Testing race for Held wearing racer Joe Burns at Brands Hatch

 

Held wearing Joe Burns, currently 3rd in National Superstock 1000

Once again the English Summer delivered a hot race day, qualifying 1 and 2 took place on Saturday and Joe finished the day 2nd fastest behind Adam Jenkinson, a very satisfactory result. 

Joe did not get the best of starts and fell back into 4th place, however by lap 2 he had recovered to 2nd place and began to reel in the leader James East, on lap 5 Joe was in a great position to take first place, but East missed a gear causing Joe to touch his bike. The resulting damaged brake lever caused Joe to lose time, he could not brake as he would normally. 

This incident allowed Hudson Kennagh to take the lead and then Tommy Aquino passed Joe to take second place, with an ill handling bike Joe lost time to fourth place man Tristan Palmer with the net result that on Lap 14 Joe lost 3rd place, a great disappointment for him. 

Following the race Joe said; Brands looked to be one of my stronger circuits and I was pleased to qualify 2nd, the result is not what I expected, however I am glad that I finished in fourth and only dropped one place in the championship standings, it is very close with just 12 points between me and 1st place. 

Held wearer Joe Burns- not far off the lead!

The result drops Joe into third place in the championship, the gap is now 11 points to 2nd and 12 to 1st, at this stage of the season it is looking good. A satisfying result, the next race takes place at Oulton Park August 9/10/11.

To find out more information on the Held gear Joe Burns wears please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Sean Neary Brands Hatch race report - Ducati 848 Challenge round 1

Race Report – Round 1 – Brands Hatch

Sean Neary - in his Held gear

It has been a long winter waiting for this weekend! After an awesome pre-season I was feeling confident in the run up. Unfortunately it was clear from the first practice session that our base set up which we had worked on in Spain and Anglesey just wasn’t working. I was running wide under acceleration which is the most crucial aspect to make a fast lap.
I finished the practice session in 6th which I was surprised about really as I knew the set up wasn’t working. After speaking with the K Tech (Suspension) support team we decided to go back to their recommended base settings and start over again. The difficulty of doing this at BSB is the lack of track time we get and it’s risky to make big changes when going into a race/qualifying. That said I knew we had to make big changes to make it work so I took the gamble and qualified 10th therefore putting me on the third row of the grid. We made improvements to the set up but we were still running horribly wide under acceleration.

Race 1
An average start saw me in about 12th going into the first corner however the elbows came out and I managed to work up to 6th position before the brake lever began to fade as the race went on. I managed to finish the race in 8th position. Not what I was looking for but a solid start! We made some more changes to try and help with the suspension and bled the brake system overnight.

Race 2
I struggled again in race 2 under acceleration and almost had a huge crash on lap 12 trying to ride around the problem. We once again lost brake power and it now looks like we have a damaged master cyclinder (sorry for the technical report which probably sounds very boring!) We will be purchasing a new one to eliminate this problem moving forward.
Brands Hatch was always going to be a tough round as we don’t do any testing there but I didn’t expect it to be as tough as it was. I will now get some testing in before Donington to ensure we can get to a good base setting with our suspension and we should be flying. The pace was hot in the 848 Challenge so it’s going to be a great season.
Thanks to all my sponsors for making this happen. We come away from round 1, 10th in the championship so we can now build on this now and I will be giving the gym some treatment until the next round!!!

For more information on the Held motorcycle gear that Sean wears please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Solid Start to 2013 Season by Joe Burns

April 5th, 6th and 7th saw the opening round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship, and who would have predicted that the race would be run in bright sunshine and a balmy 10°C? Particularly as when the team set up on Thursday it was snowing!

Held wearing racer Joe Burns- pic from Jon Jessop photography

With 60 entries two qualifying periods are used to establish a grid for the Sunday feature race and a Saturday race for the slower competitors. The John Guest Speedfit Kawasaki ran faultlessly, with Joe qualifying 6th on Friday and 6th on Saturday, aggregate times from these two qualifying periods put Joe 12th on the grid for the Sunday feature race, and clearly in the top 20% of the field. 

