Confidence Building for Mitch at Landrake for the first round of the NORA 92 Cup.
Although we had been weather watching all week, we arrived at Landrake Moto Park on Saturday afternoon to good, sunny conditions, with the track looking in great condition. It then rained frequently during the night and meant that the first qualifying sessions on Sunday, were quite muddy, which suited me.
I was fourth group out, which gave the track chance to bed in & I saved my best for the last lap of timed qualifying, meaning I got third fastest for the gate pick all weekend, against some good competitors, such as Charlie Richmond, Kenzie Cole, Shane Jones & my team mate Jack Evans.
It rained heavily before my first race and I got a decent start running in about fourth place, I kept pushing and eventually passed Kenzie Cole to take a third in the first moto.
The second and final moto of the day, was pretty much a repeat of the first, with Charlie Richmond again leading from start to finish, Shane Jones in second and me catching and almost passing Kenzie on a drag race to the line, but I was disappointed that I didn`t beat him.
Sundays track conditions were a lot better, due to the overnight track prep, which had dried up a lot because of no further rain.
Moto 3 got under way with me getting a poor start in about eighth place and eventually working my way up to fifth on the first lap, but quite well back from the first four ahead of me. I did keep pushing away and could eventually see Jack Evans, which meant I dug deep and really made an effort to make up the gap, with my final and fastest lap, eventually pipping Jack on the line by half a wheel.
Moto 4, was again a repeat of the one before, apart from getting a better start and staying in contention, I managed to remain in the first four, but pulled away slightly from Jack Evans, which gave me fourth overall for the weekend.
What I learnt from the weekend – Nutrition & Hydration was great, my fitness remains good, despite now working full time with my apprenticeship and most importantly, my belief that I can run with the faster riders at the higher profile meetings.
Despite my involvement on the NORA CRS Development Team, we think that NORA 92 ran a great meeting, that was a pleasure to compete in.
Many thanks, as always to the NORA CRS team sponsors and all of my personal sponsors, James E Smith, Factory Motocross Graphics & Mission MX.
We couldn`t do it without you guys.
