.

Round 1 – Donington Park

The opening round of the season was at our local circuit (to Hinckley HQ at least). We finished 6^th in both races out of a grid of 62 entries which was the biggest ever seen in the class. I was happy with the opening weekend’s results despite, unforeseen circumstances that meant we missed our pre-season test in Spain; hence little time on the bike prior to Round 1. Daniel Tutcher from Willmott Dixon joined us on the Sunday as well as Richard Talbot from Next.

Very sadly, the weekend was overshadowed by the death of a fellow competitor after an accident in the first race, reminding us all of the danger involved in the sport.

Round 2 – Brands Hatch

Brands is a track I love, where I had my first ever race and my first BSB podium, so I always look forward to racing there. I qualified 4^th and felt confident to challenge for the podium.  Whilst in hot pursuit of the top 3, I hit lapped traffic in the wrong places but still went on to Race 1 in 5^th after battling for 4^th for much of the race.  Race 2 was a fight for the podium once more with Australian rider Levi Day.  A fellow competitor crashed in front of me and I had to take to the grass to avoid crashing myself.  I managed to re-join the race but lost places as a result and finished 8^th.

Round 3 – Oulton Park

Race 1 and disaster struck on the opening lap.  A fellow competitor’s bike leaked water onto the track which brought down the majority of the top 10 including myself.  I was unhurt but the bike was damaged.  After Paul and my Dad, Mick had repaired the bike, the series organisers made us start Race 2 from the back of the grid due to not finishing Race 1. This is a rule which makes little sense, however it meant I had to start in 40^th position.  I made it back to 11^th at the flag for what would be my worst round and result of the season. Ian Adams from Salus’ Wirral office and his son Simon, together with Graham and Jeanette Mills swelled the Salus Supporters Club, together with Guy Dibley from Paragon, who has become a season regular.

Round 4 – Snetterton

Probably my least favourite circuit, finishing 9^th in Race 1 and 8^th in Race 2. Snetterton is a track where power is necessary due to the length of the straights on the circuit. The bike was not at its best this weekend and I wasn’t sure why at the time. The reason became clearer at the later rounds.  Steve Price from The Shaylor Group attended the meet with extra Salus support from Steve Jackson, Andrew Wignall and Richard Green for this round of racing.

Round 5 – Brands Hatch GP

The bike blew up in practice, explaining the problems I’d had at Snetterton circuit.  We were therefore unable to compete on this weekend. Jeff Emmett and his family from J C Emmett Architects had come for the racing weekend and even though I was unable to compete, I hear they had a great weekend, even though were not able to cheer me on. Salus support included Richard Green from our Corby office. 

Round 6 – Thruxton

Another track I love, but it looked like we might not even make the round due to the bike issues from the previous round. Unable to sort the engine parts needed to complete the repairs in time, Paul managed to cajole another team into lending us a bike which enabled me to enter another class in the series for the smaller 899cc bikes.  I managed to win Race 1 of this class at my first attempt and was pipped on the line into second place in Race 2. I was determined to get a good result as a lot of effort had gone in just to borrow another bike for the weekend.  Paul Morris from Forum Architecture joined us for this weekend of racing, as did a number of Salus supporters including Geoff Bromfield and his wife.

Round 7 – Silverstone

With my own bike back for this round I was back in the premier 959cc class, finishing Race 1 in 7^th position.  A difficult race as the track was neither wet nor dry. With the length of the circuit being over 3 miles long, we had some sections of wet tarmac and some areas of dry tarmac making it difficult to determine how much grip there was.  In Race 2 I finished 8^th in fully dry conditions. Adam Collier from Generate Studio joined us for racing on Sunday and there was a good complement of Salus support as well.

Round 8 – Assen

At Assen, Holland I finished 5^th in Race 1 after a race-long battle with 2017 champion, Joe Collier, just losing out on 4^th position.  This was a good race and result, made more difficult by the torrential rain.  This marked the one year anniversary of Paul and his brother Neil joining our pit crew, so it great to celebrate this with a good result. In Race 2 I finished 8^th.

Overall, the season did not go as well as 2016 with much of this due to bad luck, which unfortunately was out of our control.  Guy Dibley from Paragon, an avid bike fan was joined by his wife Judith at nearly every round last season. He became our resident team photographer and took some excellent action shots, so a special thanks to him for his support.

So onto this year. We have already completed a successful pre-season Spanish test at Circuito Cartagena and have found a few things with the bike which we can improve ahead of the 2018 season.