The Biker Place

Practice Session

Tom went out for practice with the 400’s, 250’s and other 125’s. He learned the track quickly and put in some quick times. He went onto the grass once coming out of The Esses as he was pushing quite hard wanting to get a quick time. Tom came in and complained about front-end chatter going through Riches Corner and Sear Corner, but was 8th fastest out of 45 (including 250’s and 400’s!)

Race 1 (Qualifying race)

Tom’s mechanic/dad adjusted the rebound settings on the front suspension and on the warm up lap Tom noticed that the chatter had almost entirely gone.

He was in 9th on the grid and got off to a pretty bad start with many people getting in front of him. Tom had a lot more confidence in the front and put some quick times in.

He was behind Sam Burman who had a considerably quicker bike than himself, however he overtook her on the brakes and carried much more corner speed than her but she got him down the straight. Going into Russell Bend a 400 shot past Tom and T-Boned Sam Burman causing them both to crash, fortunately he managed to avoid them both and carried on. He tried to catch the pack but they were too far away. Tom Weeden finished in 6th, 5th in class.

Race 2 (Championship race)

Tom very nearly missed this race, because the woman announcing the races did the first call and then 10 seconds later did the 2nd and last call! He rushed to get ready and in his panic forgot to put his ear plugs in, he had put his helmet on and pulled away suddenly stopping as he realised he wasn’t wearing his earplugs, and ripped off his helmet and told his dad to get them. He quickly put them in and his dad tried to bump start the bike. It didn’t work! He tried again but still no luck. The kill switch was on off! His dad flicked it to “on” and they bump started the bike. Tom zoomed off to the assembly area only to find no one was there. His class were on their warm up lap!

Tom had to start from the back. 36th on the grid! He got a great start and zig zagged between every one. He over took everyone one by one. But despite his best efforts finished in 7th place, 6th in class.

Open 400 Race

Tom wasn’t going to miss this race! After a quick drink and refuel of the bike, He left his van as early as possible to make sure.

He was placed 8th on the grid and got a good start. But the 400’s and 250’s had more torque off the line. Tom was having another battle with Sam Burman and going into Russell Bend Tom tried to get her on the brakes but he over cooked it and went onto the grass. He rejoined on the track in the same place but was quite far behind Sam and another 400. He caught them up within 3 laps. He was just about to make a move on them when going into Coram Curve Tom heard a horrible crunching sound. The back wheel locked up and tried to spit Tom off. But Tom coolly pulled in the clutch and pulled into a stop.

Tom had to be recovered at the end of the race by a van and was given a lift back to his van. Tom’s dad pulled the head and barrel off the bike etc and found that the crank had locked up. This was very bad news as next weekend Tom is due to race at Cadwell Park In Thundersport GB, which is Tom’s main club championship this year.

The cost of a new crank and piston will not go down well with Tom’s dad’s wallet. If you can help by giving some money towards Toms racing it will be gratefully received! For more information on sponsoring Tom go to his website www.tomweeden.com and look on the sponsorship pages.

Report written by Tom Weeden

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