Dragon
Summer Series |
3rd
& 4th April 2004 |
 |
Gummy Back! |
| The first two rounds of the Dragon Series kicked off with most looking forward to a dry race for a change, the weather was dry the day before giving us some hope but it was not to be, the heavens opened and it continued in this mode all day and most of the night, so back to normality then. Practice was great fun, sectioning Mountain Ash is easy to do as the fireroads give you the chance to take a breather before you nail the next section. The race runs however are a different kettle of fish......long, aerobic, and technical......you need to pace yourself properly. |
| Attending the Saturday race was Stef, Paul, Pete and myself, the first runs was a mixed bag for most riders as mistakes and crashes were hard to avoid, Paul May (Gummy) came through with a clean run placing himself in the top 4 with a time of 4:20, Stefan Gleed couldn't manage a clean run and ended up crashing on the rooty right hander before the middle fireroad, having said all that he still managed to put in a time of 4:24 and 6th place. |
| I was not having a good day, racing after the flu left me pretty tired and unmotivated and it was always going to be a struggle. My first run actually started quite well with most of my lines clean and tidy, I then made a small mistake on a fast section and downed it, I tried to get back up to speed but the motivation and energy wasn't really there. I crossed the line in 14th with a time of 4:40. |
| The second runs didn't see much change as Paul May came through clean again with a superb time of 4:19 putting him on the podium in third, Stef crashed again on the new section leaving him in 6th, and I managed 27+ crashes as I tried deperateley to recover my first run dissaster, that left me still in 14th. As racing continued the rain came down harder and there were rivers of water flowing down the track....who'd live in the UK eh! |
| Well it's first blood to Paul in the Paul v Stef battle, I'm hoping to see them both with clean runs and taking two of the 3 spots on the podium. Well it's on to the National Points Series race at Ae Forest in Scotland, please join the team in prayers to the sun god for forgiveness! |
| Develepment rider Pete Ward also struggled with the conditions and worked hard for 23rd with a time of 4:58. |
| Paul May booked himself in for the Sunday race and the conditions were even worse, fortunately Gummy is a master at pulling out a result under cruddy conditions....the Sunday race was no exception and only ex Pro Paul French could beat our Gummy, it was to be 2nd place with a time of 4:21, well done Paul another one for the trophy cabinet. |