After 12 weeks no racing, this weekend I finally made the return at Landrake motoparc with SVSC. It was good to see an almost full gate with some very strong competition to battle with, and after bootcamp at Fraddon with Joe and Robb, I felt ready to race. But my main goal was to prepare myself for the weekend after at Sherwood. A short qualifying got me in to P7, with the track already starting to dry due to the extreme wind and heat.
RACE 1 – I got off to a very mid-pack start running around P15 around the first corner, but with some early race aggression, I managed to fight through to P10 by the end of lap 1. On lap 2 I kept making moves and got myself into P8. I also managed to put my fastest lap of the race down. Once in P8 I settled down for a chill race, but ended up getting caught at the end of the race. I pushed hard on the final lap, and managed to hold onto P8 and P3 in the 125s.
RACE 2 – I got a very strong jump of the gate, put go engulfed and cut up by 250s and 144s one actually clipping my front wheel almost causing me to crash in turn one. this meant I was in P20 around the first corner. However, being so far back I knew I would have to dig deep and pulled forward to P15 by the end of lap 1. I managed to pull myself forwards another 3 places on lap 2, into P12. There was a 5 second gap to a group of 4 infront of me, which I cut down in the next lap alone. by lap 4 I was right behind the group and managed to overtake 2 of them by the end of lap 4, putting me in P10. Lap 5 I put in my fastest lap of the race (which is always good news after not racing in so long), I also managed to get into P9 right behind P8.i pushed as hard as possible, but unfortunately he got the better of me. I finished P9, P3 in 125s but managed to obtain 7th fastest lap which was good news heading in to day 2.
Qualifying Sunday put me P7, already getting back into that race mindset. The track was a little wetter, but the dust was still going to be an evident issue.
RACE 3 – unfortunately we struggled with some bike issues in race 1. This meant my bike stalled on the line, putting me dead last. I pushed so hard on Lap 1, that I made up 14 places, putting me in P24. Lap 2 I pushed harder again and made it up into P18. I had come to A huge group consisting of about 10 riders of all very similiar pace. Due to racing with mostly 250s, i only managed to make 1 more move into P17 and P5 in 125s. However, I felt so much better on the bike and knew that I could pull off a result in the final race.
RACE 4 – After studying the track with dad, I managed to sort a few things out on track. This started with the start. I knew I couldn’t out drag the 250s, but I could still out-brake them. I went round the outside of the first corner and ended up in P13. Improvement. I pushed hard lap 1, managing to make 3 passes in the whoops alone. By the end of lap 1 I was into P9. I felt like my old self again on the bike and better. I was behind the second 125, someone who I’ve beaten and battled with the past. we battled very hard for the next few laps, his bike pulling interestingly well up the hills. However, I managed to get past him by Lap 3. I also put down the 6th fastest lap which felt good. I was now in P8 on lap 4, P6 and P7 in sight. I was closing in on them by the lap and managed to get into P7 with 2 laps to go and pushed for P6. unfortunately, I didn’t quite make the move, but still ended up P7 and P2 in the 125s. I was happy that I managed to put in a fight, and also wasn’t to far off the lap times of the front runners.
Overall the weekend for me was a success, getting back into that race feel with P7 OA and P2 in the 125s. I want to say a big thanks to Joe, Robb and Dad for getting me back to this speed already. BRING ON SHERWOOD!!!!!!
