Chris Threadgill is taking the positives from the opening round of the Tristar R&G Triple Challenge at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend.

He learnt a lot from that weekend and is taking that into the second weekend of the season at Oulton Park this coming bank holiday weekend.

Speaking to Kent Sports News about the opening rounds, he said: “Overall, I guess you could say the first round of the British Superbikes/Tristar R&G Triple Challenge was a mixed bag for me and the team.”

“We entered the weekend after some promising pre-season testing, were I was displaying some real pace which should have seen us battling for podiums in the cup class, and top 10 in the main championship.

“We made some changes to the settings we ran in pre-season, most notably to the gearing of the bike.  It didn’t work, compromising the speed of the bike down the straights so I was having to push a lot harder in the corners.”

“This ultimately led to a crash at Druids early on in qualifying before I could get any decent times in. It was an uphill battle from there really, having to start from the back of the grid, but more importantly the crash had knocked a lot from my pre-season confidence, and I wasn’t feeling comfortable.

“That is racing, you have good days and bad days, and you have to take the positives and move forward, otherwise you end up dwelling on the past and not moving forward. I finished all three races, and scored points in the cup championship with a 12th, and 8th, and a 10th, leaving me 10th overall, and somewhere to start from.”

“It is a long season with 17 races still to go, and what with the points being halved after round five for the “showdown”, both myself and the team are still confident we will be there or thereabouts when it comes down to the end of the year.”

The weekend had a mixed bag of weather and no one could quite predict what would happen next with rain on Sunday and sunshine on Monday, least of all Chris. A crash on Sunday left him feeling less confident as he said.

“Sunday was absolutely terrible weather!  We went out in the morning in damp conditions, and opted to run a set of old wet tyres just to test the conditions and it was like riding on ice.  When our race started, the track was completely sodden so I was very cautious.  After a few laps, I found there was more grip than I thought, and I managed to push up through the ranks to battle for 15th place overall, and the final point in the main championship.”

“Unfortunately we didn’t win that little battle, but I was thrilled to finish so strongly, and 8th in the cup, especially seeing how many riders fell off throughout the day (somewhere around 50 bikes crashed on Sunday at various points!).  It was also my first ever race on wet tyres, and I was so surprised at how much you can push them in the bad conditions.

“My crash in qualifying really did dent my confidence for the rest of the weekend.  I was working so hard in the corners to keep my times respectable, only to be rewarded with a smashed bike, scuffed leathers and some bruising.  In this sport it isn’t about how hard you go down, it’s about how fast you can bounce back and get on the pace again.  I struggled to get back up to pace all weekend, and I think that really showed in my riding and lap times.

“As a racer, you just have to block the crash out and forget about it, move on.  A crash is inevitable at this level, as we are all pushing ourselves and our bikes to the limits of grip, and the only way you can find the limit is to go over it.  The bike is back in the garage, and will be good as new for the next round, and I am confident that it will be working better than ever.  I’m also back in training already, and so my mind and my body will be completely ready for round two at Oulton Park over the Mayday bank holiday.”

Chris really enjoys racing around Brands Hatch and not just that but in the Triple Challenge which is always competitive.

He added: “I love racing at Brands, it’s so local to me and I always end up bumping into people in the paddock that I know.  What with it being so local, I get a lot of support from family and friends who pop down to lend their support to my racing.  It does add a little pressure, as I want to perform well in front of them all, but I just try to zone out in the half hour leading up to my race, and just prepare the same as any other race really.  Once you’re out on the track, nobody else cares that I’m the local kid, and we all want to win it!

“The Tristar R&G Triple Challenge is always a very competitive series, with lots of talent using it as a springboard into bigger and better championships, either within the British Superbike series, or even into World Superbikes and Spain.  I really enjoyed the races, as you know you are racing against some of the best riders in Britain, and also a handful of top international talent too, so you can really measure yourself against the best.  I also enjoy being in the BSB paddock, as there is always a huge crowd of 30,000 people plus on race day.  The buzz just gets under your skin and really pumps you up for the occasion.”

Chris and the team will be back on track this coming weekend for the second round of the season from the challenging Oulton Park, and he is looking forward to the challenge.

He said: “Both I and the team have already moved on from round one and Brands Hatch, and our focus is now fully on Oulton Park in Cheshire for round two.  During the moment and the heat of the weekend, it was hard for me to find the positives, but after sitting down with a few people to go over the data and analyse my races, I can see that we did a lot of this right over the weekend, and we really learnt a hell of a lot about the bike.

“It is all well and good having the pace in the winter, but when the lights go out for race one that’s when you really see where you are going to need to improve.  That is where we are focusing on now.

“I would also like to thank Artomise Custom Designs for my race suit, Wiz Racing, Knox Armour, Shoei Helmets and Sidi Boots (both from Feridax), Paul from TriPointSports, Mum and Dad for their continued support and all the guys at T3 Racing for their setup all weekend.”