BSB Rd5 - knocked off at Knockhill.

Next up was Knockhill, all the way up in Scotland. It's a very long day to go for a race event, particularly when it seems to nearly always rain up there too. And that's exactly what it did for both qualifying sessions. But Leon did well, with qually 1 seeing him record a fastest lap time of 1:01:312 secs. In qually 2 Leon went even quicker and stuck in a fastest lap of just 58:968 seconds. A very respectable time indeed, and again well away from the shoot-out race. And put Leon 22nd on the grid for the main event.

The race was dry, cloudy but dry (obviously with the constant threat of rain though). Anyway, Leon got away well as they all headed down to the first corner...but more bad luck was to strike. Leon got hit by another rider which caused him to fall off. He was quick to get back up and on the bike though, and set about catching the pack back up again. And, with a little help of the safety car, that's what Leon did. He started picking off the riders at the back, but he simply ran out of time and had to settle for 27th position. Again Leon showed his mettle in adverse circumstances, and should be very proud of how he dealt with another dosage of bad luck.

(The pack hurtles round on the first lap.)

(Leon untangles himself from the incident.)

(A mud-stained Leon as he picks off the riders at the back.)

Here are the result sheets:

BSB Rd4 - A wet Thruxton race.

And so on to the next round, this time at Thruxton in Hampshire. It is an incredibly fast track, possibly the quickest on the calendar, and getting the perfect set-up proved tricky. Both qualifying sessions were dry, but Leon improved between sessions to record a fastest lap time of 1:21:526 secs. This was pretty good, less than 2 seconds off pole in fact, and put Leon 26th on the grid. Again this was good enough to avoid dropping in to the shoot-out race.

Race day came, and with it came the rain. This was a shame, and getting the perfect wet weather set-up was going to be tough. But Leon got stuck in and managed to finish just one place off his qualifying position. This was ok, not as high up the pack as he would have liked, but it was a finish and finishes are always good. And some very valuable data was collected along the way.

(Leon in action on a rainy Thruxton race day.)

Here are the result sheets:

BSB Rd3 - Testing times at Croft!

Right, now on to Croft for the next round of the championship. And what a trying weekend it turned out to be. It wasn't a track that Leon was familiar with, but his free practice lap times were encouraging, and everyone looked forward to both qualifying sessions.

Qually 1 was short lived with Leon losing the rear while pushing hard, and was unable to carry on with the session. Qually 2 saw another unfortunate incident for Leon too...he was on a flying lap, with two green sectors being registered in fact, and was definitely on for a very fast lap times. However, on the exit of 'Sunny' the front wheel lifted under power, and when it landed the bike shook its head violently. Leon carried on pushing, not knowing that the break pads had become dislodged. This meant that heading in to the 'Complex', when he gave it a handful of front break, nothing actually happened. Obviously this is a bad situation to suddenly find yourself in. So Leon took precautionary action and ended up bailing off on the grass. It wasn't possible to get the bike back before the end of the session, so that was that. Unfortunately the few laps Leon had done weren't good enough to qualify. This was a shame as it would have been interesting to see what his hot lap would've actually been.

But this is racing, and you always learn from these things. You just have to dust yourself down, patch yourself up, and look forward to the next round. Here are the result sheets:

BSB Rd2 - A tricky time at Oulton.

Well, it's been ages since a blog update. Too long in fact! So, it's time to start getting things up to date a little. And so to Oulton Park for round two of the championship. The weather was good, and it's a track that Leon always goes well at.

Qually 1 saw Leon finish 14th fastest with a lap time of 1:44:593. In qually 2 Leon went even quicker (half a second to be exact) with a lap time of 1:44:005. Fantastic lap times that put Leon well up the grid and well away from any shoot-out race.

In the race Leon made a good start and was going well. The pace car was deployed midway through the race, this bunched the riders up and was a great opportunity for Leon as he was getting faster and faster. However, just after the pace car came back in to the pits, Leon's front wheel weights came loose and started bouncing round the inside of the wheel. This resulted in the bike becoming badly out of balance and virtually unrideable. A very unfortunate piece of bad luck indeed. But Leon being Leon, stayed out on track where others would have simply pulled in. He wrestled his way round to the end of the race to finish 17th - just out of the points. And although no points were scored, this was a very mature ride from Leon in extremely difficult circumstances. It just showed his ability to ride around issues to get the best possible result. Well done Leon, heroic stuff!

(A clean getaway for all riders.)

(Leon in the thick of things.)

Here are the result sheets:

BSB Rd1 - Let the show begin!

And so the time arrived...iDAQ.COM/BMC Racing were at Brands Hatch for round one of the National 600 Superstock championship. The new look bike, awning and race clothing were proudly being displayed in the paddock of britains elite bike racing championships. Everyone was excited about what the weekend might deliver.

