29 June 2008
Jnr. Team: Thunderbike
Round 4 – Cadwell Park

Despite a 4 year absence from Cadwell Park, Simon really stamped his authority on the Thunderbike Championship this weekend.

Race 1 saw Simon get away with the leaders eventually taking the lead at the end of the first lap. However, he was soon out dragged by a faster machine down the start finish straight and had to work hard to make another pass that would stick. This came at Mansfield corner, a steep downhill left-hander. Once past Simon began to pull away. He eventually crossed the line 6.4 seconds clear of the pack.

Race 2 was a similar affair. Simon managed to get away cleanly this time opening up a 4.9 second lead by the finish. The rest of the pack were beginning to wake up though and Simon’s advantage was still convincing but not quite the same margin as Race 1.

Race 3 was arguably the best race Simon has had all year. It was absolute textbook stuff. Simon led from start to finish putting in some very fast lap times, in fact many of which were under the lap record. The pack were left some 9.5 seconds behind as Simon coasted over the line wondering where everyone was!

Race 4 was not such easy work. Simon again got away well and built a good 5 second lead in the early laps but then it started to rain. It became very tricky to assess the conditions as one corner would be wetter than another and it would have been very easy to have misread the track surface. However, Simon used the buffer he’d built in the early laps to control the race, eventually winning by 4 seconds.

This was the best weekend yet… both the bike and Simon gelled together to make a formidable package. 4 races, 4 wins, 1 lap record and now 82 points clear in the championship!

Piers also rode at Cadwell in the Thunderbike but on his Mintwin machine. Despite his bike being underpowered compared to the rest of the field he managed some very competitive lap times. Which was no mean feat when racing against bikes that power past on the straights and then hold him up in the corners. After a string of consistent top 10 finishes he moves to 6th in the championship overall.

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