It all started last Sunday at the final round of the British Flat Track Championship at King's Lynn speedway.
The
weather was great, which meant it was difficult to keep the moisture in
the dirt, and so a blue groove formed which made passing difficult.
The
Suzuki RM-Z 450 was working great all day; it was the most comfortable
I've felt on it in a long while, I felt fast in practice, and I went on
to win my 3 heat races, making passes in each of the races. These
results meant I had qualified for pole in the 12-lap final.
I
chose the outside gate on the blue groove, giving me myself the best
possible grip. I made the gate and launched into turn one to take the
lead. I led for 3 laps, and following a mistake, enough room was left
for Suzuki team mate Pete Boast to pass me. I followed Pete for 3 laps, I
felt I was faster going into the corners, but I couldn't get around him
and diving up the inside would have been a risky move. Birtwistle then
made a hard move to pass for the lead, he charged down the inside of me
and ploughed into Pete, taking him offline and nearly fetching him off. I
moved into 2nd, but was shortly passed by Trapmore following another
mistake. I think I was pushing to hard into the corners and was just
running a little too high to get the best drive out of turn 2. I
concentrated on staying online and finished the race in 3rd. It was
great racing and I'm pleased with my performance.
I finished
the championship in 4th place, this would have been 2nd if it wasn't for
my bike failure at round 4, I guess that's the way it goes sometimes.
I
also managed to take the 2013 Thunderbike Championship win, after
dominating every thunderbike race I've entered this year, despite my
bike failure at round 1. This was great for me and John Roeder, he has
put alot of effort into this bike, which is absolutely awesome, I have
to say I've enjoyed riding this more than my 450 at alot of the tracks.
And I think we've proved a point with running a CR500 motor in the
frame, as 2-strokes seem to be off the scene nowadays.
On
Friday I took part in my first track day at Cadwell Park, and rode a WK
CF Moto 650i which is a newly imported 650 twin, very similar to the
Kawasaki ER-6. It was drizzling all morning, and so took it me a while
to get settled and feel more comfortable with the new riding surface and
style. After lunch the sun came out, and I began to feel more confident
with the bike and my speed improved with every session. I feel I could
potential in this route of racing and can't wait to do more. I'm going
to be doing a couple more track days before the season is over.
Sunday was round 1 of 13 of the Mablethorpe Beach Racing Championship and I raced in the 500mx class.
Again,
the weather was great which is always nice at the beach, especially as
the championship runs through the winter and we race in minus
temperatures at some point.
I had to race Honda CR250 as the
CR500 that i was supposed to be racing was ready in time, so I went with
getting valuable championship points in mind, rather than expecting to
be fighting it out with the fast 450s.
I was surprised at how
the 250 faired against the 450cc mx bikes, and I didn't seem to be at
too much of a disadvantage down the straightaways. I struggled with
starts all day, I couldn't seem to grab second for a long while once I
had left the gate, which meant I was playing catch up for the first lap
or 2 in each race, looking back, I should have tried starting in second.
I
finished 2nd in my first 2 races, and in both I passed 2012/13 250mx
champion around the outside, so I was feeling confident after the rides.
I won my next 2 races, passing up the inside and outside, I felt I was
much faster into the corners and that's where I could quickly make up
the gap that they gained on the starts. I was all on the last race, and I
had a shot at winning round 1, I made my worst start all day, and had
an even bigger gap to close, on the final corner, I had got around the
12/13 500mx champion, but he had the run down to the checkered flag,
there must have only been a bikes length in it.
I was very
happy with my result, and this gives me good confidence going into the
next round when I'll be riding the more powerful CR500.
I couldn't have managed without you!
I would just like to say a massive THANK YOU now, for all your help this season, I couldn't have managed without you! It's been a good one! And it hasn't finished yet!
I've attached some images for the Flat Track racing, Track day and the Beach Racing.
Kind Regards,
Tim