Tom Weeden BSB Round 4 Snetterton Triumph Triple Challenge

Held racer Tom Weeden was in action at the Snetterton 300 circuit last weekend for round 4 of the Triumph Triple Challenge. He felt confident going into the meeting and was hoping to be pushing for a podium position to get some solid points on the board. Prior to the meeting Weeden held 4th position in the championship, however controversy in race 2 at Snetterton left Tom with the solid points he required to move up into 3rd position overall.

Tom Weeden: International Man of Mystery- and 3rd in the Championship

 Tom got off to a steady start in practice working on learning the track and finding a set up. He ended the session 9th fastest but Weeden remained confident and felt he could easily reduce the lap time for the qualifying session.  He went a full 3 seconds faster in the qualifying session; however it was only enough to give him 7th position on the grid as everyone else upped their game as well. 

Tom's going from strength to strength

 Tom got a great start in race 1 from the inside of row 2 and slotted into 3rd position into turn 1. He held 3rd for two laps before being passed and relegated to 4th position. Weeden tried to respond and push for the podium position; however he made a mistake on his downshifts at the end of the Bentley Straight. He hit neutral instead of first and had to sit up mid corner to get the bike back in gear. This lost Tom time and places as he dropped down into 6th position and lost the slipstream of the riders in front. Weeden pushed to close the gap and get close enough to make an overtake on the last few laps. 

Tom  Weeden- top step on the podium must be coming soon

 By lap 8 he had closed the gap right down and was preparing to make a move for a top 5 position.  However on lap 9 Weeden was overtaken by Patronen and relegated to 7th position.  Tom tried to overtake Tom Hayward at the end of the Bentley Straight; however Hayward fought back and held 6th position. Weeden tried a very brave move up the inside at the  Bombhole but as he tipped in to get his knee down the rear lost traction and started to slide right out, it looked as if he had crashed however Tom instinctively jabbed his foot down and somehow managed to steady the bike. He crossed the line in 7th and was delighted just to have finished the race after such a scary moment on the last lap. Based on his fastest lap in race 1 Tom was promoted to 5th on the grid for race two on Sunday and Tom was confident he could get off to another great start from there.

Tom made another great start in race 2, moving up into 3rd position by the end of lap 2 after Weeden narrowly missed a fallen rider ahead of him at the exit of Nelson and was lucky not to be brought down in the incident.  He dropped to 5th on lap 3 where he remained until an incident caused the safety car to come out. This allowed the riders to bunch up again and they were off again for a sprint to the finish on lap 7. Phil Atkinson received a ride through for overtaking under the safety car and this moved Weeden into 4th position. Tom had sight of the podium position but just didn’t have the pace to fight for 3rd at the end of the race. Weeden was over the moon with 4th and some more solid points on the board; however whilst packing up the awning ready to go home the news arrived that protests had been made that left two of  the riders in front with 21 second penalties . This meant that Tom actually finished 2nd on the final sheet and the 20 points moved Weeden up into 3rd place overall in the championship.  Tom is next out at his local circuit for round 5 of the Triumph Triple Challenge at the Brands Hatch GP circuit on 20th to 22nd August.

Photos Credit;    www.swaffs.co.uk and Chris Pearce 

For more information on Held in the UK and to view our online catalogue please visit 

www.held-uk.co.uk

Ultimate Gear Test Two- Michael Braybrook

Just a week after we published Visordown's ultimate Held gear test thanks to the 'off' from their own Andy Stevens we've got some more feedback from Held wearer Michael Braybrook.

We're please to say Mike is ok after his spill in Wales. Here's what he has to say: 

A bit of a follow up review for you. I know you're always looking for real world review, and it doesn't come much more real experience than these.

Unfortunately, while riding in the beautiful Welsh countryside last weekend, a corner got the best of me, and so I ended up hitting hard side of a hill followed by a fairly large tumble down the road, with bike in tow. 

Mike's Bike- Damaged Daytona

 At the time I was wearing my Held Warm n Dry gloves as it was going to be a long day, and the temperature was going to drop in the morning/evening. Fortunately, I escaped relatively uninjured, with just the obligatory brusing and soreness associated with a bike bouncing off you down a road. 

Mike's Held 'Warm and Dry' gloves after his 'off'. Kept his hands warm, dry, and safe..

 However, my hands escaped completely unscathed, with the gloves taking a pretty decent impact. As can be seen on the pictures, the worst damage was some scuffing on the knuckle protectors and a bit on the side of the gloves, no seams broken, no tearing, and no hand pain what so ever. 

Big thanks to the guys at Held for making top quality gear, and although I hope to not have another topple for a good long long time, I trust I'll still be in my Helds, just in case.

