Tom Weeden British 125GP Championship Round 1
Tom Weeden’s first race of the 2010 British 125GP Championship ended up being somewhat of a salvage mission. During practice Tom showed he had the pace to be a top 10 contender during the race, however qualifying ruined Tom’s hopes of gaining the result he so badly wanted for the first round.
Free Practice 1 went smoothly, with Tom having to spend half the session running in new engine parts and then had the rest of the session to push harder. He ended that session in 13th (out of 38) and was very pleased with that seeing as he was not pushing it. However Practice 2 was the session that really boosted Tom’s confidence, Tom tagged onto one of the KRP riders and proved he had speed to run at the front. He finished 2nd fastest, Tom’s highest ever position on the British 125GP Championship timesheets. Practice 3 proved it wasn’t a fluke and in wet conditions Tom was running in the top 4 all session, until the last minute of practice when he got pushed back to 7th.
Qualifying was the total antithesis to the brilliant practice sessions Tom had. The bike had no power in Q1 and halfway through the session the bike seized up going into Paddock Hill bend and sent Tom skidding across the track and gravel at 140kpm. Luckily both Tom and the bike were not too badly damaged, but Tom’s mechanic Steve was up until past midnight fixing his bike ready for qualifying 2 on Sunday. After Q1 Tom was 22nd fastest and Tom was determined to go faster in Q2, however again the bike seized and Tom was dropped back to 24th on the grid for the race on Monday.
Tom was 16th fastest in warm up and was confident for the race. With 3 brolly girls Tom certainly looked the part on the grid, however come the race Tom wasn’t so lucky. He got the bike of the line well but Tom got almost rammed into the back of Sam Shorrock going into paddock and was forced to jam on the brakes to avoid a collision. This lost Tom several places and Tom was further slowed down when Catherine Green highsided in front of him on the exit of Druids hairpin. Tom was forced to squeeze on the brakes again to avoid yet another collision. By now he was low down the pack, but Tom immediately started to draw in the riders in front of him. Lap by lap Tom picked of the riders infront of him and by the end of the race he had fought his way up to 12th overall and 6th in the Academy Cup (out of 38 riders). Despite it not quite being the result he had hoped for at the beginning of the meeting, Tom was still pleased with this result considering he started from 24th on the grid.
“I’ve come away from this meeting feeling that I’ve salvaged something from nothing. From a bad qualifying position (24th) I managed to gain a respectable 12th position despite loosing a lot of time on the first lap having to avoid two crashes. Now I just cant wait for Thruxton, where I’m aiming for a top 10 finish.”
Well done Tom, the 125′s are very competitive this year, good luck at Thruxton.
Yeah well done Tom, I had been watching the practice times on the internet, shame about your problems in qualifying. Good luck at Thruxton.
3 brolly girls?!
Greeedy little bugger ,caused quite a stir on the grid