This weekend Rafe headed to Middlesbrough for the Fourth Round of the MXGB Youth Championship.
Having never ridden the track before, he was excited to see the layout which suits his riding style, a fast paced track with lots of big jumps.
The practice session was used to learn the track and once timed qualifying started, Rafe twisted back the throttle to put in some fast laps. He was a little disappointed to qualify 13th, but Rafe always does better in the actual races. With a line up of 29 of the UK’s fastest riders, 13th gate pick was good.
Race 1 – A good solid start, saw Rafe in the top 15 of the pack, as the race progressed, Rafe moved up into 13th place. pushing to get past more riders, when too much throttle out of a corner meant the bike tried to skip out from underneath Rhim. By shutting off the gas, this stopped the back from skipping out, but the wheel connected with the surface and threw Rafe off the bike, landing heavily on his hip and shoulder. Rafe righted himself, but due to the odd angle of the bike, it tipped over the other way. By the time Rafe was able to get going, he was at the back end of the race. Playing catch up, he overtook a couple of riders and crossed the line in 23rd place.
Race 2 – Another solid start, Rafe was running inside the top 10. However, this was short lived, too much speed into a left-hand bend, the front end washed out and Rafe and the bike went down. He was up quickly, the bike fired on the first kick and he was able to claw back some places, crossing the line in 13th position.
The results of the first day were disappointing, but there are still 2 more races on Sunday to go. The track was being graded and Sunday was full of possibilities.
Race 3 – Rafe and another rider came together on the start straight, but fortunately he remained on the bike. Rafe settled into the race in 13th position, advancing forward, when he had a disagreement with a rut, and dropped the bike which saw a few riders squeeze past. Rafe was up quickly and fought hard to pass riders and make up the time he had lost. He crossed the line in 16th place.
Would it be possible to have a race without a crash! Consistency is king, get a good start, stay on the bike and results will come.
Race 4 – Determined not to crash, Rafe was in the zone, fired up and ready to race. A cracking start saw Rafe settle into 11th position, with his heart set on being inside the top 10, he gave the last race everything he had. Riders in front tiring from the 3 previous races began to make mistakes and Rafe moved up into 10th position. Rafe could see a head that he was advancing on the riders in front, he focused on them and closed the gap. Another rider made a mistake and Rafe squeezed past, moving into 9th place. Stay on the bike! Stay on the bike! Finally the last lap flag went up… Just one more lap! Stay on the bike! Having advanced forward, Rafe eased off a little on the last lap, as there was no one behind who could catch up, he lapped up the corners and crossed the line in 9th place.
Finishing 15th overall for the weekend – inside the top 10 is a sure possibility…. just need to stay on the bike!
Thank you to NORA CRS, the team sponsors and Coach Robb.
