James East secured a top 10 finish for the Idaq Motorsport team at the final round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend.

Royston Crow: James East. Picture: Nigel ShearingJames East. Picture: Nigel Shearing (Image: Archant)

East had a good end to the season after problems and crashes in earlier round and was eager to finish the season on a high note. He was seventh during the dry qualifying session on Friday and kept that spot as the rain came down on Saturday. He got a good start in the wet race and worked hard to keep his position and end the season in 10th.

“That was such a tough race and I have never ridden the stock 1000 machine in a wet race so it was really difficult to know what set up to go with,” he said.

“The conditions were really bad and even on the warm up lap I knew we’d gone a little too hard with my settings and also knew it would be a hard race. I spent the opening lap trying to assess the conditions of the track and understand how to ride the bike in those conditions.

“I put 100 per cent into the race and couldn’t have pushed any harder, with the harder settings on my bike I was having to be really careful on and off the throttle and I really wanted to bring the bike home in one piece. “We’ve had some really bad luck this year with one problem or another and it’s been a tough learning year but I have taken so many positives from it.”

He added: “I love racing on a 1000cc and it really suites my style and this is where I want to be, I must say a huge thank you to Mark and Sarah from Idaq, my dad, my mechanic Dave, my sponsors, Colin Wright and everyone who has helped me this year. I’m glad I finished the year with a top 10 and I know now what I have to do next season to improve.”