Racing: Held wearer Trayler denied chance of finish at Donington Park

 TRAYLER DENIED CHANCE OF FINISH AT DONINGTON PARK

Jesse Trayler had his chance of another top ten finished denied by a crash at the fourth round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at Donington Park.

Trayler had been continuing to make progress with the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team, as they took steps forward throughout the event. However whilst battling through the field in the race, he was collected by another rider crashing out.

Trayler said: “We worked hard throughout qualifying to get to where we needed to be, but was unable to knock anymore off in the second session so we dropped back to the fifth row in 15th which was frustrating. I got a good start again in the race; we had made a few small changes for the race which really worked well. I was having a really enjoyable race and battling well with a few riders and had moved up to eighth come the final lap.

Jesse's Held leathers- did the trick on the 100mph+ crash

“Sadly I crashed out on the final lap into the Old Hairpin after being collected from behind by another rider. It was a shame as we had made such good progress in the race and likely of another consistent top ten result and more points in the bag but it just wasn't to be!”

To see more about Held in the UK, including an online catalogue and a list of stockists please visit 

www.held-uk.co.uk

NW200 Race Report from Held wearer Tom Weeden

Tom Weeden - 2015 International North West 200 

Tom Weeden was back in action last week at the International North West 200 in Northern Ireland. The 21 year old from Maidstone, Kent was up against the big teams and the best pure road racers from around the world but the Dad and lad team came away with top results.

Tom Weeden- two 17th place finishes bettered last years performance

Taken place on 8.970 miles of road that link Portstewart, Coleraine and Port Rush the North West 200 is one of the fastest road races in the world with speeds reaching in excess of 200mph in the Superbike class. Weeden made his debut at the meeting last year and achieved respectable results of 24th and 20th in the Supersport class for 600cc machines but was hoping for better in 2015 on his Triumph 675.

The initial timed practice/qualifying session on Tuesday didn’t go great for Tom. After the build-up waiting on the grid, the tyrewarmers were removed and all the riders prepared to set off on dry tyres. But the unpredictable Irish weather took a turn for the worse the moment Tom released the clutch to set off on his first lap. He cruised round the lap not wanting to take any risks on dry tyres with the now soaking wet road. Unfortunately the Team had been caught out and only had intermediate tyres available, which although offered much more grip than the dry tyres were still not the ideal rubber for the conditions.  

He went back out and tried to make the best out of the situation but it was clear from the first lap that the inters weren’t offering much grip.  Tom usually excels in wet conditions and felt if he had the wets on he could have posted a fairly decent time, he ended the session in 24th although a top 15 could have been possible.  

The weather had improved for the second of the qualifying sessions on Thursday. Having only the 1 bike meant Weeden was down on practice time to some of the other riders who were out in several sessions. He decided to simply get some mileage in during the 45 min practice, only pitting once for fuel and possibly a minor suspension change. After 5 laps the red flags came out due to an incident forcing Weeden to return to the pits anyway. He made a minor adjustment to the preload on the front suspension, refuelled and completed another 4 laps after the restart. 

Held wearer Tom Weeden at the NW200

Tom put his fastest lap in on the very last lap showing it was the right thing to do to stay out and get reacquainted with the track rather than pit and make too many changes. That last lap put him 21st fastest behind a list of the fastest current road racers on factory bikes. Tom was very pleased with this considering he is on a 2011 spec Triumph 675 worth probably a third of some of the bikes in front. 

The weather held out for the first 6 lap race on Thursday with almost perfect conditions for racing, apart from the strong winds that would remain all week.  Unfortunately due to the way the qualifying system works Weeden was dropped to 26th on the grid for the races but was still determined to get a good result. A terrible start off the line that saw the front wheel come right in the air dropped Weeden several places going into turn 1, that mistake dropped him back to around 30th. 