The race strategy was clear, keep clear of any first corner mayhem and put in good consistent lap times, and it went to plan, despite a slightly hesitant start caused by the sideways gradient of the Brands Hatch grid, Joe worked his way forward to finish a thrilling race in 8th place and with the credit for the fastest lap at 47.342 seconds. This was achieved on the 19th lap, proof that the 2013 Pirelli tyres on the John Guest Speedfit Kawasaki last well.

Joe left Brands Hatch with 8 points on the championship score sheet and now heads to the fastest circuit in the UK, Thruxton in Hampshire for the 14th April race day.

For more information on the gear Joe wears please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

JOY FOR JEACOCK AT BRANDS FINALE

SUPERBIKES – Stockingford’s racing sensation and Held wearer Leon Jeacock ended his 2012 campaign in a blaze of glory at the Brands Hatch Racing Circuit in Kent over the weekend.  Taking part in the last round of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship, Jeacock was determined to end the season on a high note.

Leon Jeacock- good finale at Brands

Struggling in Friday and Saturday’s qualifying sessions, Jeacock started  Sunday’s race in 19th position and back on row 5 of the grid.  Making his typical  blistering start and holding position throughout the 14-lap race, Jeacock made up an incredible seven places to cross the finishing line in 12th position.

“Absolutely delighted with today’s result” said Jeacock “I struggled in qualifying which always makes the race hard work from row 5, but it all came together when it mattered and I am thrilled with 12th place”.

Sunday’s result meant another 4 points added to his tally, and overall Jeacock finishes in 16th place on the Championship leaderboard.

“It’s been a mixed bag this year” said Jeacock reflecting on his 2012 season “we’ve had some good results, some bad, some real bad luck and some brilliant top 10 finishes!  But I’m pleased with 16th place in the Championship overall, we have a solid Team now, all pulling in the same direction and it’s definitely made a huge difference with my racing this year.  We definitely have something great to build on and take forward into the 2013 season”.

“I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the Team for their support this year; Mike Dorey at BMC Racing for preparing a superb bike for me all year, Mum and Dad, my fiancé Jo Dearden, Craig and Lennie Collins, Kath and Richard Dorey, Jordan Hodgson, Richard Johnson, In Touch Sports Media and Marketing, and to my sponsors; Held Bike Gear, Nexx helmets, Advance Forwarding, Arbury Gates, Moto Central and Nuffield Health Nuneaton”.

Leon is actively seeking sponsorship for the 2013 season and would love to hear from anyone who may be able to help in any way. If anyone would like to get involved or receive a 2013 Sponsorship Portfolio, please do not hesitate to contact Leon directly at leon@leonjeacock.co.uk or Richard Johnson at richard@leonjeacock.co.uk.

Leon Jeacock is kindly supported by Nuffield Health & Wellbeing Centre Nuneaton, BMC Racing, Held Rider Equipment, LJR Race Products, Manbat Ltd, Arbury Gates & Railings, DP Brakes, Nexx Helmets, Moto-Central, Advance Bike Shipping, In Touch Sports Media & Marketing and The “#55” Club.
 

Images: Ian Ward www.bikesportpics.com

For more information on Held and a list of UK dealers please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

4th in the Championship for Held wearer Weeden

Held wearer Tom Weeden endured a difficult time at Brands Hatch for round 5 of the Triumph Triple Challenge last weekend. At his local circuit Tom was hoping to be able to push for podium positions to gain as many points as possible after walking into the meeting in 3rd position in the championship. The meeting was split into two racing on both the Indy and GP circuit configurations; with practice, qualifying and one race on the Indy circuit on Friday, followed by a practice on the GP circuit on Saturday and then a race on the GP circuit on Sunday. 

Focus on Tom people- in the middle ;)

 After two months without riding due to a gap in the season, Tom got off to a slow start in practice and it was clear a few of the other riders had been out testing the circuit in the layoff period. Tom was chasing a suspension set up as he did not feel comfortable on the bike, the team made changes in pit lane however the issues still presented themselves. It was later found out when Tom pulled back into the team awning that a mechanical issue with the rear wheel was the cause of the problem and as such the suspension data achieved was incorrect. Tom was on the back foot for qualifying after having such limited practice and set up time round the circuit. He could only manage to go 17th fastest and Tom was going to have to fight through from the back if he had any chance of scoring some decent points in the races. 

