Tom Weeden, the 20 year old up and coming road racer from Maidstone, successfully completed his debut International NW200 last weekend in Northern Ireland. At only 20 years old Tom was the youngest entrant to the event and was keen to make an impression in the Supersport class in which he was entered on his own Triumph 675 machine.
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| Held wearer Tom Weeden |
As a newcomer to the meeting Weeden was required to wear an orange bib for the practice sessions and had to complete 5 initial sighting laps behind an instructor to familiarise himself and the other newcomers with the 8.97 mile road circuit. Tom went out for his newcomers laps on Tuesday and set about making the most of the session to learn the circuit at slower than race speed. Once those 5 laps were over Weeden was straight out in first Supersport qualifying session.
At higher speeds Tom instantly started to realise the bike had too much weight bias on the front tyre over the bumps of the NW200 circuit. He pulled in and made some changes to soften the rear and allow the bike to squat more to bring some weight to the rear and make the bike more comfortable to ride over the bumpy sections. Tom pulled in once more to make further adjustments before deciding he’d found a good setting and was ready to start putting some solid laps in. After a total of 6 laps, with only 3 being proper flying laps, Tom went 36th fastest out of the 49 riders in the Supersport class which he was relatively happy with considering it was his first ever time on the NW200 circuit and he had only completed 3 flying laps.
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| Tom Weeden- youngest NW200 competitor |
Tom put a total of 8 laps in the session, with 4 off them being flying laps. He had pulled in to make a gearing change late in the session, but quickly realised this was a huge mistake as there was only 1 minute left in the session and he had lost the last chance of another flying lap. After realising his error he went straight back out to get 1 further lap in and decided to change the gearing prior to the first race. Live and learn. Weeden posted the 39th quickest time after knocking a further 5 seconds off of his 1st qualifying time. It was also in this session in which Tom posted his fastest recorded speed of the weekend at 164.2mph.
The sun stayed out for the first Supersport race and it was the perfect conditions for Tom to make his NW200 race debut in. From the front row of the third wave of riders Weeden made a great start and slotted behind Nuno Caetano going into Primrose Hill and the York hairpin. Tom got the drive coming out of the Mill Road Roundabout and got past in the slipstream before Station Corner. He kept his head down and tried to gap the riders behind him whilst they battled it out between them, unfortunately one rider tagged on to Tom as they broke away from the field behind. Irish roads regular Sam Wilson passed Tom mid race and gapped him as Weeden made a mistake on one of the corners, losing the slip stream in doing so.
Tom started to draw him back in, putting his fastest lap on the last lap of the race in the process but just wasn’t close enough at the end of the 6 lap race, crossing the line half a second behind Wilson. On the corrected time Tom had finished 24th out of 49 starters which he was over the moon with considering it was his first ever race at the International NW200 and it was a grid where any of the top 15 were potential race winners.
Tom had another off day on Friday, and after ensuring the bike was fully prepared for the race on Saturday both Tom and his Father/Mechanic Steve went on a cultured tour arranged by the circuit pastors. They took in a few sites and stops along the tour and learnt a bit about the history of the beautiful Irish coastline. The tour culminated in a beef carvery at the Lodge Hotel which certainly set Tom right for the race the following day, a great day was had by all and the team would like to express their thanks for the invite.
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| Tom Weeden- one to watch! |
There had been a few showers prior to the start of the race which made tyre choice the talk of the grid. Weeden decided to run full intermediate tyres as he knew the Dunlop inter would last the race whether wet or dry. It seemed he’d made the perfect decision after 3 or so laps. Tom had made a brilliant start again from the front row of the 3rd wave of riders and set about finding where the grip was and more importantly where it wasn’t. He quickly separated himself from the rest of the pack and was exactly where he wanted to be in those kinds of conditions – with clear track in front of him.
The track seemed to be drying and playing into Tom’s hands however after the 4th lap the rain started to come down heavier, playing more into the hands of the riders who went for at least a full wet front tyre. Weeden had a few “wake me up” moments, out of the seat on the exit of Metropole on one lap which assured Tom he should take a step back and ride for the finish. Running no pit board he had no idea what position he was in but maintained his consistency in a somewhat lonely race. That was until the red flags came out on the exit of Mathers Chicane on the 5th lap where an incident between the two race leaders, Alastair Seeley and Lee Johnston at Metropole caused the race to be finalised after the 5th lap. That placed Tom in 20th position on corrected times, which he was more than happy with.
All in all the week went exactly as planned, Weeden taking his time to learn the circuit and get up to pace before securing two solid top 25 finishes on a very strong International grid at the first attempt.
Tom now has his sights on going out to the Isle of Man for the TT on his road bike to get some more laps in prior to his second visit to the Manx GP this year.
Held UK are pleased to support Tom Weeden. To see more about Held please visit www.held-uk.co.uk
