BMC Racing: NG Rd14 - LAP RECORD CHAMPIONS!

Last weekend BMC Racing were in action again. This time it was at Thruxton for the penultimate round of the NG Road Racing championships. It was Leon's first time at Thruxton too, so it was going to be a strong case of learn as you go! He was out on both the 400 and 600 machines, and was very much looking to consolidate his lead in the F400 championship.

The day started very misty. So misty, in fact, that proceedings didn't get underway until about 10.30. But things cleared up and the days racing began. First up, as usual, were the F400s...who were again grouped together with the 2-strokers. Race one saw Leon get faster with each lap as he went about his business of learning the track. He found himself in a battle with track specialist Michael Rose and narrowly missed out on taking the victory - but second place on a circuit he doesn't know is something to admire. And Leon's fastest lap time was a fraction of a second off the lap record too! Even more impressive. The BMC Racing team then set in to action, and looked to change the gearing in a bid to find ways of gaining an advantage in the points race.

Race two (the points race) soon came round, and Leon lined up on the front of the grid along with Michael Rose...it was going to be a battle, but Leon and the team had worked well to prepare the bike for action. And what a race it turned out to be! Not only did Leon beat Michael Rose to win the race, he also smashed the club record and the OUTRIGHT LAP RECORD as well! Amazing! The mind boggles as to just how quick Leon would have been if he actually knew the track! Again Leon just got quicker and quicker throughout the race which culminated in him taking the lap record on the final circuit with a very impressive time of 1:24:69. Some of the moves Leon had to make were just awesome. The crowd were agasp as they watched Leon keep the ZXR pinned through the first corner, and go underneath Michael to take the lead. A properly heroic performance indeed...well done mate. But there's more to the story...the victory was enough to give Leon the Formula 400 title. Impressive stuff...particularly when you consider the fact that he's missed four rounds of this year's championship. What a race!

And so to the Co-Ordit 600s...and a very highly competitive field too! There were two qualifying races, such was the amount of entries, and Leon was in the first one. He rode a very solid race to finish an excellent eighth place. This was enough to put himself on the fourth row for the final, but that was going to make it tough to break in to the top ten. The final came round soon enough and Leon got stuck in right from the off. He put in another very impressive display of lap times...pretty much all of them in the 1:23's to take himself up through the field to finish seventh. This now puts Leon tenth in the championship. Again this is amazing, as Leon has missed most of the races throughout the year due to injury. He beat Michael Rose again too, who was out on his 600, which just shows how quickly Leon can get his head round new tracks. Brilliant stuff!

So there you have it, another great day at the office for the BMC Racing team. We can now all look forward to the final BSB round at Oulton Park and then on to Silverstone for the final round of the NG championships...bring it on!