Held Racer Report: Leon Jeacock, National Superstock 1000, Donington Park

Consistency pays off with another points finish

The penultimate round of the Pirelli National Superstock1000 Championship with Black Horse took place at Donington Park. This is almost home turf for Leon and one of his favourite circuits, with its fast flowing bends and tight hairpins giving close racing and plenty of overtaking opportunities.

Leon decided to sit out the free practice session on Friday morning as a rain shower had left the circuit wet. With more rain threatening the decision was made to wait until the afternoons qualifying session to enter the fray. Qualifying one was held in dry conditions and he took a provisional fifteenth on the grid. Despite having a good base set up the Geo E Davies Racing team made a few tweaks overnight for the second qualifying session to be held on Saturday. 

The changes made to the machine certainly worked for Leon as he knocked nearly half a second from qualifying one and moved up to twelfth on the grid. He was confident of another points finish in the race to be held on Sunday.

Making an uncharacteristically poor start Leon slipped down to fourteenth position on lap one. His fightback started almost immediately and by lap seven of the ten lap race he had made it back into the top ten. With three laps left Leon managed to claw back another position and finished in ninth spot. 

Another solid points finish for him and the team leaving him in tenth place in the Championship amidst a tight battle, with four other riders sitting closely around his tally of forty-eight points.

Leon said “I am pleased with the result after the slow start and it was pleasing to ride in front of so many people who help me and the team to be here at what is our home round really. We now move onto Brands Hatch for the final round of 2016 and hopefully a good result to go into the winter with. Many thanks to all my sponsors once again”

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Tom Weeden's race report: Manx Senior GP win!!

Maidstone rider Tom Weeden sailed into the Isle of Man's Douglas Harbour a few weeks ago, determined to win a Manx GP. He kept all his fans waiting until the last race of the meeting, the most prestigious Full Factory Winnerswear Senior race, when he battled hard to take the win on the TT Mountain Course, beating local Manxman Andrew Dudgeon in a thrilling four lap race. Tom's pit board at the end of the third lap told him he was 9 seconds adrift and at that point he felt his chances of winning slipping away. 

In his own words "I had nothing to lose, so I decided I was going for a 120mph lap, having come so close in practice, and gave it everything". He threw caution to the wind, relaxed into a rhythm and, spurred on by his pit boards around the circuit, drew level and passed Dudgeon on the climb to the Bungalow. They matched each other for speed on the run-in to the Grandstand, Dudgeon crossed the line ahead and the crowd knew Tom had to cross the line within thirty nail-biting seconds to grab the win... he did it with 0.674 seconds to spare and became a Manx GP winner - mission accomplished.

The icing on the cake was that Tom's last lap averaged a staggering 121.1mph. He joins the "Tommy Club", an elite group of only 10 riders who have circulated at over 120mph, a club established in memory of Tommy "Spook" Clucas, the first Manx GP rider to do so, with an average speed of 120.28mph in 2004. Sadly Tommy Clucas lost his life at Ballaugh Bridge later in that same race.

Tom's next outing will be at the Gold Cup in Scarborough later this month, but now the hard work really starts for the privateer team, Tom and his mechanic Dad, Steve, as they attempt to raise sufficient funds to compete at the TT in 2017, Tom now being eligible for the most famous road race in the world. 

Held UK are proud to supply leathers and gloves for Tom! To learn more about Held in the UK please visit www.held-uk.co.uk