Dan Kneen was back in action at the weekend competing in rounds 4 and 5 of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000cc Championship at Donington Park but it proved to be a disappointing weekend for the Marks Bloom Racing rider. The Manxman was running inside the top 15 in both of the races held around the 2.5-mile circuit and was looking good to score points on both occasions only to be forced to retire on each occasion.
The weekend started well for Dan though as he posted the 17th fastest time in opening qualifying on his GSXR1000 Suzuki and he lapped faster still in the final qualifying session late on Friday afternoon. However, changes to the gearing didn't improve the bike as much as he would have liked and, having slipped back to 22nd on the grid, he reverted back to his initial settings for Sunday's two races.
Unfortunately, Dan got knocked off in the morning warm-up by another rider and although he was uninjured, the team had less than an hour to get the bike repaired and scrutineered in time for the first 12-lap affair. They managed it with seconds to spare and although it meant Dan had to take to the track with tyres not fully up to temperature, another great start saw him inside the top 15. However, having to exceed caution in the early laps, he dropped back to 19th and then to 25th after an off track excursion. He fought his way back up to 20th but was forced to retire on the 8th lap with the tyres still not giving him the grip required.
Another good start in the second race saw him leap up to 16th and by lap 6 he was up to 13th, running strongly and very much in contention for some Championship points. However, Josh Day relegated him back to 14th and then another rider pushed him onto the gravel at the Esses bringing his race to an early end as, with no chance of scoring points, he pulled into the pits soon after.
Speaking later, Dan said; "It's just been one of those weekends where things have gone against us and situations out of my control have intervened. Practice and qualifying went reasonably well and I found out what worked and what didn't work with the bike so felt confident of socring some points but race day was pretty much ruined when I got knocked off in morning warm-up. With such little time before the first race, we struggled to get the bike repaired and it was all of a bit of a rush. The tyres weren't up to temperature nor at the right pressure and although the race started reasonably well, I wasn't able to push anywhere near as hard as I would have liked."
"I got a good start in the second race and was running strongly inside the points, making up a lot of time on the brakes, but when I got pushed into the gravel it wasn't worth continuing. I've a lot of big races coming up in the next few weeks so I opted to pull in and concentrate on getting the bike ready for next week. We're definitely heading in the right direction compared to where we were a few weeks ago but we still need to work a bit more on the suspension and if we can get that properly sorted, we'll be a lot better off. Let's hope for some good weather in Ireland and some better fortune so we can get the results the whole team deserves."
Dan now heads to Northern Ireland for the first road race of the season, the International North West 200. Practice takes place around the 8.9-mile circuit on Tuesday and Thursday with races taking place on both Thursday evening and Saturday.
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