A Long Trip Up North.
Last weekend we travelled to School House MX track, near Consett, for the second round of the Bridgestone Masters, after an eventful Friday and not being able to get the KTM 250f going and rushing to get the 2 smoker going, with a failed Stator & Flywheel.
This was the first time that I have used the 125, since the Hawkstone EMX 125 race, at the end of February and took me time to adjust to the different way of riding it.
My intention was to qualify in the top twenty, but after crashing and losing time, being stuck under the bike in practice, I qualified a disappointing 24th for the weekend gate pick. The track was pretty much full on, having paced out the one uphill triple/table top jump at 110 feet, with no room for error and needing to be fully committed, with fast riders such as Reece Jones taking part this weekend.
Saturday, track had been watered a lot and being second class out, still hadn`t had the lines develop fully.
Moto 1 – I had a poor start, being second from last into the first corner, but making my way through the pack to finish 19th.
Moto 2 – Similar to the first race, but losing a few places towards the end of the race, 20th place.
Sunday, track conditions were much better.
Moto 3 – I got a better start and rode well, again pulling up to about 15th place, but eventually coming across the line in 18th place.
Moto 4 – This was my best start and I worked my way through to 13th place, after a few of the front runners falling & having my best moto finish of 17th place.
This disappointingly, gave me a 19th place overall, only one point off 18th place, but with the seven wildcard entries in front of me, meant I was 12th Bridgestone registered rider home & also places me 12th in the championship, after 2 rounds.
Lessons learnt for the weekend – Their is a big difference between the 250f & the 2 stroke & my riding style and bike set-up needed to be longer, for me to adjust.
Despite the long journey, I at least managed to score some valuable points for the series.
Thanks as ever to all our sponsors.
