Well, we had a good drive up from Cornwall to the beautiful Isle of Anglesey, with Phil driving and three bikes in the back of the van. Unfortunately Chris couldn't make this, our first meeting, due to injury. We arrived around 5.30pm and moved into our new garage which we had for the weekend and shared with Mick Potter, another Bantam racer. The weather stayed dry and even sunny at times throughout the weekend but it was really cold. I am glad I packed my thermals!
Saturday:
Practice went smoothly for the both of us and then Phil was straight out on the lc Bantam for the first race of the day. There were a lot of fast Bantams out there and it looks like it is going to be a close fought season. Phil managed a sixth place in that first race and followed that with a fifth in the afternoon. Michael Brown had his first ever win in this race! In the third and final Bantam race of the day, Phil got another fifth place and set his fastest lap time of the meeting.
The work that Phil has been doing over the winter on the 350 Triumph appears to be paying off already as Phil got a fourth and a fifth place in the days 350 races. I took the Metisse out for three races on the Saturday and managed a 7th, 5th and 4th. This bike is still very much in the development stage though, and is still several seconds a lap slower that Phil's demon 350. We finished off the first day with a couple of well earned beers and did a quick bit of prep work on the bikes ready for the morning.
Sunday:
Phil went out for two more Bantam races. After finishing fifth in the first race, Phil did a quick gearing change on the Bantam and managed a forth in the last race. The Bantam started playing up a bit in the last race so Phil will be doing an engine strip when we get home. The T21 needed a couple of temporary repairs to the rear mudguard and front number plate before going out for the first of three races. He finished fourth in this race and the next, and fifth in the final 350 race of the day. We think this might have left Phil lying in third place in the 350 championship after the first meeting.
I only managed two of the three races planned for the Metisse as I had to pull out of the second race on the starting line due to clutch problems. I thought the clutch was slipping and managed to over tighten it! It turned out that the clutch was fine and it was, in fact, jumping out of third gear at around 6k. Anyway, I managed a 5th and a 3rd in my races with my lap times going down steadily throughout the weekend. Still very early days yet but a good start. All in all a fantastic weekend meeting and we have both come home fired up and ready to sort the bikes out for Three Sisters which is our next meeting in Wigan on 10/11th May.
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