Mitch gets the win at Walterstone with CYMX.
We were again conscious of the weather patterns for Rounds 7 & 8 of the Cotswold Youth and Amateur MX championship on the 6th and 7th of July & after all night rain through Friday night, we were surprised at how well the track was riding for the practice session on Saturday and qualifying fastest. It helped being the second group out in the block.
Saturday – Race 1 – I managed a decent start and overtook Brody Davies to take the lead, after about 2 laps and then lead until about 3 laps from the finish, when I got a rear wheel puncture and nursed the bike home in second place.
Race 2 – Another good start and pretty much lead from start to finish, with no dramas this time, despite it raining throughout the race and the track becoming very single line.
Race 3 – A repeat of Race 1, with the track drying out well and becoming quite tacky and getting the win over Brody by 8 seconds.
This gave me the overall by 2 points.
Sunday – Race 1 – A few faster riders arrived for Sunday’s race and although I continued with good starts, I couldn’t quite get the jump on Sol Levey. The track was in great shape and brought it home in 3rd place, with the first 3 riders all within a second or two of their lap times.
Race 2 – I almost got the holeshot, just being pipped for the prize by Sol Levey, but managed to stay in touch of him, until another rear puncture half the way through the race forced me to drop down the order. I managed to pull a tactical move on Zak Atkins, who tried to take 3rd position from me on the last but one corner. I had to do this, to keep me in contention for the weekend overall, although he’s my mate. After the race, we got the rear inner tube double skinned, to avoid any further flats.
Race 3 – I knew that I needed to beat Brody Davies for me to take the weekend overall & despite Sol Levey getting another holeshot & leading from start to finish, I managed to stay ahead of Brody & bring it home in second place.
We were equal on points, but because of my higher place finish in the last race, I took the weekend overall.
My fitness, nutrition & hydration were all perfect for the weekend & I felt that I could’ve done 30-minute Motos, with no issues.
Lessons learnt, despite my selective line choice and the amount of square edged bumps, double skinning the rear tube is essential with my tall body frame etc.
