The Biker Place

Going into the race meeting Tom Weeden felt confident after his recent win at EMRA, and he was consistently posting quick times on the Friday trackday . 1st qualifying was quite good and Tom was 5th fastest on a large grid.

In the second qualifying session Tom improved and moved up to the edge of the front row in 4th place.

In the 14 lap Superpole race he got a good start from 4th on the grid and was 2nd into the first corner behind championship leader Ed Rendell. Tom tagged onto the back of Ed for the 1st lap but then Ed started to gap him. Tom put in some quick lap times and his pit board was showing that someone was 1 second behind him. That someone happened to be Josh Elliot the Red Bull Rookie. Tom held him off for a few more laps but eventually Josh got past. Tom kept onto the back of Josh for a couple more laps, then on the 12th lap the race was red flagged and Tom finished 3rd overall and second in his standard class. But to his delight when the time sheet came out it showed that Josh was given a 10second penalty because he had wheelied under the red flag conditions. Meaning that Tom actually finished in second overall and second in class what a bonus.

In the second race Tom got off well from second on the grid; on a boiling hot Sunday morning. He kept with Ed for about 3 laps before Ed started to gap him. Tom again had a battle with Josh but this time once Josh Elliot got past him he pulled away. Tom couldn’t quite match the pace though, he had pulled a 10 second gap on 4th place but as the race wore on this gap was closed to 8 seconds. But Tom responded by putting in some quick laps to make sure he wouldn’t be caught.

Tom finished his somewhat lonely ride in 3rd; this time there was no 10 second penalty for Josh and Tom did finish 3rd overall but second in his class.

Tom saved his best race till last for the 3rd race of the weekend. He had got another one of his trademark starts and was 2nd into the first corner again. But this time Adam Dudley zoomed past him down the back straight. Then on the next lap Josh overtook him on the brakes going into turn 5 at the top of the hill. Josh then went onto overtake Dudley. Tom caught Adam up and overtook him. This was the start of a very good battle between Tom and Adam. Adam was faster round the corkscrew section but Tom was better on the brakes going into turn 2, 5 and 7. Not a lap went by when there wasn’t an overtaking manoeuvre. Near to the end of the race Josh Elliot’s bike “died” leaving Tom and Adam to fight for the 2nd place. Tom was leading going into the second to last lap but Adam managed to overtake him and gapped him going into the last lap. Tom managed to close the gap but just could not find a way past Adam, leaving Adam to get 2nd and Tom 3rd overall and 2nd in class. Tom enjoyed the race greatly and came in smiling yet very worn out. Tom is now second in the overall GP3 standings and 2nd overall in the GP3 standard class and 2nd as well in the ACU Academy Cup. Only 3 races to go but anything could still happen!

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