HOWIE Mainwaring is confident his season has taken a turn for the better after securing his first podium finish of the year.
The ‘Frodsham Flyer’, who rides for the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team, finished third in round four of the National Superstock 1,000 Championship at Thruxton on Monday.
Despite a strong ride and spot on the podium, Mainwaring was disappointed not to come away from the Hampshire circuit with a win.
The 24-year-old said: “I’m pleased that I managed to get on to the podium but, in truth, we could have won the race and I’m a little disappointed.
“We didn’t want to be leading from the start but that’s what happened. The strategy just didn’t work out and we ended up falling away.
“I think that if we would have stuck to the plan then we could have definitely won the race.”
After a slow start to this season’s campaign, Mainwaring is confident that the last round has given him the boost he needed to kick-start his campaign.
“It has been a sticky start for me this season and a few things have gone wrong,” said Mainwaring, who has relocated from Frodsham and now lives in Brentwood, Essex.
“Before the season, we were practising out in Spain and I set a lap record for one of the tracks, but I came back to Britain and it all went to pot.
“I had two big crashes which broke my ankle and my finger, which set me back, and when I was leading the race at Oulton Park, I lost the front of the bike and lost the race.
“The result last weekend is a plus for me and I’m confident that I’ll get on the podium a few more times this year and move up the leaderboard.”
For Mainwaring, the move down south has suited him.
“The MSS Colchester Kawasaki team have been amazing. They couldn’t have done any more for me,” said Mainwaring, who rides a Kawasaki ZX-10R and lies seventh overall in the Superstock standings. “They have shown a massive amount of faith in me and I want to repay it.”
