Pearce Cycles Summer Series Rd 3 - Hopton Castle

Jim Lycett, Adam Halling and Mick Whyte hit Round 3 of the Pearce Cycles series this weekend.

Saturday's conditions were dry and fast, with a few red flags pausing practice, and a spot of rain in the afternoon to keep the dust down.

Sunday's conditions however were not so cheery. Driving up to the venue, rain clouds were unloading as soon as we passed through Shrewsbury and that stuck with us all day, slippery roots, mud patches and deep dust under wet earth made tyre choice awkward and made for sketchy moments throughout.

With 330 riders, the Pearce series is big, bigger than some of the nationals, and stunningly well organised. Want 20 runs in a day at an uplift? Get in there. Want to do 20 runs of practice on a Saturday? Get in there. Want to do ten runs on a Sunday morning before your race run? Seriously. 

You can't ask more than this from a race series. Incredible value for money.

Down to the racing:

In run one, Jim had an average run with a few stalls and clocked in at 13th in Junior, Mick took 5th and Adam  flew to a fantastic 2nd!

With the rain unrelenting, finals got underway.

First down was Mick, he was unable to improve on his first run time and finished 6th overall.

Jim Lycett took a second out of this first time, but a mistake at the top cost him dear and even with a stunning lower sector, those who had sandbagged or crashed in the first run pushed Jim back to 16th overall.

Adam meanwhile took three seconds out of his time, rescuing him from what was looking like a seventh had he not improved, but again, Adam was pushed down the tables to a solid fourth, but missing out on a podium spot by half a second.

A tough day, but a good one, and a fantastically organised race.

Alex

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