Points and progress at the party in the Park.

The Pirelli National Superstock Championship rolled into Lincolnshire for Round 8 at Cadwell Park, a circuit renowned for its tight, technical layout, blind crests, and the famous “Mountain” section where bikes regularly get airborne. Measuring 2.18 miles (3.51km) with 18 corners, Cadwell is affectionately dubbed “Party in the Park”, with the August Bank Holiday weekend bringing packed crowds and a festival atmosphere.

The weekend runs to a special three-day format, with practice on Saturday, qualifying on Sunday, and racing on Bank Holiday Monday.

Kam opened his weekend with a steady first run on the Honda Fireblade. In cloudy but dry conditions, he completed 17 laps in FP1, setting his best time of 1:30.048 on lap 7. That lap placed him P10 in the session, just 0.137s away from P9 and 1.735s off the quickest time, with an average speed of 87.15mph.

In FP2, Kam built on his strong opening session with further progress. Over 16 laps, he set his best time of 1:29.773 on lap 9, moving up to P8. He closed the gap to the front to 1.525s, and was only 0.467s behind seventh, with an improved average lap speed of 87.42mph.

Reflecting on the day, Kam said:

“That was probably the best practice day I’ve had so far this season. I’m still learning the new Fireblade, and while the results are encouraging, I’m not satisfied with the gap to the front guys. We’ve got some work to do overnight to unlock another piece of the puzzle.”

Qualifying day at Cadwell Park brought another step forward for Kam, who continued to adapt quickly to the Honda Fireblade around one of the most technical circuits on the calendar. He posted a best lap of 1:28.978, securing P10 on the grid for Monday’s Bank Holiday race.

After the session, Kam commented:

“Just a couple of tenths away from a top five in qualifying today. We found some speed compared to yesterday, and I’ve got to thank the Nitrous Competitions Racing and Bitubo Race Suspension guys for getting me more comfortable on the bike. I struggled a little with traffic, but overall I’m happy with the result. There’s definitely more to come tomorrow in the race.”

Race day dawned with beautiful conditions in Lincolnshire, with temperatures around 20°C. In the morning warm-up session, Kam completed 7 laps and set a best time of 1:29.904, placing him 10th in the session. It was a solid final shakedown ahead of the afternoon’s Bank Holiday race.

Soon the main race was upon us, with air temperatures rising to 25°C and track temperatures pushing past 35°C. Starting from P10 on the grid, Kam was well placed to fight for another points finish.

Drama struck almost immediately, as a red flag was shown towards the end of the opening lap following an incident at The Mountain. Kam was holding 9th at the time of the stoppage. After a 15-minute delay, the race was restarted with the distance reduced to 12 laps.

The restart proved tricky, and Kam dropped back to 14th in the opening exchanges. From there, however, he began to regroup. An overtake on lap 3 moved him up to 13th, before climbing to 12th on lap 6 after another rider crashed out. At this stage, Kam was consistently lapping quicker than the group of riders ahead, showing clear pace on the Fireblade.

He gained another spot when a rider went down at Charlie’s, moving into 11th, before making further progress to 10th on lap 10. Despite being significantly faster than the fellow Honda rider in 9th, Cadwell’s notoriously narrow layout made overtaking almost impossible, and Kam had to settle for 10th at the chequered flag, finishing just 0.290s shy of a higher result.

On the race, Kam said:

"I was really looking forward to this weekend, but unfortunately it didn’t quite go to plan. I’d been feeling a bit under the weather throughout the event, and by Monday morning, it really hit me hard. I struggled to get through five laps in warm-up. I did everything I could to prepare for the race, resting and taking on fluids, electrolytes and energy gels to try and give myself a boost.

"In the first start, I got away well and was sitting in P9 when the red flag came out, but the restart didn’t go quite as smoothly, and I came around in P14. From there, I gave everything I had to fight my way back through, but by the final two laps, I was really running on empty. I managed to cross the line just behind P9, which was a good result given how I was feeling, but not quite what I had hoped for heading into the weekend. Big thanks to the team for their support."

The championship now heads back to Donington Park GP Circuit on the 5th-7th September for the Rock Oil round. Unlike Cadwell, the East Midlands circuit provides more overtaking opportunities, and the weekend will also see the return of two races for the Pirelli National Superstock Championship.