Held Racer Report: Leon Jeacock, Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing, National Superstock 1000

The Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit was the final destination for Leon and the Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing team in their 2018 Pirelli National Superstock1000 Championship season. On the back of the good form of recent meetings the team were very confident of a good result to end the campaign and also to build on for 2019.

Free practice one went well for the team and put in a time good enough for seventh position. The team made some adjustments for the second free practice session and Leon improved his time by half a second and took fifth fastest time. It wasn’t all good for Leon however as on his last lap of the session he crashed and got caught up in the wheel of the Suzuki, his leg taking the brunt of the damage. Despite this very painful injury he was determined to ride in the qualifying session on Saturday. He did a fantastic lap even with his troubles and took thirteenth on the grid.

The fourteen-lap race would be a trial for Leon but he rode a superb race. Making up a number of places on the opening lap he crossed the line in seventh position. He dropped to eighth position on lap two which he held for a number of laps. Losing another place to ninth he fought back in the later stages of the race and took eighth position at the chequered flag. This was a good result for Leon and the team after the accident on Friday afternoon.

The result leaves Leon in twelfth place in the final Championship standings. Speaking after Leon said “we had a great day Friday bar the last lap of free practice two where I was lucky to walk away from the crash, I wasn’t going to let the sponsors and team down though for the last race of the season and we battled through to get a great result of eighth place. I would like to add special thanks to all the sponsors who have made this season as spectacular as it has been”

Held are pleased to support and supply Leon Jeacock and Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing. 
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Held Racer Report: Zoek Racing's Sean Neary, Ducati Tri-Options cup, Assen

ZOEK RACING ASSEN

The two Zoek Racing riders, Sean Neary from Lymm in Cheshire and Nottinghamshire’s Craig Currie from Newark were at Assen in the Netherlands for the final round of the Ducati TriOptions Cup where Currie recorded a sixth place in race one but crashed out of   the second while Neary crashed out of third place on the final lap of race one but fought back in the second affair to finish in sixth place.

Neary was determined to put on a good show this weekend in an effort to clinch the runner up spot in the championship and was very strong during free practice and qualifying to earn a second row start to the eight lap race on Saturday. As the lights went out he maintained fourth place on the first two laps before passing Lewis Rollo and then Levi Day on lap three to take up second position behind new champion Rob Guiver. He then entered into an intense battle for position with three other riders but held his position through the mid race laps before being overtaken by Day on the final lap. But it all went wrong at the final corner when Neary just clipped the back wheel of Day which caused him to crash and slide across the track into the gravel his race over in sight of the chequered flag. 

Starting the second race from the third row Neary settled into a safe sixth place and opted for a steady ride which would consolidate his third place in the overall championship.

Neary said: “That is 2018 done and dusted and I finished third in the championship. We set out to win but third in any British Championship is not easy so I’m so grateful to these guys in the team. They are outstanding. Even when things don’t go our way we always have a laugh. Thank you so much. I need to do a big shout out to all my loyal sponsors who enable us to do this; Zoek Racing Team, Matthew Sanders of Zoek, Paul Nolan of Charlestown for his countless work behind the scenes. Evolution Waste, Craig Currie, JHP Ducati Coventry, Steve Jackson @Toiletspares, Chris Dutton of Claim Eazy, Motul, Joe Carlin, Guy Mainwaring of Held,Shark Helmets, Maxton, Lee Jackson, Applied Nutrition, Warrior Club, Tom Tucker Caines and the whole team for their hard work.”

Assen was the final round of the 2018 championship with the two Zoek Racing riders securing some strong performances. Neary recorded one win, two second and four third places on his way to claiming third place in the championship on 206 points while Currie, who was plagued with mechanical issues in the early stages of the championship, recorded his personal best result of the year with a sixth place in the first race at Assen.

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