Aitchison the fast learner
You came to this class a real rookie in WSBK, so how do you think it has turned out?
"I think I have met the expectations of the goals I wanted to achieve. I wanted to start to enter Superpole and ideally start to enter the points every race. I have been challenging for those kinds of results at almost every race now, so I am very happy about that. I have been in Superpole in the past three races. This has been good for me because it confirms that the people around me, and me as a rider, have been doing a good job. That is good for me but also the team, as they are getting better results and more consistency. They have obviously put in a lot of hard work not only this season but over the past few seasons. So for them to get improving results is rewarding for them. For these last four races we should have a good opportunity to put ourselves inside the top ten. To have a full-time gig this year and to be riding better than I have been in a lot of the earlier years I have had in Europe, is pretty satisfying. I have been enjoying myself immensely this year. The thing I really enjoy about Superbike is the riders around you. You get a lot of respect from the other riders on the circuit. It is very close fought but if you are there and putting a performance in the respect is there. And I also enjoy the two race format."
The bike itself seems to have been I improving each week, but has it in reality?
"We have had more development from the team side and Kawasaki has been starting to help us. From America we have had some access to some other bits and pieces. We have had consistent development because we have done our development at each race. We have not done a whole lot of testing outside race meetings so we have focused on if we did find something that gave me a positive feeling in the bike we would run with that and keep on trying to improve that. That has let me develop as a rider on the bike. So instead of changing the bike too much in any given weekend we have stayed with a bike that I know and let the mechanics work around that sort of area, so we can get the best out of it."
At Silverstone you had some particularly good rides, even if you had a few problems in the races?
"Yes, we had a few brake issues at Silverstone over the course of the weekend but apart from that it was a very good meeting. Everywhere we go anywhere we are consolidating what we know about the bike. The biggest area we need to work with is the tyres and making them last over full race distance. Currently we have a very good bike for the first half of the race and not so good for the second half, so a lot of the work the guys have been doing in the mid-season break is based on improving that area, I believe."
