Dan Kneen all set for a great season
After good start at Donington Park
Press Release
In case you were wondering how Dan Kneen was doing now, well he got his 2015 season off to a flying start at Donington Park on Easter Monday, taking a great eighth place in the
opening round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship.
Using the meeting primarily as extra practice in preparation for the
International road racing season, Dan was having his first race since
breaking his foot at last year’s Ulster Grand Prix as well as making his
debut for his new team, the highly experienced Valvoline Racing by
Padgetts Honda squad.
Getting quicker and quicker as the weekend progressed, Dan was placed 23rd
after the opening qualifying session and knocked a further seven tenths of
a second off his time to move up to 21st on the grid for Easter Monday’s
race. A brilliant start to the 16-lap encounter saw Dan
immediately move up inside the top 20 and from there on in, he
consistently moved forward. By lap seven he was holding onto a top ten
position and was part of an eight man dice for eighth place and, aided by a
lap a further half second quicker than what he’d done in qualifying, he
duly seized eighth place on the last lap for one of his finest British
Championship rides.
The result on the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, in a class dominated by
Kawasaki and BMW machinery, has given Dan great optimism for the season
ahead and with the next round at Brands Hatch on April 17/18 followed by a
Dunlop test session at Castle Combe, the 27-year old is ideally placed to
arrive at the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT in the best shape possible
and with the opportunity of having his best ever year on the roads.
Speaking after the Donington meeting,
Dan said:
“Coming into the
weekend, I’d only had a handful of laps on the bike, and they were in the
wet, so I was certainly rusty after such a long lay-off with the injury
and I didn’t set myself any targets or have expectations; I just wanted to
use the weekend as more preparation for the roads and get myself more used
to both the bike and team. We tested and tried a lot of things with the
bike over the course of the three days, continually making it better, and
mainly to suss out what I wanted from the bike. We certainly did that and
to cap the weekend off with such a strong eighth place, in what’s always a
seriously competitive class, was the icing on the cake.
“Clive (Padgett) has such a massive amount of experience and it was great
to start working with him and I couldn’t have wished for a better start as
we clicked straightaway. I’m still not bike fit so it was nice to get some
mileage under my belt and with the next round at Brands and the test at
Castle Combe, we’ll arrive at the North West 200 in great shape. I’m
delighted with the start to the season and can’t wait to get out on the
Valvoline Racing by Padgetts Honda Superbike and Supersport machines as I
know they’re going to be ultra-competitive. I’m really grateful for the
opportunity and am eager to repay the faith shown in by Clive and the team
with some strong results throughout the year.”
Picture by Jon Jessop Photography
Press release from Phil Wain
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