Dutch female racer Nadieh Schoots made her debut at Thruxton in Hampshire at the weekend, venue for the seventh round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship and for the second meeting in a row, she put in a strong ride to claim her second successive finish.
A steady start to the weekend saw Nadieh post the 37th fastest time during Friday’s free practice session on the ILR Kawasaki but on Saturday morning she shaved over three seconds off her time in first qualifying to ensure she comfortably qualified for Sunday’s 16-lap race. Conditions for the second qualifying session remained ideal and, if anything, were a little bit warmer as Nadieh strived to go quicker still.
This she duly did and by reducing her best lap time by almost a second and a half, the 24-year old lined up in 38th place for the 16-lap race. Weather conditions were a lot cooler on Sunday and the race was reduced from 16 laps to 13 after an incident in the earlier Superbike race required oil to be cleared up.
Nadieh during qualifying at Thruxton, photo by www.burnoutmedia.uk
When the race got underway, a solid start by Nadieh saw her maintain her position but a combination of the drop in temperature and increase in wind meant that times were lower than what they had been in qualifying for the entire field. By the end of the first lap, Nadieh had moved up to 37th and by half race distance this had become 35th as she lapped just a fraction slower than what she had done in qualifying. As the race wore on, she began to close in on the group of riders in front of her but the shorter race distance prevented her from climbing any higher and she had to settle for 35th at the chequered flag.
Nadieh Schoots: “It’s been a good weekend for me and it’s already my favourite circuit in the UK! It’s my first time here but I loved the circuit from the very beginning and keeping the bike pinned around the back part of the circuit is simply amazing and I couldn’t stop smiling. My times got better with each and every outing and it’s been my best event in terms of being closer to the front guys – the gap has been the closest it’s been all year and that’s something I’m very pleased about.”
“I qualified well and felt I had more to give in the race but the drop in temperature and increase in wind certainly changed things. It’s a physical track anyway but that made things that bit more difficult and it was quite hard to hold onto the bike through the fast sections. I had to ease off a bit as well due to arm pump returning but my pace stayed consistent and I was closing in on the riders ahead of me so it was a shame the race was cut from 16 laps to 13. Overall though, I’m happy with how the weekend’s gone so am already looking forward to the next round.”