Manxman Gavin Hunt’s hopes of adding to his points tally in the 2014 Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship were dashed at Snetterton on Sunday when a damaged seat unit forced him to retire on just the second lap of the race.
Despite not having ridden for over a month, after withdrawing from the Isle of Man TT races, Gavin was soon on the pace on the Nei Motorsport Kawasaki during qualifying and the final session saw him improve his time around the 2.96-mile circuit by half a second. Indeed, a time of 1m52.586s meant the Douglas rider lined up in a season’s best of 17th on the grid and well placed to score some good points.
With confidence high going into Sunday’s 16-lap race, the 27-year old made a superb start from his sixth row starting position and immediately advanced forward a handful of places. Further progression was made before the pack, still tightly bunched together, reached the Montreal corner. However, with a number of riders getting out of shape on the way in, subsequently bumping into other riders, Gavin found himself on the receiving end and unfortunately damaged his seat unit as he tried to get everything under control. It sadly meant his race was over before it had truly got going and denied him the opportunity of scoring some good points.
Gavin Hunt: “I made a really good start to the race and I think I was up to 12th going into the Montreal corner but, as what happened in other races, the whole pack bunched up and there was a bit of bumping and barging. going on I got pushed wide on the exit and slipped off the side of the bike as I fought to get back on track, and unfortunately, when I got back in the saddle, I caught the edge of the seat and it damaged the whole seat unit so I had little option other than to retire. It’s a real shame as I felt really confident going into the race and the changes I’d made to the bike in morning warm-up were a significant step forward.
“I maybe should have tried them in the second qualifying session but we were in a healthy position with 17thon the grid and I know I’d have been a fair bit stronger in the race. All the riders I qualified around went on to finish at the bottom end of the top ten so it shows what might have been but what happened was no-ones fault and just one of those things. On the plus side, the bike’s working well and I feel like I’m riding well and with the rounds coming up regularly now, I’m sure I’ll get into a good rhythm and start picking up the results I feel I’m capable of.”
The series now moves to Scotland with the Knockhill circuit hosting the next round on June 27-29.
Picture by Glynne Lewis
