Rafe headed to the popular Wroxton Motocross circuit near Banbury for the third round of the ACU MXGB Youth Championship on the weekend. After four moto’s in the extreme heat, Rafe managed to end the weekend with fifteenth overall up against the countries top riders. Read how the weekend went below.
This weeked Rafe headed to Round 3 of the MXGB National Series at the mighty Wroxton.
The weather forecast in the run up to the weekend predicted temperatures in excess of 30 degrees. So with Coach Robb on hand to offer advice and cooling methods, we were well prepared for the heat.
Our aim for the weekend was to get inside the top 15. ideally the top 10.
We arrived late on Friday evening to a packed paddock, having eventually scouted a quiet spot, we set up camp for the weekend.
Saturday morning arrived and Rafe was in good spirits, previously Rafe’s qualifying results did not always match his racing ability. So with a change of tactics, Rafe headed out for qualifying. He looked smooth and fast, enjoying the time on the bike. We were super pleased with the results, qualifying in 10th place. This would definitely help on gate picks for the rest of the weekend.
Race 1 – Pumped with the qualifying results, Rafe rocketed off the starts and settled inside the top 10, as the race progressed, he dropped back slightly to 12th. Attacking forward, a little too much gas out of an up hill, off camber corner, saw the back end skip out and the bike and rider go down. Rafe was up quickly and the hours in the gym helped him pick up the bike, which was positioned on a steep incline. He dropped 11 places to 23rd. With National races being longer, Rafe knew he had time to claw back some places. He engaged his famous ‘hunter’ mode and pushed himself past 6 riders before the chequered flag. Finishing in 17th place.
Race 2 – Last race of day 1 – The plan being to stay on the bike. Another cracking start, saw Rafe in 12th position after the first lap, a mistake in lap 3 Rafe dropped to 17th place. Rafe clawed back a few places, when the bike hit neutral on a left-hand corner, Rafe dropped back again to 21st place. Rafe turned this negative into a positive and fought hard to catch up some riders and made a great block pass moving into 19th place, where he finished in the race.
Race 3 – Keen not to repeat Day 1, Rafe kept a cool head. Rafe got boxed in on the start and rounded the corned towards the rear of the pack! Not a great start. Fortunely, there was an issue with the timing and the race was red flagged. The race was re-started and Rafe used this opportunity to get a cracking start. He settled into 13th place, when a mistake in a corner, meant he dropped the bike again! 3 out of the 3 races. Rafe fought back hard and crossed the line 18th.
Race 4 – Lets end the weekend on a high, were the words from Rafe’s mum, “give it your all, give it everything, you have nothing to loose”. Rafe approached the line with a different frame of mind. A cracking start, he quickly settled into 10th place and begun to eat up the laps, smooth and consistent. The lap times dropped a little, causing some of the riders to catch up. But slowing down a little, helped Rafe stay focused and not drop the bike. He crossed the line with a very well deserved 11th place.
Withour the bad luck in races 1-3 and based on qualifying and lap times, Rafe could have fininshed within the top 10, but he was pleased to finish 15h overall. These are national riders, most of which compete at National Level and race EMX, so a great finish.
Moving forward, Rafe has the ability and fitness to run with the top 10, just need to stay on the bike and this will be his focus for the next round.