He got his head down though and rode round the outside of several riders into turn 2 and then a few more on the brakes into York corner and the Mill Road Roundabout. Weeden was even on the grass at one point as he overtook one rider on the brakes before realising he wasn’t going to make the apex but rather than incur a 10 second penalty by running straight on at the chicane he somehow cut the crass and made the next corner without incident and even made the move stick. Tom was up to 23rd by the end of lap 1 and had started to make up for the disappointing launch off the line. By lap 3 he was up to 20th after putting in 2 almost identical fastest laps of his race. By the final lap Weeden was in 17th with a 15 second gap to the rider behind him. 

Despite the poor start, dropping several places back from his 26th place start position, Weeden was happy with the final outcome of the race against such experienced opposition. 

Weeden again got off to a difficult start in the second Supersport race on Saturday, this time even worse than the first race. The long gearing needed to reach speeds of 170mph combined with the tall first gear on his Triumph 675 machine making it difficult to get off the line quickly. Just like he had in the first race, Weeden rode aggressively for the first lap in order to regain the positions lost as fast as possible. By lap 3 he had worked his way up to 19th position and then on the start of lap 4 it looked as if the second half of the race was going to be extremely difficult. 

The rain started to come down at sections of the course but due to the length of the course it would be raining at one part of the circuit and bone dry and sunny at another part. Despite this the 21 year old kept his cool and moved up a further two places to 17th. On the 5th lap the rain had passed over and most of the circuit was dry again. Weeden cruised home to another 17th position finish, this time 21 seconds in front of 18th place. 
Tom is now looking forward to returning to Olivers Mount for one more meeting before competing for the 3rd time at his main event of the year, the Isle of Man Manx GP in August

Photo credits to Jim Scott ( jim.mo@rectoryforge.co.uk )

If you've like to know more about Held in the UK including our online catalogue and a list of UK stockists please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Michael Dunlop's Held gloves

We're delighted that Michael Dunlop is wearing Held gloves and Held body protection for the 2015 racing season, including the NW200 and the Isle of Man TT. 

We've made the following available to Michael- Held Titan Evo, Held Chikara Pro and Held Kashiro gloves. 

Michael has chosen the Kashiro for practice so far, perhaps bedding in the Titans- or maybe he's preferring the Kashiro.. We'll have to wait and see!

Here's the Held Kashiro- RRP £169.99:

Held Kashiro, as worn by Michael Dunlop

• Highly abrasion-resistant leather sport tour gloves
• KEVLAR& DuPont COOLMAX lined back: Protected
• Step seam avoids pressure points & enhances feel

An awesomely protective sport tour motorcycle glove! It's top marks in the looks department with these motorcycle gloves called the Kashiro. Available in a range of colours, to suit your bike, these gloves blend the protection from sport gloves and the understated design of tour gloves.

Held Kashiro motorcycle gloves- also in red, white, black

In terms of protection, there's plenty: The outer is highly abrasion resistant and you've also got some hard external knuckle armour. The glove heavily features SUPERFABRIC reinforcements in areas such as the fingers and side of the hand to offer further abrasion resistance in the event of a slide.

As well as being protective, these motorcycle gloves also have plenty of features to keep you comfortable for everyday riding. The Boa adjuster (just turn the dial to get the fit you need!) means that you can get a personalised and comfortable fit, ideal to keep the elements out and it is paramount in safety so that the gloves don't slip and slide as you ride. A special step seam also helps avoid pressure points on the inner hand and enhances feel.

An awesome pair of gloves that would be great to wear on all of your bikes - if you're lucky enough to have more than one!