Tom Weeden- huge talent, huge promise

Tom got a great drive off the line in race 1 and was up into 12 positions by the end of lap 1. Unfortunately Tom was struggling with the set up of the bike, finding it hard to turn and lacking rear grip. He dropped to 13th on lap 4 and just could match the pace of the pack in front of him. Weeden held 13th place to the finish line and was very disappointed with the way the day had panned out. He made changes for the GP track practice session on Saturday and was feeling confident he could push for a higher placed finish on Sunday. Weeden went 8th quickest in the practice session and was starting to feel more comfortable on the bike after the two month absence.

Based on laptimes in race 1 on the Indy circuit, Weeden was to start race 2 on the GP circuit from 15th on the grid, however he remained positive and felt he had the pace to push for a top 10 finish to try and salvage some points from the weekend. He made another great start and was up into 12th by the end of lap 1. He continued to push and worked his way up into 10th on lap 2, going around the outside of one rider into Surtees and then getting the drive down Pilgrims Drop to move into 10th. By lap 5 he was up into 8th position and had closed the gap to the 7th position rider. On lap 6 Tom moved into 7th position and immediately set about gapping the rider behind him. 

 Weeden had pulled a 3 second lead on the rider behind by lap 8 and was running in a comfortable 7th position. However in the last two laps of the race one rider in front pulled in with a mechanical issue and another crashed out of 2nd place on the last lap. This pushed Tom up into 5th position and he had managed to secure a good few points after a very difficult weekend. Weeden is now 4th in the overall championship and will be looking to be further up the front next time out at Cadwell Park.  Tom will try his hand at road racing this weekend at the Aberdare Park road races in Wales, racing for Trickbits Racing, where Weeden is hoping to gain some valuable experience and possibly a podium visit.

For more information on Tom Weeden please visit www.tomweeden.com and for more information on Held in the UK please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

DISAPPOINTED JEACOCK BATTLES ON AT BRANDS HATCH

Stockingford’s very own ‘hot-rod’, Held wearing  Leon Jeacock battled hard at a sun drenched Brands Hatch over the weekend to finish Round 7 of the 2012 Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship in 17th place and just outside of the Championship points.
A fantastic start to the weekend saw Jeacock finish Friday’s official testing around the Indy circuit in seventh place:

“Testing went really well this morning” said Jeacock “the bike setup felt great and my lap times just kept getting better and better, extremely pleased to finish seventh”.
Saturday was qualifying day only this time around the GP circuit, 11th place in the first session and 15th place in the second session left Jeacock to start Sunday’s race in 15th position and row 4 on the grid;

“A bit disappointed to slip back to 15th after such a good result in testing on Friday” said Jeacock “but that’s where we are and we have to make the best of it.  The bike felt great on Friday and we’ve proved we can keep up there with the front runners, and that is exactly what I’ll be looking to do tomorrow”.

Raceday was unceremoniously bathed in welcome summer sunshine and despite a good start, Jeacock could make no impression on the field in front of him and crossed the finishing line in 17th place.

“Disappointed with that” said Jeacock “disappointed to finish outside the points but guess today just wasn’t my day”.

“There is a bit of a break in the calendar now for a month or so before the next round at Cadwell Park over the August Bank Holiday weekend.  We are struggling for funding and at this stage I am unsure whether I will be at Cadwell or not.  If anyone is able to help us out in anyway, please get in touch, any help will be greatly appreciated”.

Leon is actively seeking sponsorship to enable him to finish the 2012 race season and would love to hear from anyone who may be able to help in any way. If anyone would like to get involved or receive a sponsorship portfolio, please do not hesitate to contact Leon directly at leon@leonjeacock.co.uk or Richard Johnson at richard@leonjeacock.co.uk.

For more information on Held in the UK please visit www.held-uk.co.uk