Held Racer Report- Wigley Racing, Assen Superstock 600

Assen TT Race Report

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.

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.

Want to see more about Held motorcycle gear in the UK? Visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Held Racer Report: Wigley Racing, Oulton Park

Oulton Park Race Report

As the end of the season approaches, we revisited Oulton Park for round 10 of the British Superbike championship. The weekend commenced with some unfortunate luck as we hit the track for a very wet FP1, on the opening lap the steering damper bracket snapped causing Kurt to almost lose control of the Sorrymate.com Yamaha on a straight exceeding 100mph. He got the bike safely back round to the pit lane where the team worked franticly to create a quick fix, however, this only lead to one other completed lap meaning we began the event on the back foot having completed 2 out of a possible 15 laps.

FP2 began on a more positive pathway, by this point the circuit had dried up and Kurt wasted no time in putting down some strong lap times. He worked his way up into the top 10 and continued up to P7 by continuously beating his previous lap. Once again, the session abruptly came to a stop for the team as the bike lost all power and cut out exiting turn 1. Kurt was forced to retire from the session. Further investigations following the session lead to the discovery of a blown fuse which was a relief that it was something so simple but at the same time frustrating that it halved the session.

Saturday mornings qualifying session was the first full session of the weekend meaning we had a lot of work to get the bike set up closer to perfection in time for the race. With Oulton Park being on the opposite end of the scale to Silverstone in terms of the bumps, cambers and twisty sectors there was minimal information we could carry over for the new Mupo suspension. The session was tough to make vast improvements on lap times whilst sacrificing time on track to make adjustments to the setup, but this didn’t stop the team from securing a P10 finish in class putting us on row 4 in P11 for the race.

Race 1 on Saturday afternoon proved to be somewhat dramatical. Kurt had a strong start to the race as he broke away with the top 10 on the opening few laps, feeling positive he was ready to fight for a best finish but soon became aware that the brakes were fading and quickly. We have never experienced this issue previously and Kurt was coming ever closer to running off track or colliding with another rider entering corners. Fortunately, the race was red flagged because it began to rain allowing the team to change the pads and bleed the brake fluid through the system along with swap the wheels to wets in the desperate attempt to make the restart. Other than a few burns from the disks and pads it was a success and Kurt made his way onto the grid where he once again got a strong start and managed get to the front of the group he was in to take a P7 finish. In his bid to break away from the group when at the front, he put down the 6th fastest lap time of the race putting us on the second row of the grid for race 2. 

Moments before the second race it began to rain heavily which was a shame for us as we were hoping for a damp circuit as this is where we get our best results. The wet race soon began, unfortunately for Kurt a few close moments when finding the limit set him back on the opening couple of laps resulting in him being pushed back to P13. He spent the first half of the race trying to get into a rhythm and reduce the mistakes in a bid to not repeat last weekend’s Silverstone race. When Kurt finally settled down, he began closing the gap to the bike in front and at one stage was lapping a couple of seconds faster than those directly ahead as he made his way up to P11. With 4 laps remaining and the track drying out, he had a big push catch those in sight and obtained another 4 positions before the final lap completing the final race of the weekend with another 7th place finish. 


Held UK are proud to support Kurt and Matt Wigley with Race Gloves! www.held-uk.co.uk

Held Racer Report, Round 8, Brands Hatch, Kurt Wigley, Superstock 600

Round 8 Race Report – Brands Hatch GP

This weekend was a journey down to Kent for the eighth round of the British Superbike season at Brands Hatch. It was only Kurt competing at this event due to twin brother Matt being kept in hospital following the crash at Thruxton, the previous round. He is recovering quickly and is optimistic about a fast return.

Kurt and the team had a terrific beginning to the weekend starting with Fridays practice session, as Brands is not one of Kurt’s favorite circuits he was feeling skeptical about how the session would pan out therefore established a plan to gradually build throughout. He remained on track for the entire session, each lap feeling more comfortable and bringing down the times to a finish of P5.

The afternoon brought the first qualifying session which was structured similar to practice with the aim of building up to the final lap. Kurt managed to get into the top 10 before entering the pits for assistance from Mark, Go Racing Developments. A few changes to the Sorrymate.com Yamaha’s suspension set up saw Kurt obliterate his personal best lap time putting him in a P2 finish. This was a fantastic result especially because it was achieved on old scrub tyres, however, Saturdays qualifying times was guaranteed to improve.

We had no further changes to make to the bike for qualifying 2 in regards to the suspension as Kurt was pleased with the handling. The only change to be made was midway through the session Kurt planned to pit for a new rear tyre giving him the best opportunity for the final laps. After planning to use the front tyre from Thruxton’s race, we were disappointed to discover the tear in the sidewall meaning it could no longer be used. Thankfully, a supportive competing team in the paddock, Joe Goggins, gave us one of his used tyres for the session as our budget is already greatly stretched. Q2 began in accordance with our plan with Kurt warming up and entering the pits half way through. Whilst in the pits the red flag was deployed and around 10 minutes was deducted from the session meaning a 5 lap race to secure a strong qualifying position. After losing a few positions one of our final laps planted the team back on the front row with a P3 finish.

The lead up to the race was tense for us all as we had a growing determination to once again take that podium finish if not win. As the lights went out Kurt took to the inside of turn 1 temporarily taking the lead but immediately running wide opened the door to 4 of his rivals. The end of the first lap saw Kurt in 5th place with some hard work to do as he was chased down by another two. The battle continued as he pushed his way through to 3rd and even temporarily 2nd until running wide following the overtaking maneuver. P1 and P2 began to break away over the open GP part of the circuit where we struggled with the bike being down in the speed traps leaving a 3 man fight for 3rd. As we crossed the line for lap 11, Tom Ward put an overtake on Kurt into paddock hill bend to take the number 3 spot for a split second before Kurt pulled the bend exit tight and took advantage of the wide line Tom had taken to regain the position. Moments later the race was red flagged cutting the final 2 laps and putting us on the podium again in 3rd place for round 8 of the season. The whole team are thrilled with the close race and that once again we were able to spray the champagne.

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