Held wearer Tom Weeden- Imola European Superstock 600

Held wearer Tom Weeden had a baptism of fire in his debut wildcard appearance of the season in the European Superstock 600cc championship at Imola, Italy. The 18 year old from Maidstone, Kent planned to attend up to 6 of the European rounds however two blown engines in testing and at the first round this weekend have left little room in the budget to contest further rounds. 

Racer Tom Weeden and his Held Suit

However a lifeline has been thrown to Weeden in the form of a T3 Racing sponsored ride in the Triumph Triple Challenge. Tom finished 8th overall with a best result of 4th in his rookie 600cc season in the Triumph Triple Challenge in 2011, but will be aiming for a top 3 finish this year. The team will continue to endeavour to find the funds to contest in as many European rounds as possible with a view to doing a full season in 2013 if financial sponsorship can be acquired. 


A blown engine during testing left Weeden on the backfoot immediately due to lack of track and set up time on the bike prior to the first round. The set up changes he had managed to make were completely thrown out with the news that the control European Pirelli tyres were different to that of the British tyres that were tested on. The Trickbits FBM Performance duo of Tom Weeden and John Simpson struggled to find a set up on their Triumph 675’s that would work with the new tyres, but by the end of the weekend Weeden felt he had found a set up that would work for the race. 


Tom was concentrating on making the necessary suspension adjustments during practice and the 1st qualifying session and had it all to do in the 2nd session. He made further adjustments during qualifying 2 before putting new rubber on and going back out for a flying lap. Weeden bettered his previous best time by a full second and put his Trickbits FBM Peformance Triumph on 28th position out of a grid of 38 riders. Tom was pleased to qualify in 28th considering that he had been struggling with set up all weekend and was confident he could make places up in the race. 


Weeden got off the line brilliantly in the race and made up several places round the outside into turn one moving up into 21th position. He then ran wide at the hairpin and dropped back several places. Tom had a massive moment on the first lap going into the fast downhill braking Rivazza corner. Weeden left the braking too late and it looked as if he was going to go straight into teammate John Simpson. He squeezed the brakes as hard as he could to avoid hitting John and somehow managed to miss John and get the bike turned for the corner, however he lost several more places doing so. At the end of the first lap Tom was in 27th position but was eager to start picking off the riders ahead of him. However at the end of the 2nd lap a rider crashed ahead of Weeden at the last chicane causing Tom to shut off to avoid the carnage. 


This lost him further places and a lot of time on the pack ahead. Weeden rode a fairly lonely race from then on, however on lap 8 he made a mistake going into the hairpin, accidentally selecting neutral causing him to sit up to select first gear and losing him another position, putting him in 28th place. Tom remained in 28th, however on the last lap on the exit to the last chicane the engine blew and he just managed to cross the line before rolling to a stop at the side of the track covered in oil that had sprayed from the engine. 


Weeden is back out for the first round of the Triumph Triple Challenge at Brands Hatch next weekend where he is hoping to be a podium contender. 


For more information on Tom Weeden visit www.tomweeden.com


For more information on Held bikegear please visit www.held-uk.co.uk