The team arrived in Silverstone in typical Autumn weather, cool and showers, the track remained damp in places so Joe decided to sit out free practice as there was nothing to learn, the forecast for qualifying was for dry conditions.
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| Joe Burns |
Qualifying 1 saw Joe achieve 6th fastest time, generally he was happy with the bike, but felt he could improve with a couple of set up adjustments. With set-up changes applied Joe took Qualifying 2 by storm and achieved a 1.7 second improvement compared to the first run, placing him second fastest.
The combined qualifying times gave him a 3rd place start, front row of the grid, Joe said afterwards that ‘I am very pleased with the result and I'm feeling good about the race’.
Race day was dry and warm, ideal racing conditions, Joe lined up on the grid and made an excellent start to get into second place behind Filip Bacland before they entered Copse Corner. This pair then pulled a clear gap to third place and by the end of lap 2 Joe was lining up to take the lead.
Towards the end of lap 3 Joe heard the bike engine note change dramatically and the bike lose power, he realised there was a problem and pulled into the pits fearing the worst, in the event it was a simple £0.50 spring that had failed, causing the exhaust to operate incorrectly.
Joe and the team were extremely disappointed, Joe said ‘this is the first time we have had a failure of this spring, it is just incredible that a £0.50 component has let me down, I was ready to make my move on Filip and was feeling really comfortable, I feel I have lost a certain podium and probably a win today, it won’t happen again’.
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