PICTURE OF THE MONTH
WELCOME
“Wild Card” entry for SMO racing
With a month break now from the Road and Track Championship, the SMO racing team put in an entry for round 8 of the British 125 Championship, which supports the British Superbikes. It was a decision that was made by Gavin earlier in the year, as the race was to be run on the full Brands Hatch GP circuit.
Having never ridden on the full circuit before, Gavin really had his work cut out. Much to everyone’s delight he finished the first Friday practice session 20th fastest out of 39 highly competitive contenders, most of which where running on far bigger budgets.
Confidence was running high for 1st qualifying and although the track was damp, Gav felt it wasn't bad enough to go out on wets. Half way through the session on a fast lap, pushing a little too hard in the tricky conditions resulted in him crashing out. Luckily the bike did not suffer too much damage, however Gavin managed to grind a fair bit of skin from his little finger.
After a bit of medical treatment the hardy lad from Otley was declared fit to take part in the 2nd qualifying later that day. Still sore from the mornings crash and still learning the track, he managed to qualify 28th.
Race day came, and the crowds were there in their thousands for this hotly tipped meeting.
When the red lights went out, Gav soon found a steady rhythm and started picking a few of the other riders off. After a three way battle he made it up to 21st, however on the last lap he was once again challenged for position and eventually took the chequered flag in 22nd. This was an excellent result for him and the team and a great end to a fun filled weekend.
Gavin commented; "I loved every minute of the weekend, even the crash didn't dampen my spirits. Once again a huge thanks has to go to Jason, especially for the effort he put into fixing the bike ready for the 2nd qualifying. It was awesome to be racing against the best 125 riders in the country and I feel that the British championship is definitely where I want to race in the future... if I can get the backing. In the meantime, I have some unfinished business to do in the way of wrapping up the road and track championship."
Jason added; “I was pleased Gav wasn't too badly hurt when he fell down, and that also he improved his time in final qualifying. The race was good for us, the bike was strong & we learned a lot from the on board video to improve our performance.”
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