Heavy going for Cummins at Snetterton

Manxman Conor Cummins found the going tough at the Snetterton 300 circuit this weekend with the Blackhorse Kawasaki rider still struggling with the shoulder injury he picked up two weeks ago. The Blackhorse Kawasaki rider battled hard throughout the three days of action to finish 18th in round 6 of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000cc Championship but was disappointed that he couldn't have claimed his first points of the season.

With a new circuit to learn, everyone was on a level playing field and with conditions perfect - perhaps even a little too hot - the riders were constantly able to lower their times. Conor was no exception and, after posting a lap of 1m57.256s in the first free practice session, by the end of qualifying, he'd taken over two seconds off his time. With a best lap of 1m54.966s, he lined up in 22nd place and on the sixth row of the grid.
A strong start to the race saw Conor jump up 3 places to 19th by the end of the first lap and here he remained until lap 3 when he was pushed back to 21st. Part of a four-man group battling for 18th place, Conor was posting times close to his qualifying performance and by mid-race distance he was back inside the top 20. Riding hard until the end, Conor overtook Dan Stewart on the penultimate lap and crossed the line at the end of 14 tough laps for another 18th place.


Speaking afterwards, the 25-year old said:

"It's fair to say this weekend's been heavy going. When I crashed at Knockhill a couple of weeks ago, I landed heavily on my left shoulder and it's been really sore ever since. Nothing's broken but I've been unable to lift it above a certain height so my movement's been severely restricted and with the new Snetterton circuit being a lot more physical, it's been a tough few days. We struggled a bit with the handling during qualifying but, again, the boys in the team worked so hard to give me a good bike and I can't complain at all with how it was in the race - it was faultless."
"The problem was that due to the lack of strength in my shoulder I was having to over-compensate with other parts of my body and that made it a long old race! I enjoyed it though and managed to get by a couple of the boys but it was particularly a problem into the left handers and into all the heavy braking areas. I'm desperate to get some points on the board this season but we'll keep at it and continue working hard so I'm sure it will come."

Conor now turns his attention back to the roads as he returns to the Isle of Man for the Southern 100 road races where he'll once more be aboard the McAdoo Racing Kawasaki's. The meeting takes place from July 11-14.


Words: Phil Wain

Picture: Glynne Lewis