Red Flag Race Means No Points For Steve

15/06/08 : Steven's charge for points was brought to a premature end after a another rider crashed on lap 14 of 18 caused the red flag to be displayed and the race declared a result, with Steven claiming 17th position.

On one of the closest grids of Steven's racing career, Steve lined up in 19th position, having qualified 0.8 seconds from pole position!

A bad Start dropped Steven into the middle of the field for a hectic turn one, where Steve lost more places after being forced wide and off the track.

Steve quickly rejoined in around 28th place and from that moment on, faced an up hill struggle to slice his way through the pack. In fact Steve was making goof progress and was picking the riders off one by one until he had made his way up to 19th position. Once up to 19th position Steve had to close down a gap of 3.5 seconds which would take him up to the battle for 12th position.

In just three laps Steve closed the gap and tried to make his way through the group, however, Midge Smart highsided right in front of Steven out of the Russel's chicane, and as a result the red flag was brought out. Luckily Steven avoided the crash and Midge Smart was also unhurt.

Steven had this to say,

'It has been another frustrating race day for me, but up to that point we had been going very well. Maybe I could have improved on my qualifying had the second session been dry, but what cost me the most was my start, so I will be working on improving that area so I can make positions in the early laps, rather than have to come from behind!'

'The red flag was like a kick in the nuts though! I had done all that hard work to catch the group in front and then the crash. Obviously no one crashes on purpose and I am glad midge is okay but I couldn't feeling cheated slightly.'

Steve will be back on track at Mallory on the 27th/28th/29th June.