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Another fantastic read, and here is what it says:
Determined Leon proves that he's a quick learner
Leon Jeacock may be a relatively new name on the motorcycling scene, but he is clearly not letting his inexperience hold him back after coming close to securing a triple crown of championship titles in 2008 - only his second full season of competition.
The young Nuneaton star began racing in late 2006, entering the final two meetings on the Mallory Park-based East Midland Racing Association calendar - and though it was not the most auspicious of debuts, Jeacock was soon demonstrating his ability to make rapid progress.
"I got lapped in both races and finished last in the championship with just two points," he recounted. "Bikes have always been in the family really; I've ridden since I was a little kid, but I'm the first to actually race. I went and watched a couple of rounds and liked it, and I've always had a bit of a competitive streak inside me..."
That much is evident, and despite a limited budget restricting him to precious little saddle time ahead of the 2007 campaign, nevertheless the 20-year-old finished as runner-up in the final standings in EMRA's Formula 400cc class, receiving the accolade of 'Novice of the Year' for his impressive performances along the way.
"I only had two test days over the winter before the first meeting of 2007," he confessed, "and I went out and led for five or six laps on a new bike! I ended up finishing second in the 400cc championship. That was a big confidence boost."
"The main thing I've been realising is how competitive the sport actually is. You learn so much just being out there - especially how to set the bike up - and I've still got a lot more to learn yet. The racecraft is probably the hardest thing about it, and the cost - last year I was working both a day and evening job with just an hour in-between simply to pay for it!"
Off the back of that encouraging maiden season, Jeacock was snapped up by BMC Racing, whose team boss Mike Dorey has since become not only a good friend but also his manager and mentor.
Competing in both EMRA's Superstock 600 category on a Yamaha R6 and Formula 400cc on a Honda RVF400 - as well as in the new, televised Thundersport GB series's Junior Powerbikes class on an AMS Motorsport-sponsored Kawasaki ZXR400 - he has repaid Dorey faith, and with interest.
"I've found it pretty easy to swap between the three bikes to be honest," he insisted. "As long as they've got something black and round on the bottom I'm happy really! By the end of the warm-up lap I tend to forget I'm on a different bike. The R6 has twice as much power as the other two bikes, but then you only go as fast as you put the throttle down, don't you..."
That may be, but Jeacock has certainly been applying the throttle pretty hard and effectively if his results are anything to go by, belying his lack of experience and circuit knowledge by featuring regularly up inside the top six in Thundersport. He admits that Mallory - where he holds the 400cc lap record - Oulton Park and the daunting Cadwell Park have left the biggest impression on him.
"I've got a picture of me nearly flipping the R6 at the top of the 'Mountain' at Cadwell," he joked. "It was my first time there, and as I came over the peak I kept rising and rising and ended up jumping up off the bike. I came pretty close to going over..."
"It has been pretty tough learning the circuits; I've been going round for a lap on my push bike first to look at the corners and the layout. You just have to not think about it - it's when you start thinking that you're on a new circuit that you have problems. I just go out there and ride."
That the Stockingford ace has been doing with considerable success, and despite being forced to miss the final four rounds of Thundersport following a blown head gasket and gearbox woes at Cadwell - what he described as 'gutting', with a lack of funding offering little hope for a quick fix - he still finished an excellent third in Junior Powerbikes at season's end.
Indeed, until that point he had been leading the championship table and looking good for a hat-trick of titles, given his superb triumphs in both Superstock 600 and Formula 400cc in EMRA - meaning despite his inevitable Thundersport disappointment, he nevertheless achieved the extremely rare feat of finishing inside the top three in three different classes and on three different bikes in the same year.
"The competition in EMRA has been really good," affirmed Jeacock, who to add financial insult to injury has recently been made redundant from his building apprenticeship, "especially in the last round when the ex-British Superbike Hawk Kawasaki turned up. I needed to finish inside the top ten to win the Superstock 600 championship, so I just rode around and did what I needed to do. As someone once told me, you don't win championships on your backside."
"There's been a tremendous amount of hard work involved year-long - I've working silly hours at times! It's not been easy at all; there are a lot of people out there who don't do what I do to be able to go racing."
"It's been a really good season, though, and hopefully we will be able to continue in the same vein next year too. It's all a question of finding the sponsors now..."
"The hope for 2009 is to try to move up and do a few rounds of National Superstock on the British Superbike schedule and MRO Superstock, still in the 600cc class with the Yamaha R6. I want to get some top three finishes and really just try and get noticed."
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