The track was in pretty good condition, me and Leon have been getting the track back to how it should be after Duncan Ferris Built up the corners and made the track faster than ever! Afan is the longest on the circuit with plenty of variety of jumps, pumps and a long rock garden to make the track challenging for the riders.
Practice went well, learning different lines through the rock garden and in the corners so I could pass my opponents while racing them down the track. I was surprised how good my gates were after not doing any after the end of January! My favourite gate was gate 4 (the far outside) because you could either rail the corner all the way around or cut inside if everyone was piled together. It was key to get good speed and position out of the corner because there were to jumps you could manual but have to carry a lot of speed out of the corner to do so.
Moto 1
My first moto went very well. Gate 2 so took it easy around the corner and was in 2nd place. Keeping a steady pace down behind cal that was in front of me trying to put pressure on him. Keeping speed under the bridge, cal went down just in front of me and i just avoided him and his bike going into me. Knowing that I was clear of the rest of the riders, I chilled home keeping my energy for the next races.
Moto 2
In gate 3 this time I was in the middle of things, Getting pushed high I made my move on the 2nd corner to go into 2nd place. With another fast rider in front, I changed my line through the rock garden to try and get passed. I made contact with him but we both staid upright and I took my time and got to the end in one piece.
Moto 3
Gate 4, my favourite! We all came out of the gate at the same time so there was no point going all the way around the corner and risk getting taken out. I slowed up and cut inside with lots of speed and passed 2 people to go into second. With all the boys taking the pro line I knew I had to push a good distance away to keep 2nd spot. After jumping the table line next to the pro line, I had a lots more speed around the corner and secured another 2nd place finish!
Quarter Finals
As I qualified 1st in my quarter final group, I had first pick. I picked gate 4 and I knew I had to have a good gate start and first corner. I came out in 2nd place and held my lines well and qualified into the semi-final.
Semi-Finals
I picked gate 4 again and I had 4 of the best junior riders in the U.K against me, another good gate 2 of the boys crashed in front of me my back wheel just caught the bike of one of the boys slowing me right down. I relaxed way too much thinking I was guaranteed a place in the A-final but on the last corner i went wide leaving the door open for one of the boys to take it from me. I was annoyed with myself for making a silly mistake because i could have had a guaranteed podium spot.
B-final
I was egger to make up from the semis, I had a poor start and ended up in 3rd. The two boys were having a good battle in front and were all over the place. I didn’t want to get amongst it was hoping for them to collide together. It was good to see such a competitive race and was laughing down watching them!
Overall a I’m pleased with my first 4x race in junior and ending up 7th out of a stacked field of elite level boys!