Held Kashiro Motorcycle gloves in black

Technical information

Outer Shell:
• Highly abrasion-resistant kangaroo leather
• Colourfast & sweat-proof
Lining:
• KEVLAR& DuPont COOLMAX lined back
Fit/Features:
• Special step seam avoids pressure points on inner hand & enhances feel
• Tunnel strap
• Visor wipe
• Elasticated leather panels on back, thumb & fingers
Protection:
• Hard plastic knuckle protection
• Side of hand covered with hard plastic & reinforced with SUPERFABRIC(32% polyester, 68% epoxide resin)
• SUPERFABRIC reinforcement on edge of hand
• Little, middle & ring finger reinforced with SUPERFABRIC brand material

• BOA adjusters

To see more about Held in the UK, an online catalogue and a list of stockists please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

WIN! Gino Rea's actual Philip Island Held race suit

The start of the season switch for Great Britain racer and Held wearer Gino Rea from Moto2 to World SuperSport has meant Gino has a race suit that is surplus to requirements, as such!

So, we've teamed up with Gino Rea and are offering the actual suit Gino wore in practice and qualifying over at Phillip Island as a one-off SUPERB giveaway!

World SuperSport racer Gino Rea in the actual suit we're giving away

Above is Gino in practice wearing the actual suit that's up for grabs. He's also wearing it in the piture below:

Prize: Gino Rea's race suit. One careful owner..

On top of this, we're also giving away this super signed AGT Rea Racing print, yep, you've guessed it, signed by Gino!

AGT Rea Racing Print, signed by World SuperSport racer Gino Rea

Increase your chances of winning!

This giveaway is run by Held UK (The leathers!) in association with Gino Rea (The man himself), Raceprint Artwork & Design (The designers) and Jap4Performance (Kind Sponsors of the print)

So, multiple people involved means multiple chances of winning. Here's what to do:

On Facebook:

Make sure you 'like' the following pages and have 'liked' and 'shared' the post leading to the blog. The blog post will be on:

Held (click here)

Gino Rea Official (click here)

Jap4Performance (click here)

Raceprint Artwork & Design (click here)

On Twitter:

Make sure you 'follow' the following accounts and have re-tweeted the post leading to the blog. The blog tweet will be on:

@heldbikegear

@ginorea

@jap4performance

@RacePrintsUK

So, go visit the pages / accounts above, get clicking and join in ! Someone HAS to win the leathers and the print!

If any of the posts / tweets are not live yet check back in a bit :) 

We'll choose the winner at random who has joined in as above on one of the accounts. The winner will be announced after the weekend of Gino's World SuperSport UK race at Donington Park at the end of the month! 

NEWS: TRAYLER FIGHTS IN THE TOP TEN AT OULTON PARK THIRD ROUND

TRAYLER FIGHTS IN THE TOP TEN AT OULTON PARK THIRD ROUND

Another top 10 for Jesse Trayler

Held wearer Jesse Trayler had another strong performance in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship over the Bank Holiday weekend at Oulton Park in Cheshire, claiming a ninth place finish to maintain his sixth place in the 2015 title fight.

Trayler and the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team had a positive test at the circuit a week earlier and arrived at the third round ready to maintain their consistent performances and move a step closer to their rivals on track.

Trayler was building his pace throughout the weekend, despite conditions changing during the event to qualify ninth on the grid for the 11 lap race and he was able to hold on to the position to score valuable points as he bids to close the deficit at the next round at Donington Park later this month.

Trayler said: “Oulton Park was another consistent points score for myself and the Colchester Kawasaki team. We came away from the test there a week earlier feeling happy with the progress we had made, but knew there was still more to find.

“I'm pretty happy we managed a top ten finish in the race there as it is a tough circuit for me, but after the test and a weekends racing I know now where I need to improve for next time. All in all we came away with a lot of positives and still hold sixth in the standings, but we need to really push for some better positions and points from now onwards.

“I'd like to say a massive thank you to Nick Morgan for his continued support help and knowledge - his pep talks help a lot too. Also thank you to my personal sponsors - Colchester Kawasaki, Held Leathers, Leonard Brooke's, Linxcel and Shark.”

The third round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship takes place at Donington Park on 23-25 May during the World Superbike Championship event.

Jesse Trayler wears Held leathers and Held gloves. To learn more about Held in the UK, see a list of stockists and view our online catalogue please visit www.held-uk.co.uk