A weekend of ups and downs at Walterstone this weekend.
Having had 2 weeks of the bike, we were exctied to return to racing, travelling to Walterstone for our Club Championship with Cotswold Youth & AMX.
Overnight rain on the Friday and early hours Saturday, was just what the track needed and gave a good tacky surface for some fast racing. The Small Wheel 85’s and Big Wheel 85’s were combined to make 30 competitors.
Practice – Only 2 laps, which were spent getting comfortable being back on the bike. Took Rafe a little while to get back in the groove and he was a little nervous for the first race.
Race 1 – Not the best of starts, the gates were very wet and not much traction, but Rafe quickly made up for that by thundering down the start straight, elbows up, squeezing between and around riders. The muscle memory was soon back and Rafe settled into the race with ease. His fitness key here to maintain a fast pace and hunt down other riders. A good consistant ride, Rafe was in the zone and crossed the line 8th overal and 3rd in the SW. The pace to win the SW was there, just need to make the puzzle pieces fit.
Shortly afterwards, the heavens opened and heavy rain continued for a good hour, making the track very wet indeed.
Race 2 – DNF – The wet conditions were too much for most riders, including Rafe. We made a tactical decision to retire from the race for safety reasons. But noting that more time in the deep mud was needed and to cover this off in winter training. Fellow NORA CRS rider Jesse James, was not phased by the deep mud and secured the race win – Well Done Jesse.
Cotswold made a decision to let the Adult races continue and leave the youth riders until the end of the day. The sunshine soon returned and dried the track out.
Race 3 – Awful start, the gates dropped and Rafe remained still, rear wheel just spinning with no traction! Rafe was last out of the gate, so he knew the race was going to be a hard one. Again, Rafe’s fitness and determination saw him gain momentum and work through the pack, overtaking 21 riders to cross the line 8th overall and 2nd in SW. To go from last in the SW to 2nd was an amazing victory.
Gutted to have a DNF on Day 1, Rafe was determined not to suffer a repeat. Pumped by the football result for England, we headed into Day 2 with a positive attitude and with plans to ensure Rafe had better starts as these had failed him on Day 1.
Race 4 – Allowing plenty of time to prep the gate, Rafe had a fantastic start and flew out of the start gates. Having a good start, makes such a difference, Rafe stayed with the race leaders and crossed the line 4th overall and securing the race win in the SW. Awesome ride by Rafe – Well done.
Race 5 – Again, the start gate was prepped with plenty of time, a false start had the adrenaline pumping but we returned quickly to the gate. Rafe was keen for another race win. The gates all dropped together this time and 27 riders thundered down the start straight, Rafe was at the front of the pack and rode a good solid race. Crossing the line again 4th overall and securing another Race Win.
Race 6 – Rafe was keen to repeat his sucess and had another cracking start, settled into the race well and pulling away from those riders behind him. Unfortunetly, he hit a hole which had developed on the face of a jump and suffered a crash, hitting his head hard, this popped the lense out of his goggles, as he got going again, the lenses came out completley. By which time the dust of the race was pretty severe and Rafe struggle to see, dust filling his eyes and his vision was impaired He had to ease off to finish the race and bag any avaliable points. Rafe crossed the line 14th overall and 9th in the SW class.
All in all, a good weekend, lessons learned and onto the next.
Being part of the NORA CRS Team has really paid off this year for Rafe, securing race wins in his first year on the 85 is an amazing result and this is down to the opprtunites avaliable. Coaching from both Coach Robb and Stephen Sword are a massive part of his success. The insight provided by both have been a massive help this year.
