The Biker Place

Practice

Tom went out and got used to the track and the bike. He was a bit scared of going over the mountain as he is very light and he thought the bike may flip, but Tom soon got used to it by getting as much of his very little weight as possible over the front of the bike.
Mark Keen had told Tom to aim for 1 minute 39 seconds as a lap time.

He went well in dry but cloudy conditions and was doing 1 minute 48’s and was only going at a steady pace, not pushing it at all just learning the corners etc confident that he could improve on his times as the race progressed.

Race 1

Tom was in the Open 400 class racing against 250’s and 400’s! He was placed at the back, 13th on the grid, as there was no qualifying session. Tom got off to a good start but the 250’s and 400’s had a lot more torque off the line and going into Coppice he was in 13th. But all the 400s and most 250s didn’t carry as much corner speed as Tom and he went round the outside of many of them in the first corner.

He was in 8th going down Park Straight but Tom overtook 3 more into Park Corner on the brakes. He could see the front pack and started to give chase. He put in some quick laps and caught them up. He got past them easily and was in 3rd. He overtook another to put himself in 2nd. And then he went one better on the brakes going into the chicane after Mansfield corner and just before the mountain. He kept the lead through the mountain and through the forest section of the track but the two 400’s behind him managed to overtake him going down the Start/Finish Straight. Tom tried as hard as he could and he managed to catch them up through the corners and on the brakes but down the straights they pulled away.

Tom had pulled away from everyone else, but he didn’t know that as he didn’t have a pit board and Tom was still trying as hard as he could.

He crossed the line in 3rd with a massive smile on his face.

Race 2

Tom got off to a very quick start and was 4th into the first corner determined to get a gap between him and the 400’s so they couldn’t get him on the straights. He slipstreamed a 250 down Park Straight to put him in 3rd. He tried to stay with the two 400’s but they were just too fast for him and pulled away. Tom himself had pulled away from the rest of the riders and was having quite a lonely race. He didn’t push it hard (but still managed 1.44 laps) as he had no chance of catching the two in front of him and he had pulled away quite a bit from the others.

Tom cruised home in 3rd again. Another trophy to add to his collection and another signature on his clubman licence!

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