Mallory Park Round 1

Mallory Park: F450.com Moto 450/Supermono Cup

Day 1: 13th March 2010

I have woken to grey skies and a cold easterly wind. It’s been raining during the night and track conditions are totally different from yesterday.

It’s the first qualifying session of the season and I am very aware of the importance to get a good qualification for my four races this weekend.

Qualifying didn’t go particularly well, I was a little unsure of the tyre/bike setup for the difficult circuit conditions, however, with a time of 1:02.125 it put me in 6th position on the grid.

The four races would be very exciting because I was competing for podium places in all four of the races. My starts were improving all the time and with the track conditions now nearly perfect the bike and tyres were working much better and I felt a lot more confident.

Race 1: I gained a very creditable 3rd position even though by the end of the race I was 8 seconds behind the leader, I was still a very comfortable 15 seconds in front of the 4th place rider. The race had materialised into a 3 way race but unfortunately I was never in a position to attack the 2nd place rider and with 3 laps to go and comfortably in 3rd position my main concern was to bring the bike home and get some points on the board.

Race 2: After an excellent start from 6th position on the grid I managed to gain three places by the first corner and by the time we cam around for the start of the 3rd lap I could see I was only a short distance away from the leader. I knew I had enough laps to catch him while at the same time I was gapping the 3rd place rider. Each time I came round passed my pit board it would say “P2 + 10 or 11 or 12” so I knew I had the speed it was just a question of when I was going to make my passing move. With 2 laps to go I slip streamed the leader down the home straight and by the time we hit Gerrard’s I was sat right on his shoulder. As we exited Gerrard’s my nose was in front and from here I would stay in the lead even though I didn’t pull away I did enough in the closing lap to take the chequered flag for my first victory of the season.

Day 2: 14th March 2010

Race 3: With grey skies and a cold wind conditions were far from perfect but at least the circuit was dry. Again I had a good start which gave me the confidence to attack straight away. As the race unfolded it was clear for all to see it was going to be a four horse race. With all riders in the top four exchanging places lap after lap. As the final lap approached I was in 3rd position but still very confident of taking another race win. However, back markers and a slight mistake at the bus stop put pay to that and I crossed the line still in 3rd position for my 3rd consecutive podium finish. It had been a very hard and close fought race with only 3 seconds separating the top four finishers.

Race 4: It’s the final race in this class this weekend and I was determined to get another podium finish if possible. Again my start was good and after the 1st lap I came round in 2nd position. Like the previous race four riders including myself had pulled away from the rest of the field and again were racing hard at the front. It was in the 7th lap of the 10 lap race that disaster struck. Going into the hairpin the slowest part of the circuit I tried to go in a little bit later on the breaks in the hope of being able to carry some speed out and pass the leader. However, by braking late I was travelling too quickly and at virtual walking pace the front of the bike folded and I hit the tarmac. I picked up my bike and headed back to the pits taking no further part in the race.

The weekend was very rewarding with 3 solid podium finishes out of the four races and with a best lap time of 57.476 seconds for the 1.390 miles circuit. I was very pleased with my overall performance and hope to use this as a spring board for the rest of the season.

Mallory Park: Michelin Thundersport GP2 and Minitwin Cup

13th / 14th March 2010

Having already done my qualifying practice in the F450 class I was confident of a good qualification in this class. In the 20 minutes I had from the start I was in the top 4 and by the end I had gained a second place qualification with a time of 58.437 seconds. A position I was very pleased with as I was up against more experienced riders on more powerful machines.

The four races for the weekend were very tough physically and mentally. Although I was never in a position to contest the lead in any of the races the competition further down the field was just as competitive and I had my work cut out in finishing as high as I could even if this meant racing fast and hard for a top 6 finish. It is going to give me great experience in racing against these more experienced and quicker riders and hopefully what I learn here will stand me in good stead for my main class on my RRV 450 machine.

Race 1: 4th
Race 2: 4th
Race 3: 9th
Race 4: 6th

Quickest time in this class 57.662 seconds for the 1.390 miles circuit.