We had the long journey over to Holland last weekend for the 11th round of the season as we attended the famous TT Assen circuit. The first free practice session of the weekend proved to be somewhat of a learning curve as it was the first time Kurt has seen the circuit in 6 years. We had a progressive session catching up with those who attended the circuit last year and improving lap times right down to the last lap.
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| Held Gloves wearer Kurt Wigley |
FP2 proved to be better still, following a change of gearing and amendments to the suspension setup after the initial session of the weekend. This weekend we had the support again of Mupo who worked with the team between sessions and in pit lane helping to find the best setup and overcome any problems that arise. The session came to close with a P11 finish and a new personal best lap time 2.5 seconds faster.
After FP2’s big steps in the right direction, we were all feeling confident for the Saturday morning qualifying session. The session began in damp conditions so we hit the track on wet tyres to get started, after the first stint Kurt had made his way up to P2 and with a dry line rapidly appearing he was forced to pit and change to drys. Following a 4 minute pit stop, Kurt headed back out at which point he had fallen back down to mid-teens. The lap times began to drop and Kurt moved up into P10 where he then began his fastest lap of the session. After a green first two sectors the session was brought to an immediate stop in the final stages as on the exit of a fast left turn he hit the damp edge of the circuit launching him over the handle bars. Kurt didn’t sustain any major injuries, however, the bike had rolled several times on the tarmac smashing the rear wheel and ripping off the clocks.
Race 1 was later that day therefore the team worked flat out to get the bike fixed within 3 hours in a bid to make the start. It was close but they pulled through just in time for a very wet sprint race. After a delayed start due to the downpour, the race was soon under way. Kurt made his way up to P6 on the opening lap but as the race progresses he began to struggle and lost a few positions due to the beating he withstood earlier that day. As Kurt began to regain the lost positions, an overtaking maneuver put him off line for the hairpin resulting in him crashing out on the exit when the rear broke traction. The incident was minor and the only damage was a dented pride as Kurt picked up his own bike off the track side and pushed it through the gravel.
Kurt was determined not to let the weekend conclude on a bad note despite qualifying P15 after the unfortunate end to race 1. As the red lights went out he headed straight to the inside of the circuit for the first turn and began to push forward whist everyone was bunched up. As the field began to spread out, Kurt battled through to the front of the group he was in before bridging the gap to those in front. After a tough race the day came to a close with a P8 finish even following a position penalty due to exceeding track limits.
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