Mike

Thanks Mike for the feedback, hope the Daytona is back on the road soon!

For more information on Held in the UK please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Ultimate Gear Test from Visordown Staff

We pride ourselves on making quality, comfortable, well priced and safe gear. We're never happy to hear people have had 'offs' in our, or any other gear, but always happy to hear they are ok.

What happened to this? read on..

 Here's a very nice email we've had in this morning from Andy Stevens, Who heads up the advertising at Visordown. Nice in terms of his words, but not nice because of what happened!

Andy said: "Just wanted to let you know I had a crash on Tuesday, Van driver did a very quick U-turn from parked and I had no chance. Hit him at about 30mph, and finished 15 feet down the wrong side of the road.

Ouch! Andy's new Husqvarna Nuda 900R

 I was wearing my beloved and now ageing Defence jacket and the trousers that you supplied a few years ago. Nothing broken but dislocated shoulder. My left knee hit the vans drivers door and peeled back half the metal front wing and despite having a totally numb knee for two days I haven't got a scratch on me. I damaged every side of it plus hit my head hard. The trousers and jacket are ripped but still didn't get all the way through.

These old Helds, now discontinued, did the trick!

 So, I just wanted to say thank you for the brilliant gear. I will be writing about the event when I'm back at work and have nothing but good stuff to say about Held kit.

And here's the Jacket...

 ... now I just need to replace them : o ) lol"

We'd like to wish Andy a speedy recovery!
 For more on Visordown please visit www.visordown.com

For more information on Held in the UK please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Tom Weeden BSB Round 3 Oulton Park Triumph Triple Challenge

Held wearer Tom Weeden was back in action last weekend at Oulton Park for round 3 of the Triumph Triple Challenge. The 18 year old made the best of a difficult weekend and was happy to have walked away from the meeting 4th place in the championship.

18 year old Tom Weeden- two top 6 finishes at Oulton

 There was little time for Weeden to get his bike set up after the practice session had to be stopped after only 4 laps completed due to the track curfew time being reached as result of a couple of red flags in previous sessions. He ended the practice session 12th fastest. The team made some suspension changes and Tom felt it would allow him to knock a lot of time off in the qualifying session. Unfortunately Tom did not qualify as high up the grid as he had hoped he would; only going 11th fastest despite going three seconds faster than his practice time. It started to rain at a few of the corners around the circuit after a few a laps and Tom pulled in to wait for it to ease off to try and put a faster lap in. The rain held off and after 5 minutes in the pits Weeden went back out to try and improve his time. Unfortunately he could not better it after making a mistake going into Shell Oils hairpin on his last flying lap leaving him in 11th position on the grid for race 1.  He remained confident though and knew that if he got a good start he could push for a top 5 position in the race. 

Tom Weeden- battled Flu and the wet at Oulton

 The rain came down for race 1 and Tom felt confident he could push for the front in wet conditions after his pole position at Thruxton in wet conditions last time out. Tom got off the line well from 11th on the grid, and had moved up to 7th by the end of the first lap. He then moved up two places on lap two to move into 5th position. A fallen rider in front of Weeden on lap 4 promoted him into 4th place. Tom held 4th until lap 8 when he was dropped to 5th by David Sellers, however he immediately took the place back as Sellers ran wide at the end of the lap. On the last lap Sellers passed Tom into turn 1, Weeden got the drive out of the corner and temporarily retook 4th position, however he was passed on the brakes into Cascades. Weeden crossed the line in 5th position in the slippery conditions and was pleased just to have finished the race.

Tom was moved up to 8th position on the grid for race 2 based on the fastest lap times in race 1. The track had dried by the start of the second race and the dry tyres were back on. Weeden got off the line well, however he found himself boxed in at turn 1 and lost several places as he lost drive out of the corner. He crossed the line in 8th place after the first lap, before moving up into 7th place on lap 2. Tom got stuck behind Patronen until lap 5 and then immediately started to pull away from the pack behind him, pulling a 5.7 second gap in 5 laps to finish in a comfortable 6th position. This leaves Tom 4th in the championship after 3 rounds, with 6 rounds still to contest. Weeden is next out at the Snetterton circuit for round 4 of the Triumph Triple Challenge.  

Team Manager Quote

“Considering the Lack of Quality track time, and the fact that Tom was suffering all weekend with “flu like” symptoms not a bad result. Some more points on the board and one more space up the leader board. We seem to have nailed the lack of grip and gearbox troubles so onwards to Snetterton”

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

For more information on Held Motorcycle clothing, helmets and accessories please visit www.held-uk.co.uk