Rafe headed south to Landrake Moto Parc for the two day joint meeting with Cotswold and Severn Valley at the weekend. After two weeks off the bike for engine work, Rafe was keen to get back to it.
Rafe headed out for practice on a wet track, which had been thoroughly watered to prevent dust later in the day.
Race 1 – Rafe had a great start, his starts are something they have been working on as this has been one of the weaker parts of his racing. He had his elbows up and was in to the first corner with the race leaders. Follow by a good consistent ride with excellent jumping saw him cross the line in 5th.
Race 2 – Another blistering start, lightening fast reaction times on the gate saw him second in to the first corner fighting for the holeshot, but as we always say, holeshots aren’t race wins. After leading part of the race, Rafe crossed the finish in 3rd
Race 3 – The ominous black clouds held off and luckily the track stayed dry. The ruts were huge by the end of the days racing and Rafe seemed a little off the pace as he tackled the unrelenting track. Ended the race in 7th, overall place for the day was 4th.
Sunday proved to be hot one, as the dark clouds and cool wind disappeared from Cornwall to leave clear blue skies, we were promised a great day’s racing. They knew they had to ensure Rafe had the right nutrition but also to stay hydrated throughout the day.
Race 1 – Rafe fell off just before the whoops having cross rutted and was in dead last. This would phase a lot of riders but when it happens to Rafe, he gets a tunnel vision and gets in to “hunt mode” where he picks off each rider until he’s back in contention. He past 19 riders to get back to 15th place. Not even out of breath.
Race 2 – Rafe finished 7th for the second race of the day, the temperature was rising but he stayed cool with another good start. He was focused and looked good until he dropped it on the downhill but only lost one place. Rafe was disappointed he wasn’t in the top 5 which had been his aim and let the disappointment get in his head.
Race 3 – Rafe dropped it twice in the final race. The track by this point had ruts which were more than knee deep and baked hard by the merciless sun and heat. He finished 9th in the last race but finished with a flourish on the last jump. Overall, for the weekend Rafe was 7th.
Rafe will take positives from his starts and will look to get back to the consistency of the past few race meetings to get inside the top 5.
