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: Kurt & Matt Wigley, Thruxton

Thruxton Race Report

Last weekend British Superbikes were down at Thruxton for the seventh round of the championship. Due to the lack of time following our discovery of the reduced bhp of the Supersport R6, we were to attend the fastest circuit on the calendar knowing that top speed would be a struggle.

Nicely showing off the Held Gloves!

FP1 began looking positive, however as the session progressed, Kurt struggled to improve his lap time due problems with the bikes handling. Exiting the fast sweeping corners, the bike was sliding and bouncing around in the attempt to high side. The team put their heads together to establish a solution following the 13th place finish which is not where we aimed to be. This lead to a series of suspension changes to compensate for the bumpy flat out circuit.

The second free practice session began to look positive as by lap 4 Kurt had knocked 0.6 of a second off his best lap from the previous session, however, this came to an abrupt stop as it became apparent that we were facing similar problems to the mornings FP1. The session came to an end with a 15th place finish and confusion as to where we had gone wrong.

Saturdays qualifying session was later in the day leaving us some more time to understand what we were up against. Under further inspections we identified that there was a mechanical fault with the rear shock meaning there was nothing we could do to the settings to resolve the handling issue. The shock was removed and serviced in preparation for Q1. Kurt took another 0.6 off his best lap time but because of the series of events leading up to this we were playing catch up and had to start from scratch back at the original base setting for the suspension as any alterations previously made were obsolete. The session came to a close with another 15th place finish.

Saturday afternoon brought the 10-lap sprint race for the Supersport class. Further changes were made leading up to the race which always hold a risk that it wasn’t for the better, however, this was not the case and Kurt’s personal best lap time was improved again. Kurt was in a heated battle with another 5 riders making his way up to 11th position at one stage. On the final but last lap, Kurt over ran the chicane leading onto the home straight and in the attempt to revert the advantage gained he fell back to P14 for the chequered flag.

Sunday brought an 18 lap feature race meaning tyre wear was a problem that everyone faced due to the abrasive circuit of Thruxton. The second race proved the difficulty faced with competing when down on power as every lap Kurt was overtaken on the back straight reaching speeds in excess of 150mph. This meant that he had to try and outbreak someone leading to him failing to stop and missing the chicane on several occasions each time knocking him out of a rhythm. The race came to a close with another 14th position finish picking up points in the championship but frustrated with the circumstances of the weekend.

Cadwell Park is right around the corner and we aim for a better performance with plans in place to replace the engine.

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.

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Held Racer Report: Kurt & Matt Wigley, National Superstock 600, Rd 6

Round 6, Snetterton 300 Race Report

The weekend of the 9th & 10 July was the 6 round of British Pirelli National 600 Superstock where we had a rollercoaster of race meeting. The sixth round kicked off to a bad start with Kurt being taken out mid-way through Fridays practice session when someone crashed into the back of him entering the hairpin of turn 2. After spending the past two weeks building Kurt a new bike the whole team was disheartened. Matt had a better session with getting to grips with the circuit and the tricky wet conditions.

Later that day was the first Qualifying session of the event and looking at the forecast it was to be the only dry session meaning this one had to count. Matt was sent out on circuit with no pit board or crew in pit late as the team were working franticly to get Kurt’s bike fixed from the mornings incident and passed through technical control. Kurt eventually made it out on circuit with 6 laps remaining of the session where he began late 20’s and every lap jumped up another handful of positions until the final lap which put him in 13th. Matt had ‘a bad day at the office’ as he struggled to settle down and piece together a lap time which put him on the backwards foot for the race in 24th.

Qualifying two was a wet session as predicted by the forecast therefore nobody could improve their times which wasn’t our best interest as we felt there was more to give with additional time, however the morning warm up session on Sunday was a step in the right direction. Matt lead for most of the short session as he was determined to get up to pace ready for the race later on. Kurt spent the session in the 30’s testing out some changes the team had made to the suspension in order to allow the bike to turn in easier when carrying speed, on the final lap Kurt got his head down and set a time that was 0.4 of a second faster than his qualifying session leaving him 4th and Matt 9th out of the 40 competitors.

This weekend was an early race at 11:30, just in time before the rain returned. As the lights went out both lads began to barge their way through those in front, unfortunately for Matt, he only made it to turn two before a repeat of Kurt’s Friday incident was duplicated and he hit the ground following another racer crashing into the back of him smashing his back wheel. Once it was established that Matt was okay the attention of the team was turned to Kurt. After the first lap he made it up to an impressive 8th place and continued to better his lap times picking people off throughout the sprint. The end of the race came and Kurt crossed the line in 5th place as by the time he got to the front of the group the leading 4 had already broken away. This was a solid finish putting Kurt up to 8th in the championship.

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