Martin Jessopp

Arriving at Cadwell I was once again really looking forward to the another weekend of racing especially as it is my favourite circuit in the UK. On practise day the sun was out I spent the day trying to get the bike set up around the up and down demanding circuit. By the end of the second session I was 21st overall and 3rd privateer on a time of 1.31.755 which was not so bad.
 
Sunday was qualifying and it had been raining most of the night but was sunny when it was time to get on track which meant it was very mixed conditions and only did a few laps like many of the riders. For Cadwell Park the organisers had introduced a new format to qualifying in which we have a 3 session knock out style to determine the grid. Myself and the team set out to try and make the second session which would ensure me in the top 20 at worst. I did this and set a best time of 1.31.246 putting me 20th on the grid and 3rd privateer. I was happy with this because I was getting a fair bit of pain from my knees which are from an old injury, years ago.
 
Race day was again warm and sunny and I was really hoping to again get a point in the main championship but knew it was going to be a tough task with everybody on a fast pace all weekend. I had a poor start in race 1 meaning I had to get back past some riders early on if I was going to make top 3 of the cup. I had pulled a 8 second gap on the guys behind but was 12 seconds behind the guys in front and was on my own the whole race. My times towards the end of the race were dropping off due to the pain in my knees. I finished 4th and 17th overall.
 
In the next race we kept with the same set up and tyre choice. Again I didn’t have a great start and had to get past some slower riders. Race 2 was just like the first as I was on my own with large gaps to the front and rear. I finished 3rd in the cup and 18th overall.
 
I am still 2nd in the privateer championship.
 
Next round is the flat and bumpy circuit of Croft which I really enjoy riding so hopefully I will be back up to where I want to be.
 
PTJ #40

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.