Fat Cats Motoparc, Doncaster
11th March 2012
Round 1 of the Maxxis British Championships finally arrived and it was to be the first time that Luke had come up against this many strong riders in one race since last year.
Luke was very excited going into the weekend as he felt that all of his hard work and preparation through the winter could finally be put to good use.
We arrived at the track midday Saturday and set up the pit area ready for the weekend. The bikes were scruitineered which went without any problem and once out of the way were able to sit back and relax for the rest of the day.
The track was a deep sand track which looked lovely and smooth to start with but would cut up to be very rough as the races progressed.
Sunday was going to be a tough day but one that we were all prepared for.
Sunday started with 15 minutes free practice followed by 15 minutes timed qualifying. Luke started well putting in some good laps early on but it was going to be very close, he ended up qualifying in 20th but there was less than a second covering 10 places. A good respectable position which meant that the choice of start gate was going to be reasonable.
Race 1
Luke lined up for the first race and managed to get a reasonable start mid pack. As the race progressed Luke didn’t seem to be making much progress and didn’t look as though he could get a good rhythm to make the push forward that he needed. This continued through the race however Luke still managed to finish in 24th place which was out of the points. Not what Luke wanted but a good solid start none the less.
Luke came in complaining that he had no energy at all and felt really flat. We have been undertaking a full review of Luke’s nutrition over the last few months and the race day food had changed but we were still trying to find the right balance and needed to adjust this slightly going into the second race.
Race 2
Luke lined up in a different place on the start line as he felt that the first position didn’t work. He managed to get out of the gate brilliantly and made a huge push for the first corner, Luke got to the corner in around 2nd place and made an awesome start.
Luke was looking totally different from Race 1 and looked like he had much more energy. Luke was holding a great position for over a lap until disaster struck where another rider crashed in front of him so he had no where to go and came off the bike. It took a while for Luke to restart the bike and by this time he had lost the great position.
Eventually Luke restarted his bike and got going again but was way down the field. Luke then got his head down and started pushing hard, he was circulating really well then started catching riders in front of him. As the race went on a lot of the other riders were starting to flag but Luke was still going very strong. Luke kept his head down and managed to catch 6 riders on one lap to push him up the order to finish 20th getting his first point.
We were all really chuffed as Luke had a cracking start, awesome riding both before and after the crash and finished in the points. This was the confidence needed to take him into race 3. More importantly he was strong and had plenty of energy.
Race 3
Luke lined up in a similar position to the second race however the start didn’t go as well as the previous race, he was in a reasonable position during the early part of the race and was looking very strong again.
Luke was pushing hard and as the race progressed he was picking off riders one at a time. This continued and as the other riders were tiring or falling by the wayside Luke was still going strong. Luke crossed the finish line in 16th place again scoring more points.
Summary
Whilst the race meeting didn’t start as Luke had wanted, by the second race we were starting to see the riding which we know Luke is capable of. These races have given Luke great confidence on which to build and a very strong start to the British Championships.
We now have 2 weekends off before the next round of the British Championships at Canada Heights, Swanley, Kent.
– Tracy Norris
