E2E Racing News

Both Riders get good results at Mallory Park - Lee R. bags a full house with Pole and 4 wins from 4 starts!

Lee R's Report:

Griff @ Aprilia Performance had the bike since Donington Park and had done some work on her, so I was keen to see what improvements he'd made, hence we were hoping for some dry racing at Mallory, but the weather forecasts all week were looking terrible - and unfortunately they were right!

We had a dry qualifying session and, as I was getting great pit signals, half way through the session I could see I was on Pole by 3.5 Seconds, so I decided to save the tyres and come in. Nick Williamson (2nd in the championship table) managed to find a second during the remaining qualifying time, but I was still on pole by a good margin on a 55.3 - knowing I'd got a fair bit in hand.

The weather then went downhill after that, we ended up with a fully wet Race 1, then a damp race 2 and then on the Sunday two wet races. I managed to win all 4 races which obviously strengthens our championship lead - especially as Nick broke down in the 2nd race and failed to get to the grid for the 2 races on Sunday.

Thanks to the team - changing conditions meant they had their work cut out, but preparation and teamwork meant we were ready for every situation, which made my job easy when I went to the grid!..

Lets hope we have some sunshine at Oulton Park - mind you : Ian Simpson and that damm RC45 are due to be back!!! - So we'll have to put the hammer down if we want any chance of stepping on the top step that weekend!.

Lee P's Report:

Following my disappointing round at Donington I new I had to get my head down and get back on the pace.

Friday practise was the first day of a showery weekend ahead of us. I knew my lap times would be down slightly, so I decided to concentrate of the two sections of track where I new I could improve time wise, exit from Gerard’s into Edwina’s and my entrance into the Hairpin, then out of the Bus stop. Although my times were not as good as I had expected, they were consistent.

Saturday morning qualifying was a mix of sun and showers, not the best conditions. I qualified 12^th, disappointed as I should have qualified in the top 10.

Race 1 - I had a poor start off the grid due to the bike in front nearly stalling with me and the bike behind nearly swapping paint. I managed to get back on the pace and was making good head way until 3 laps from the end where Rob Wilson passed me. I kept with Rob and noticed he went very wide out of the last corner, so in the last lap I managed to stay right up with Rob and cut inside him as we came out of the last corner, I finished 7^th, much to Rob’s disgust. 

Races 2, 3 & 4 – Once again, we had very wet conditions. I managed to get some good starts and finished all three races in 8^th. Although my times did not improve, I felt I rode well and also received some good feed back from the team and other riders.

I managed to get back onto my goal of top ten in every race, with some well needed points. I’ve moved from 17^th to 12^th in the championship and hoping for a DRY weekend at Oulton Park.

Thanks to the team for all their help, assistance and encouragement I couldn’t do it without you.