Steve Forced To Start From Pits After Tyre Confusion

29/06/08 : Having qualified in his best position of the year so far, Steve was forced to start the race from pit lane but still managed a fantastic ride to produce a point and claim 15th place.

In the build up to the race there was an air of anticipation within the team as their thoughts turned to what the outcome might be. But just as the riders took their positions on the grid a heavy shower of rain halted the start procedure.

After a lengthy delay the teams were given 10 minutes to change tyres. Unfortunately there seemed to be some confusion and although Steven asked for a wet tyre to be put in the back of his bike, it was an intermediate tyre that was put in. With no time remaining, Steven was forced to start the warm-up on the wrong tyre.

During the warm-up lap, Steve opted to return to the pit garage for a swift change to full wets and set off from pit lane to try and play catch-up.

He chipped away at the riders some distance ahead and eventually caught and passed them until he reached 14th place on the final lap. But as he went to negotiate Edwina’s chicane the blue flag was waved at him warning of approaching riders about to pass him.

Realising he would affect the outcome of the race he opted to run down the escape road and let the front runners safely through on their way to the chequered flag. Unfortunately this allowed Walker to overtake and demote Steven to 15th position where he remained until the finish line.

'Obviously I feel pretty gutted with how things have gone today. It was a pressure situation on the grid and the wrong decision was made, which ultimately cost me a chance of a result today. Having said that, I did manage to score a point and I went as fast as the group for 6th.'

'Qualifying was certainly an improvement for us and I claimed my best position of the year, it was just disappointing that I wasn't able to take my 8th position on the grid'.

The next outing is at Oulton Park on the 18th/19th/20th of July.