13 April 2008
Jnr. Team: Round 2 – Snetterton

Thunderbike
With the tuned race bike that Simon will be using for the rest of the season finally built, Simon rode through changeable conditions and a nasty bout of flu to come away from the second round leading the championship.

Race 1 on Saturday saw Simon line up in his championship position, second on the grid, having not had the benefit of any practice starts on the new bike Simon didn?t get away brilliantly but soon worked his way through the pack to second position. After a dramatic battle with the championship leader, which involved swapping paint at a couple of corners, Simon just got pipped to the line finally finishing in third position.

Race 2 was a similar affair but this time the battle was with two different machines, the first race winner aboard a Ducati 748 and a very special Moto Guzzi 1200cc which had been fighting his way through the field in the earlier race. Both of these bikes had a substantial power advantage and although Simon actually got the fastest lap of the race he struggled to make a pass that would stick with the long straights that Snetterton is renowned for. Simon finished in third position but encouragingly close to the leaders with less than a second covering the first three.

Sunday?s weather forecast was for rain which Simon had been secretly hoping for but unfortunately it didn?t turn up quite in time for either race and Simon once again had to be satisfied with a third place finish in the first race again unable to reign in the faster machines.

The last race of the weekend was in difficult circumstances as the circuit was covered in cement dust after a previous oil spillage by another class. The conditions were also compounded by a bit of drizzle just prior to the race making the track surface very difficult to judge. However, the rain just about held off and after another great battle with the faster Moto Guzzi, Simon came away with a hard fought second position.

Another successful weekend, 4 races with 4 podiums making Simon the most consistent rider in the championship and now the leader by 10 points. Simon is now looking forward to consolidating his lead in the next few rounds which should favour his lighter and more nimble machinery.

Minitwins
Piers once again showed his growing maturity as a rider through the changeable conditions that caught out many of his competitors over the weekend.

After a successful qualifying Piers lined up on the second row for race 1 and got away well but was forced wide and had to take to the grass before continuing at the back of the field. He recovered to take 15th place.

The rain came in race 2 and despite some 15 other competitors falling foul of the conditions Piers kept his cool to bring the bike home in 5th position.

Sunday?s first race saw Piers ride superbly finishing in a secure 2nd position having pulled away from the large and competitive field on every lap. An excellent performance and Piers? best finish to date showing his ever improving form.

The second race was run under a deluge of rain and the track was covered in standing water, making conditions once again very tricky. Piers fought through the poor visibility to another podium finish only to be docked 20 seconds for a technical infringement. His official 10th position in the race doesn?t reflect his performance on the day but needless to say he once again proved he?s a real force to be reckoned with in either wet or dry conditions.

Piers also rode in the Thunderbike races this weekend aboard his un-tuned Minitwin bike and took away enough points to leave him 6th in the Championship. Bearing in mind his obvious power disadvantage and at one of the country?s fastest tracks this was quite an accomplishment.

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