Pearce Rd#1 - Bringewood & North-West 2 - Farmer Johns

A busy weekend for the RG squadron with two races drawing our attention. The cancelling of the first Pearce round due to snow meant it was rescheduled for the same weekend as North West Round 2.
Mick Whyte, Nathan Foster and Chaz Owen went to Bringewood for the rescheduled Bringewood race, Mitch Ingley went to NW2.

Pearce #1 Bringewood
Nathan Foster: 3rd Youth, 2:17.958
"On practice day it was a case of making the lines i found on Friday work and make it flow. I realised on Saturday that it was not going to be easy to get the top five i entered the race hoping for when I saw the amount of new and team riders that were in the race. I had the odd mistake on practice day but in the end I felt super fast and confident. When Sunday practice came round I had a crash up top and decided to nut a tree after going too tight on the fast corners.

In my first race run i just thought that I'd put a good safe run in and just do a nice flowing run but came over the line to hear that I was holding 2nd place! Getting ready for the second race run at the top of the track i realised that I would have to go all out when all I could hear from my competitors was that they were hungry for the podium. So with help from Shaun I got my mind set and managed to get the podium I wanted by improving to a time of 2 minutes 17 seconds which has been a great start to my season."

Mick Whyte: 14th Veterans, 2:36.000
"The bottom section of the track was nicely altered from the usual (well done Pearce track team) and the dry weather made for a nice surprise and a super fast course. Practice day went well and I felt pretty settled and was hitting the road gap and doubles on each run. Nathan looked really sharp and fast all day. Big up to another RG regular, Shaun Tandy, who was riding well all day but had a nasty off at the bottom and ended up with a broken rib or two for his efforts. Heal well mate. Same to Chaz Owen who banged his wrist up and had to miss race day.
My first race run didn’t go entirely to plan as I was a bit sketchy on a couple of sections and seeded 11th. My practice partner Lee Pettitt had a similar run but pipped me by 0.16 second.
2nd race run felt much smoother with less stupid mistakes but was in fact 0.4 second slower! 14th in the end. It’s going to be real tough to get a top 10 in vets this year but I’ll give it a go."

North West #2 - Farmer Johns

Mitch Ingley: 2nd Senior, 1:13.11

"Practice was awesome! Got up to speed really quick and got all my lines sorted, the track was rolling really fast and you carried loads of speed into the woods at bottom! The woods were tape really wide and had some really slippy lines, but they just got better and better through out the day!

First race run was quite good at the top, I could have pedalled a little more but managed to carry all my speed well and hit every thing clean and smooth, when I got to the woods I just hung it out!! That was the best bit of the track, me and Elliot had an awesome line which was so much faster and got the crowd going! I manage to get into 1st and stayed there for ages and the closest time to mine was 3 seconds back, unfortunately SPS rider Jack Read, a local pipped me by 0.8
It rain for second runs which was a bit crap but I stayed focused and was aiming to get fastest time of the day even though it had rained! I hit the top section sooo quick and was smashing it until I sent a step down to a corner and wash out big style! It knocked me out for a few seconds and cracked my helmet, but I still manage to come away with second. "

Overall, a classy weekend for all concerned, with two riders on two podiums at two races and a strong ride from all team riders. Chaz Owen's tumble on Saturday has put him out for a few weeks with a wrist injury, but nothing too serious.

Next weekend: Pearce Round 2: Rhyd-y-Fellin (Bala)