Dan Kneen put in a strong performance in Sunday's Macau Grand Prix to claim an excellent ninth place in just his second visit to the demanding 3.8-mile Guia circuit. Riding the Marks Bloom Racing Suzuki, the Isle of Man rider was consistently in the top 15 during practice and qualifying and he was rewarded with a fine top ten result, only beaten across the line by seasoned Macau GP competitors.
 
Making his return to the event after missing the 2011 meeting, Dan’s week started steadily with 15th in free practice as he re-familiarised himself with the Armco-lined circuit but he soon quickened his pace and by the time qualifying had concluded, he had shaved five seconds off his lap times to qualify in ninth and line up on the third row of the grid.
 
A good start to Saturday’s 15-lap race saw Dan immediately move up to eighth but the race was less than a lap old when rain began to fall. Rules state that racing won’t take place if it’s wet due to it simply being too dangerous so it was put back 24 hours to Sunday and reduced to 10 laps. A solid start saw Dan consolidate his ninth place and it proved to be a fairly uneventful race for the 25-year old, as he circulated a couple of seconds behind Jimmy Storrar but comfortably clear of tenth placed James Hillier.
 
Speaking later, a pleased Dan said; “I’ve really enjoyed my return to Macau and having arrived nice and early, I was able to relax and ease my way into the meeting. I just went out in practice and qualifying to get used to the circuit once more and build myself up so I was more than pleased with ninth on the grid. The lap times were good and I was running a good pace and ahead of quite a few riders with a lot more experience than me whilst the ones ahead were all top runners!”
 
“I got a good start when the race got underway on Saturday and was up to 8th when the red flag came out due to the rain so had to do it all over again on Sunday. It was a similar story on Sunday and I just had a nice, steady race keeping it all nice and smooth. There were some top lads in front of me and they were just that bit quicker than me, utilising their experience but I’m sure with a bit more work to the bike and another year under my belt, the top six will be within reach in 2013.”
 
Picture by Stephen Davison - Pacemaker Press International