Hickman and the FHO BMW Team headed to Snetterton, Norfolk, for round 8 of the British Superbike Championship, needing strong results to get into the showdown.
Friday’s practice sessions were a mixed bag of conditions, wet on one side of the circuit and dry on the other. Hicky stayed out of trouble in the wetter FP1 setting a 2:06.849 lap time and secured a place in the Superpicks Qualifying in a drier FP2 with his fastest lap of the session on lap 12, a 1:49.304.
With a change to the normal schedule, Qualifying was brought forward on Saturday morning. When Q2 got underway, Danny Kent’s bike had a technical problem, leaving oil on the circuit that necessitated a red flag, and then the heavens opened. The session restarted in very wet conditions and Hicky managed to finish in P9 with a 2:12.043,
Race One Sprint Race 12 laps
The track was finally fully dry and Hicky started from the 3rd row in P9.
A crash on lap one meant the safety car came out for 2 laps, bunching the pack back up. Hicky exchanged places with Irwin and Jackson over the next few laps. Haslam took advantage of the scuffle and a frustrated Hickman, who had the pace to run at the front but eventually crossing the line in P8.
Hicky’s fastest lap was a 1:48.818 on lap 10.
Race Two 18 laps
Another row three start, between Glenn and Andy Irwin, Hicky got a fairly good launch, then getting caught up in the mix of riders. Passing O’Halloran on lap 6 and closing down Ryde. Hicky moved up to 4th although Glenn wasn’t going to go give up and got the better of him in the closing stages, crossing the line P5.
Hicky’s fastest lap was a 1:48.202 on lap 5.
Race Three 18 laps
A better start from row two, P6, Hicky stayed in touch with O’Halloran and Bridewell.
Passing O’Show, and chasing down Bridewell, Hicky missed a gear at the end of the back straight and ran onto the grass at around 130mph, losing the places putting him back behind Jason. The safety car then came out so Marshalls could to check the track after a blow up and the pack bunched back up. Hicky made up for the second chance taking Bridewell and then O’Show to move up to 4th. Taz, Ray and Irwin ahead of him, Hicky did his best to close the gap, putting himself within 1/2 second of 3rd place. Crossing the line in a strong 4th.
However, due to long lap penalties issued to Taz, Brad and Glenn, Hicky was awarded P2.
Hicky’s fastest lap was a 1:47.681 on lap 6.
Peter Hickman
Round 8 British Superbikes Championship at Snetterton was a bit of a weird one for a number of reasons.
The sad news that we lost Her Majesty, the Queen on Thursday, put a lot of doubt into everyone’s mind whether the event would happen or not. As it turns out BSB did a great job as they normally do. They condensed down the Friday, working well within the guidelines of what the Govenment had set out.
The next weird situation was the weather. We had no consistent weather until Sunday. Every session has been damp or wet and dry. One end of the track wet and the other dry.
Qualifying ended up being completely wet in the end and we have been struggling in the rain. I struggled in the rain last year, although this year we have been a little better, and we were definatley better this weekend, so 9th on the grid. I was fairly happy with that.
First race, I got mixed up in the middle of the pack, its tough to pass here as the concertina effect is huge, from a jump out of one slow corner into a fast corner into another slow, especially with the depth of field, everyone’s strong, everyone’s late of the brakes. We’re always a little bit weak on the brakes, but this weekend we improved. In the last race in particular, I felt really strong on the brakes. 8th in the first race wasn’t the end of the world but it also wasn’t where we should have been.
Race two, another good start and I got through a bit earlier than I did yesterday, ending up 5th in the race, quite happy with that and made a few more changes for the final race. Where we proved just how strong we could be if we got away clean.
Race 3, I got mixed up in the pack again, had a missed gear and ran onto the grass, which didn’t help my situation. Then the safety car came out, which bunched everyone back up. Interestingly enough Taz was really close to the safety car when we came out of the last corner and thought to myself you’re not allowed to pass the safety car until it pulls into Pit Lane. He was that close to the safety car he had to just go, otherwise we would have all would have hit the car up the back, and so everyone behind him had to do the same thing, so the front 3 or 4 riders all got a 2 second penalty. At the time I had no idea, I managed to work my self back up to 4th and was within a second of 3rd and as it turns out they all got penalties, Ray was just far enough ahead of me, but Taz and Glenn ended up behind me.
We were ‘gifted’ if you like, a podium by default, however you’ve got to be in it to win it.
We’ve had a really tough season this year, but the FHO racing team have worked tirelessly this weekend, they’ve come up with two new parts to try and they have made a difference, we as a team NEVER give up or keep trying.
Again, a massive thanks to Faye and the whole FHO BMW team, its nice to give them something back even if it was a little by default.
Also a massive thanks to everyone out there, all the support I always have is mega from you guys, my social media is always kicking off, its always appreciated. A big shout out to all my sponsors, we will try and get some more podiums and hopefully some wins in the last three rounds.
Hicky
HICKY TAKES A PODIUM, BUT IT’S NOT ENOUGH FOR SHOWDOWN