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Thundersport GB - Anglesey

Qualifying this morning went well ended up starting p6 on the grid which I was very happy with.

Race 1 came around fairly quickly and after a very shakey start and a few places dropped I got my eye in and progressed throughout the race. I ended up p3 in class. On the podium and the rider of the day. Which I am over the moon with.

Race 2 is scheduled at 5:30 today. Quick rest and I’ll be ready to go out again.

Race 2 Sunday:
I got ready to go back out after the race on Sunday morning. Full of energy and raring to go. After a better start than race 1 I got into a nice rhythm and got into a 2 way battle for 3rd in class. I was pushing and pushing but I was struggling for rear end grip and nearly lost the rear out of a few corners so I decided to settle down and not take any risks and bring it home 4th in class and 6th overall.

Race 3 Monday:
I got off to another shakey start and put myself in a position where I had to regain places and fight for it. A few laps in I was feeling good and confident in myself, after catching up to a few riders in front I was in a good position and still had more to give. With confidence growing I decided to push, with a few laps remaining I set my best time of a 1.17.1 which was 2.4 seconds quicker than my qualifying time the day before. I caught up to 3rd position and on the last lap I went for a move down the corkscrew which I couldn’t make stick and got passed back on the last corner. I ended up on the podium again 3rd in class and 4th overall.

Race 4 Monday:
I had a better start and was settling into a rhythm. However a lap later I had water on my visor looked down and the bike was running way too hot so I decided to pull up at the side of the track. Resulting in a DNF.

Overall I had an amazing weekend and to stand on the box 2 times and rider of the day. I was very happy with what I had done.

I would like to give a huge thank you to my Dad and Mick for being on the spanner’s for me this weekend. Dave for putting up with me and taking me down and his support. Sarah Porter and Mark Prentice for being on the pit board all weekend and everybody at team Arkoni.

A big well done to my team mate Max Wadsworth Racing for winning all 3 races on the 600 and new lap record holder. Also mint results on the 1000. You rode absolutely mega this weekend mate.

Next round will be Oulton Park (24th/25th September) which I can’t wait for!

Thank you to my sponsors:

Arkoni
Uroof
Specialised Group
Reighton Electrical Services
Auto Cool Services
James Street Autos

Report by

Sam Hirst

Summary from Max:

Overall it was an awesome weekend for me and the team, still got a big learning curve on the BMW, but had a blast on the R6. The best from start to finish we've had in a while.

A huge well done to my teammate Sam Hirst on his first weekend (and first time on track and second time on the bike) coming away with 2x 3rd places! And a well done to Katie Hand who we've been working with, bagging a win, 2nd and 5th.

I'd also like to wish my mate Tom Collinge a speedy recovery after getting taken out by a rogue litre bike going into rocket in on the test day.

Summaries (Elite 600)

Qualifying:

After putting in some decent times in on the test day I figured I could get away with doing less laps in qualifying in hopes of saving the new tyre for the first race. I managed a 1:08.8 within around 3 laps which I was happy with so pitted in as I had the GP1 qualifying back-to-back. The GP1 qualifying wasn't as strong but still placed us 7th on the grid for the following races.

Race 1:

So I definitely need to work on my race starts. After setting off like a person doing their ACU course for the first time, I dropped to 4th on the first lap, spent a few laps settling in and made a few passes on lap 4 and 5, eventually managing to sneak by and pull a gap towards the end of the race to take the first win of the weekend.

Race 2 :

The second race start was slightly better, but unfortunately after only a few laps it was cut short due to a bad crash involving a few riders on the last corner. I hope all the riders involved make a speedy recovery.

Race 3:

For race 3 I managed to ride a slightly more defensive race, with a better start and holding 2nd place for a good 5/6 laps until Ryan ran wide at rocket in/out, allowing me to cut in tight and squeeze past him. From then on I focused on putting in some fast laps to give myself some breathing room and the plan worked, as I finished the race just over a second clear.

Race 2 - Restart (8 laps):

We knew the combination of a short distance race, being placed 3rd on the grid (for the restart) and my absolutely shocking starts would make the final race of the day difficult. I was right, after another awful start I found myself way down the order, but by the end of the first lap I'd gone from 5th to 2nd with some very tight passes, and then on the second lap I made a move on Ryan into the last corner and it worked. At about half race distance I saw I was close to lap record pace on my dash, so I figured I'd give it a go and send it and pushed as hard as I could and took the lap record by 0.2 of a second with a 1:08.269 and the race win by 5 seconds.

Race Summaries (GP1)

Another learning weekend aboard the Team Arkoni BMW S1000RR, as it was only my second race weekend on it. We made decent progress again despite some setup issues.

Race 1:

I found the starts a little easier on the BMW and having solved our clutch woes from the last round, I found myself holding 6th for the a lot of the race and held it until a mistake cost me the position, eventually placing 7th.

Race 2:

The second race start was more difficult as it was the first time trying out the launch control, and after burning my leg on the exhaust I got my head down for the first couple of laps, I tired out pretty quickly and the changes we'd made hadn't made the bike much better, so we settled for 7th again.

Race 3:

The third race start was slightly better using launch, but will definitely take some getting used to. I spent the first lap getting stood up on just about every corner and the second lap I avoided someone doing an almost MM93 style save, I managed to avoid him as he lost the front out of the hairpin at the top, but it was a close one! this upset my rhythm and lost me a fair bit of time, so I carried on a rode a safe race as the bike was still bouncing on the rear down the straight, placing 7th once more.

As always, this wouldn't have been possible without the support of my sponsors:

Arkoni Ltd
Uroof Ltd
William Hayes Ltd
Specialised Coatings Ltd
Scream Signs
International Sports Services
Autocool services Ltd

A huge thanks to my Dad, Mick, Mark, Mum, Sarah, Stu, Sean and all the rest of the family and team that all support my racing. A huge thank you to Mark at Arkoni for allowing us to take a ride on the BMW again.

Roll on Oulton Park

Report

by

Max Wadsworth