Hi to Everyone, Firstly I must apologise for not having any information on the website in recent weeks. From here on lets hope that it will be business as usual with with lots of racing to report on.

Since my last report we have had a few runs on the bikes, the first one took place Easter Saturday at Bishopscourt. This was not good! I was still recovering from flu and no matter how I tried; I just could not get dialled in. My times were less than impressive, so I made the decision to be a spectator for the rest of the day.

On 11th April we headed to Croft to try and get up to speed for the start of the road racing season. That didn’t exactly go to plan either and another disaster was just around the corner. I was involved in a first lap incident where a fellow rider came off his 600 machine leaving me nowhere to go but sliding up the road on my backside with my hand caught under the left handlebar of my bike!!! As a result of this I lost the knuckle on the ring finger of my left hand. I was admitted to the James Cook University Hospital, where they specialise in skin grafts and hand surgery. I couldn’t have been in better place. My finger has since been repaired, and although I will never bend it again, I am grateful that the accident wasn’t a whole lot worse. I was advised to have a 6 week recovery period, but as you all know I was out racing in Cookstown last Saturday, although the results were nothing to write home about, I am grateful to be able to race again and hopefully my fitness will improve sooner rather than later.

I would like to thank Sarah Boyce and her dad for very kindly taking me to the hospital, rather than having to wait on an ambulance.

Practice for the Cookstown 100 was nothing short of a disaster. There were so many riders trying to compete for the 22 places on the grid. I had a pretty good run on the 600 which left me 4th overall, but when the rain came down I just wasn’t prepared to push it on the big bike, or the 250. I don’t think my finger could have taken another spill on the road just yet!!

Come Saturday both William Dunlop and myself were on the back row of the grid for both Superbike races. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but I made the most of it and finished 9th in both races, so a few points are in the bag if nothing else.

I would like to congratulate Ryan, and Keith and on their first class performance at the weekend, and also to Martin Finnegan, who certainly seems to be back on the boil.

Start numbers have been issued for the TT. We’re starting at 33 so hopefully we can make a few places up on the time sheets from there.

This week will be spent working on the bikes, we noticed a few minor things over the weekend, so we hope to have that all sorted in time for Tandragee this weekend.

Don’t forget to call in at the race truck, youll be more than welcome.

Before I go I would like to add a special congratulations to Bob and Jill Patterson on their recent wedding. We all wish them many years of health and happiness.

          JB#16