The Biker Place

Thundersport GB Round One Mallory Park

Tom Weeden rode at round one of the Thundersport GB championship at Mallory Park this weekend, leaving Tom feeling more than ready for the first round of the British 125cc Championship in a couple of weeks time.

Tom opted to run a Standard barrel rather than his Seal kit for this meeting to save on running costs so set up was going to be hit and miss.   

After missing the Friday test day(again to save money), Tom went out for the 20min qualifying session on Saturday and hoped to gain at least a front row position. However, due to the very cold conditions Tom’s bike started to detonate severely and Tom was forced to come back into the pits after 3 laps. His dad made a quick jet change and Tom was back out. However, the bike carried on detonating so Tom decided to put a quick lap in early to make sure he had a good place on the grid. He managed to go 6^th fastest; Tom was confident that from there he could make a good start and contend for a podium finish in the race.

Tom made a steady start from 6^th on the grid, and was running 6^th when Arnie Shelton had a major moment through the Esses; this separated the pack, allowing the front three to pull away. Tom moved up to 4^th and started to reel in the front three. However with the bike being so highly jetted the bike had little drive out of the corners and he had to settle for 4^th.

After moving up to 4^th on the grid Tom felt he could definitely get on the podium on Sunday. He got off to a good start and was right on the tail of the front three going into the Bus Stop. However, Tom got on the throttle too hard, too soon and the cold tyre slid and then gripped again, threatening to send Tom flying over the handle bars. Luckily, he managed to hold on and get the bike under control again. But unfortunately the slide had caused the pack to split again, and Tom lost all drive going onto the straight. The front pack pulled away and again Tom had to settle for 4^th.

Tom was determined to get on the podium in the last race. Despite having a sudden, random nosebleed that started just as Tom lined up on the grid, Tom got another good start from 4^th on the grid. Blood was pouring out of Tom’s nose and was all over the tank of the bike and splattered over the inside of his visor. But Tom refused to pull in and carried on with the race. He was 4^th going into the hairpin, however his hopes of getting on the podium were smashed when Tom Carne high sided in front of Tom; with nowhere to go, Tom’s bike rode over Tom Carne, leaving him trapped under the belly pan. The marshals eventually managed to drag him from underneath Tom’s bike( Tom Carne was ok) and Tom immediately set of again in last place, about 40 seconds later. From 22^nd, and still with a nosebleed, Tom started to chase down the riders in front of him. The bike was still running poorly but Tom pushed harder and harder, and managed to work his way back up to 10^th and had the fastest lap of the race!

So good 1st race meet to limber up for BSB 125 at Brands Hatch in two weeks times.

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