By Carly Rathmell
February 2 2004

Rocky moments at Brands: Christian Iddon’s weekend wasn’t as successful as he would have hoped at Brands Hatch yesterday, 1st February. On the super fast track Christian started the weekend well and in high spirits. Winning in his heats and the semi-final, Christian was looking strong and confident. A quick start for Iddon in the 650 final and he was pulling a healthy lead over the chasing pack until he suffered a front wheel puncture, which forced him to slow right down. Still battling away, he managed to push his Husqvarna into ninth place.

With this, Christian was placed seventeenth on the grid in the Super Final race. Stuck in the middle of the pack, Iddon fought his way past a whole host of riders. Making ground through the field, he had Danny Muller in his sights and was chasing him hard. In the ever-drying conditions, Christian’s cut tyres were beginning to wear away. He still managed to gain a very creditable second position in the Super Final race, and has held on to his lead in the overall championships.

Speaking to Christian he said, “Everything was going well until I suffered with my puncture. The bike is fantastic and running really well. I had a reasonable lead in the 650 when I suffered with the puncture. I knew I had to keep pushing as hard as I could or my grid position in the Super Final would have been even worse than what it was. I still ended up seventeenth on the grid, which put me right in the middle of the pack.

“I knew it was really important for me to get a good start and pass as many people as possible. I soon got into the flow of things and was making progress through the field. I chose the wrong tyre choice for the Super Final as the track quickly dried out. I managed to catch Danny and had him in my sights, but I didn’t want to risk pushing any harder as my tyres were already suffering enough.

“I’m really happy to have gained second and, although it was a really tough race, it was very enjoyable. I’m still leading the championship, which is the main thing, and looking forward to heading to Croft in a couple of weeks time.”

Jay Smith suffered throughout the weekend with various problems, but is hoping to be back on the pace at Croft. Warren Steele looks like he will be sitting out the rest of the Winter Series season, but will be hoping to be back in fighting force for the Summer Championships.