Hi all, I
hope you are all set for my next addition of my racing adventures. This time we
headed north west of the United Kingdom crossing the border in to the
picturesque Anglesey Race track. A fantastic circuit and one my family look
forward to every year due to its stunning views and grippy technical nature of
the circuit. This round was to be of a different format to any other race
meeting due to church days and the bank holiday weekend forcing the organisers
to cut the testing down to three twenty minute sessions and qualify on the
Saturday afternoon after testing is complete. This is how it went for me.
Surprisingly
the paddock woke to a sunny island, as it is famously known to have its own
weather forecast… Rain. A slightly damp track in the morning but that didn’t
stop us putting the dry tyres in and getting on with it. Unfortunately my day
didn’t get off to the best starts having been hampered with bike technical
problems from lap one. This affected the whole morning and due to these
problems I was not able to turn a wheel in testing. This was obviously a big
setback, but I was ready for the challenge I was looking forward to take
on the following qualifying sessions.
Supertwins
qualifying went well as I was really happy with how I rode, I was still only in
21st position and two and a half seconds of the pace and still on
old tyres but after a few changes of the suspension I was ready to rock and
roll for the Aprilia RRV450GP qualifying putting it P5 on the grid only 7
tenths of pole position time. A fabulous result and one I was very proud of
considering the amount of time I had on track, and only enough time to fit a
new rear tyre. Now I couldn’t wait for the races to come.
Supertwins
race 1, and what a challenge this was to be. I got my head down and started
picking of riders as I went along managing to work my way in to eighth position
keeping the leaders in my sight. I was very pleased with my performance and I
couldn’t wait to get in the mix with the front-runners in the 450 race.
The first
RRV450GP race of the weekend got underway and what a cracker this was. Swapping
positions left right and centre with Will Hodgson, Callan Cooper, Ross Twyman
and Harry Coomber. I felt very strong throughout the race setting a lap time
that was 3 tenths of a second faster than anyone else on the circuit and 1
tenth of a second of the lap record, but unfortunately I couldn’t capitalise on
this confidence losing out and dropping from first to 4th on the
last lap, I have often mentioned the racing is close. I was a bit gutted with
this result but unfortunately you can’t have it all your way. I was incredibly
happy with my performance and how I rode which is what really matters. Role on
race 2.
Race 2 of the
Supertwins championship unfortunately didn’t go to plan. With a long delay
before the start of the race this forced my tyres to go stone cold and with a
new rear tyre on this didn’t do my confidence any favours dictating I wait a
little while longer before I started to work my way through the field. I was
still able to force my way in to twelfth, which I was very happy with.
The race I
was looking forward to, RRV race two. Gaining a good start I saw myself in
second place and looking to take the lead on the second lap. I set my self to
take the position on the brakes but as soon as I started to break I found
myself not able to brake as hard as I knew I could and then all of a sudden the
braking force kicked in, this sent me out wide and dropping me back in to 4th
place. During the same lap I came round to the penultimate corner at max lean
and my bike just drifted away from me and I slid off to the side of the track
bringing my race to a premature halt. Startled as to what had happened I got the bike
back to the awning to find traces of oil over the right side of my bike. This
was very devastating because in two seasons I have never experienced bike
problems and I am proud of the work I undertake between meetings to ensure this
does not happen to my beloved RRV. This explained a few of the incidents that
had happened during my short time on the circuit during that race. Not the best
way for day 1 to end but I was ready for the next days racing with a good grid
position in both championships due to the mega laps system I was starting from
fourth place and front row in both championships, and I couldn’t wait to
improve my performance.
Unfortunately
after a sleepless night of listening to the awning want to fly off in to the
sea and torrential rain the following days race action was cancelled. This was
very disappointing to all the competitors and race officials but it was the
right decision to take due to safety being a primary concern of a race weekend.
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