The weather was fantastic all weekend and Leon was in good spirits for qualifying. There were two groups, and Leon was in group 'A'. He steadily got quicker and quicker over the two sessions and was actually the second quickest in his group. Group 'B' turned out to be a slightly quicker group generally, but Leon's lap time of 48.558 secs was enough to put himself on row two in sixth place. A terrific result for Leon and for the whole team.

Race day arrived and the place was buzzing with excitement. The crowds turned up in their thousands to enjoy the days racing. And it wasn't long before the build-up to the Superstock 600 started. Leon, Mike, Rod and Craig all headed down to pit lane to compete alongside some of the best riders in the country. There were two warm-up laps before they all assembled on to the start grid. The lights went on, then off, and we were under way. All forty riders hurtled towards 'Paddock Hill Bend', and as the pack dropped down the hill one rider could be seen leading the way. And it was the unmistakeable black and pink machine of Leon as he showed them the way up towards the hairpin. I have to say, it was a very proud moment to see hime out in front. This was the moment the whole team had worked for years towards. He then led the race for a good couple of laps before dropping back a little to about sixth/seventh. I believe there was a tyre pressure issue, and just as Leon seemed to start and get his head round it and start making in-roads to the riders in front, he got taken out at the hairpin! An ambitious move by another rider , who then lost the front, took both riders out of the race. It was a real shame, Leon was most definitely on for some good championship points, and who knows, he may have been able to push for a podium if he'd finished the race. But that's racing for you, and to have led the race was a clear indication that Leon means business and isn't here just to make up the numbers.

Thankfully Leon was ok after the crash, which is the main thing, and it was now a case of regrouping and focusing on round two of the championships at Oulton Park a week later. Well done Leon, it really was a positive start to the season.


(All the greats have raced here.)


(The new awning looked amazing.)


(The new clothing was being proudly worn.)


(Even the paddock bike looked the bizz.)



(Some last minute preparation.)


(Leon heads down for the race.)





(Leon leads the way!)


(A great action shot of Leon.)


(The pit crew check out the stats.)


(Brilliant!)


(The team pose for a photo.)


(A battle-scared seat unit.)



(Thank you to all the sponsors.)

Wirral 100 Rd2 - a challenging day...

We were at Oulton Park recently for some valuable track time...and what a day it turned out to be! The weather was pretty much perfect really, and we were all in optimistic spirits. Leon was out to do some testing on the R6, and I was out to have some fun on my favourite track in the Formula 400s.

So how did we get on? Well, Leon was out in the second 600 heat, and he was flying. He hit the front early on and his lap times were getting quicker and quicker each lap. He was looking good for the win, that was until a high-side coming out of the hairpin put Leon out of the race. The frustrating part of this for Leon is that his lap times were plenty good enough to put him on the front row of the grid for the final, probably on pole as his times were improving as the race went on. He made the final though, but would have to start from the back of the grid, so it was going to be a very tough race indeed, particularly when you consider the fact that there were many national 600 superstock riders out there too. And a coming together with a swerving idiot on the warm-up lap meant that Leon missed the start of the race. However, a bad accident delayed caused it to be red flagged, which gave Leon and the gang time to get the bike back in to some sort of shape, and he made the final restart. When the lights did finally go out, and the race actually started, Leon got stuck right in. And by the end of lap one he had already climbed up to tenth place. The race was only a five lapper though, so there wasn't much time to pick the riders off in front of him. He did manage to move up to finish eighth though by the end of the race. And his lap time of 1:46.201 was a fantastic effort when you realise he did it coming through the traffic. Well done Leon, it was a quality ride.

We wish the riders who were involved in the incident a speedy recovery too. I believe Wirral 100 regular Tim Kermode was one of the riders, so get well soon and hope to see you back on track in the very near future.

I had a pretty good day in the Formula 400s. The qualifying race was good fun and I remember having a battle mid-pack to finish twelfth to put myself on the third row for the points race. And I managed to go one better in that race to finish eleventh. I was pleased with this as I got a bad start and found myself behind riders that I knew I was quicker than. So I picked off the ones I could but unfortunately missed out on getting a tow from some of the quicker riders. But I thoroughly enjoyed myself, as I always do when I ride at Oulton Park.

So there you have it, a day that will add a tremendous amount of experience to the team, and one that left us feeling excited about the first round of the BSB season.


(What a track!)


(The new livery looked tip-top.)



(Some great sticker work had been done.)


(Leon doing some warm-up exercises.)




(Leon heads out on track.)


(The team were in relaxed mood.)


(But soon sprung to life to sort the crashed bike out.)



(It was an impressively quick recovery.)




(And the bike was soon whipped back in to shape.)


(One sticker was beyond repair though!)


(Leon in impressive form.)


(A great eighth place.)



(The post race analysis begins.)







(Big thanks to all the sponsors.)