The Biker Place

1st round of the New Thundersport GB series saw Tom Weeden back at Mallory Park. Tom had been looking forward to this series very much, with a format that sees longer races!

On a rainy, cold day Tom went out in practice and put in some quick laps. He was told to stay on and not crash so he didn’t try too hard. He did all of the 10-minute practice and came in saying the bike was running a bit cold.

With the radiator tapped up Tom went back out for timed practice and took it steady for a few laps to get some heat into the tyres. After a few laps he started to build the pace up and managed to qualify 9th.

Before the race Tom loaded up with energy food and drinks in preparation for the 20-lap race that would be very tiring for him as the longest he had done before was 12 laps with most clubs 6 to 8 laps being the norm.

Tom got off to a flying start; as soon as the lights went out he shot though everyone and was 4th into the first corner (Gerard’s). The track had a dry line forming but with damp patches spotted around the track. This meant that many high sides happened during the duration of the race. He was overtaken by another 125 going into Edwina’s and the front pack started to edge away from him by the 3rd lap. Tom was in 5th and the front pack had left him and Tom had pulled away from sixth. So he was left to race the rest of the distance alone.

He finished with no problems and didn’t bother trying to go faster as he had dropped too far behind the front pack and the people behind him had no chance of catching him and finishing was his main priority, you get no points for fast crashes.

Many people behind him had fallen off or crashed out which only goes to prove his strategy and only 11 of the 20 starters managed to finish with Tom taking a 5th In class. Next Thundersport round at Oulton Park on 5th April.

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