Front page news!

Sitting proudly alongside the likes of Guy Martin, Michel Fabrizio and Casey stoner, on the cover of the latest BikeSport News, are Mike and Leon. It's a great picture of them both leading the field, in torrential conditions, at Mallory Park last time out. Brilliant!

(In very good company)


(Mike and Leon Splashing their way round Edwina's)

(A brilliantly accurate race report by Steve Gough at BSN)

On page seven there's a large version of the cover photo which shows how pristine the bikes look together, and a fantastic race report that does the team proud. It's a really good read and goes like this:

'FORMULA 400 COMPETITORS SERVE-UP SUPERB CLOSE RACE ACTION'

'On a day influenced by the constantly changing weather, the Formula 400s served-up two superb helpings of close race action in totally contrasting conditions at round four of the EMRA Club Championships at Mallory Park.

In their dry first race, Simon Hedges (Kawasaki) had moved into second place at Shaws Hairpin on the opening circuit, before he closed in on early pace-setter Leon Jeacock (BMC Honda) at the same part of the track next time around to assume the lead before that lap's conclusion.

Hunting down the leading pair, Richard Saunders then made it a three-way tussle for victory when he put his Kawasaki into second place on lap three to relegate Jeacock to third.

Getting his wheel in front on lap four, Saunders had started to pull clear of the squabbling duo behind, before Jeacock rallied in the closing stages to set-up a thrilling finale.

Announcing his presence, Jeacock dived up the inside of Saunders at Shaws Hairpin on lap nine, with the pair then inseparable on time at the start of a final circuit that saw Saunders set the fastest lap of the race to take a hard-earned victory over Jeacock with Hedges third.

Conditions could not have been worse for the second F400 race, though, after the heaviest rain of the day caused the riders to be returned to the paddock following the warm-up lap due to the amount of water lying on the track.

Still changing their tyres at the time of the original race call, the subsequent delay enabled BMC Honda team-mates Jeacock and Mike Dorey to take their places on the front row of the grid for a contest that ran minus Hedges and which Saunders started from pit lane.

Closely followed by Lloyd Smith (Aprilia 250), it was again Jeacock who led the pack off the start line, only for both riders to be passed by Dorey before they had reached Edwina's for the first time as he claimed a lead he then held virtually to the end.

Focussed on his title aspirations, Jeacock was initially content to ride shotgun to Dorey for a safe finish until Adam Hodgkinson, in only his third-ever meeting, went by at Gerard's on his Roadstock Honda to give the series leader a wake-up call.

Soon regaining second place, Jeacock then took up the pursuit of Dorey to go by at the hairpin on the final circuit, before Dorey's instant response saw the pair charge to the finish line side-by-side, with Jeacock the winner by just 0.045 of a second!'

Couldn't have put it better myself...