Last weekend Leon and the gang all went up to Anglesey for the latest round of the NG Road Racing championships. After having to miss the last two rounds, due to an operation on his wrist, Leon was looking forward to getting his Formula 400 championship back on track. He definitely did this, and with a lot of style too.
Friday was a test day, so it gave Leon the chance to try both the RVF and the ZXR to see how they felt, and more importantly, to see how his hand coped. All went well though, both bikes felt good, Leon's hand wasn't causing him much agro as he quickly dialed himself in to the track. By the end of the day everyone was very much looking forward to the Saturday.
Race one on the Saturday was the qualifier and, as usual, the F400's were out with the GP45's and the very fast 2-strokes. Leon rode a very solid race to finish second in class, just behind Aaron Ridewood, and put himself on the front row for race two, which is the points race. Now, race two was by far the best race of the weekend. Leon and Aaron had a tremendous battle, and were clearly head and shoulders above any of the other F400 riders. Their battle hotted up dramatically towards the end of the race as Leon and Aaron started swapping positions with each other. It was an amazing display by both riders as they leant on each other through some of the fast corners, but the trust and respect they had for each other was evident. And above all they both had immense fun out there - which in my opinion is the most important thing. And it was Leon who took maximum points with Aaron just a fraction of a second behind. And to top it all off Leon broke the club lap record with an awesome lap time of 1:13:95, which is a fraction of a second off the outright lap record! Well done to Leon, and well done to both riders for giving the whole crowd a real treat!
So that was a very succesful day for Leon and his championship hopes. Aaron, though, had blown a head gasket in that last race and had resigned himself to missing the fun on the Sunday. However, the BMC Racing team stepped in and offered a ride to Aaron on the spare bike. Aaron accepted and everyone looked forward to Sunday for more of the same.
Race one on the Sunday was a real race of contrasts. Leon put in another very solid performance to comfortably win the F400 class, and again give himself a front row start for the points race. Aaron, however, was a different story. Unfortunately a problem with the ZXR meant that he didn't finish the race and so taking part in race two looked unlikely. But the very slick BMC pit crew got to work and sorted the problem out (which, I believe, was something to do with the oil pump). Aaron would have to start race two from the back of the grid though. Leon got away well in the second to dominate the F400 class from start to finish, this gave him maximum points for the weekend and now leaves him just one point behind in the championship. Aaron's race was a little less straightforward...starting from the back of the grid on the BMC Racing ZXR was always going to be tricky. But he rode a blinder and was soon up to third place half way round the first lap! Confidently carving his way through the pack he finished in second place. Aaron actually finished about eight seconds behind Leon at the end of the race, and a country mile ahead of the next F400 rider in third. A terrific one two for the team, it couldn't have been sweeter!
And here's the proof of the new club record:
(Nice!).jpg)
