Held Racer Report: Leon Jeacock, Geo Davies & Smirk racing, Snetterton BSB

The Snetterton300 track was the next port of call for Leon and the Geo E Davies with Smirk Racing Team in the Pirelli National SuperStock1000 Championship. Having tested there earlier, Leon was confident of a good qualifying and race result. He was hoping to continue with the excellent form over the past couple of rounds.

Leon Jeacock: Photo by Neil Pidduck

Free practice one was held in sunny conditions and Leon was in scintillating form as he posted a time to bag fifth fastest. He was more than pleased with that as a starting base and was looking to build on that in second free practice. The pace hotted up in free practice two although he quicker again he fell to eighth place.

The team and Leon were feeling confident for the sole qualifying session on Saturday. He was aiming for a top ten grid slot and he achieved this going quicker again with a time of 1 minute 50.890 seconds and this placed him tenth on the starting grid of Sundays race. Making a good start in the race Leon held his position in the first lap bumping and boring and then all the weekends good work came to an abrupt end. Making a move to take seventh position on lap two Leon had a high side and crashed out of the race ending his point scoring run in a heap.

Speaking after the race Leon said “Snetterton has been another major step forward for us as a team, we haven’t been out of the top ten throughout free practice and qualifying and I felt strong on the Suzuki which led to my downfall in the race as I probably pushed to hard in the race causing the high side” “We go to Knockhill full of confidence and we are looking to getting back in the points again” he added that he wanted to thank all his sponsors for their continued support.

Held UK are pleased to support Leon Jeacock of 

Geo E Davies and Smirk racing! 

Le Mans report from Talan Racing!

Le Mans - 2017 International Bridgestone Handy Race

On the 20th May I took part in the first International Disabled World Cup motorcycle race at Le Mans, France. This historic event was an official support race at the HJC sponsored French MotoGP. As one of the two British racers invited to attend the event, I was excited and honoured to be representing Great Britain in the 600cc category.

My preparation did not go entirely as planned. Thirteen days before the race, whilst demonstrating at the Donington Endurance Legends event, I suffered a jammed throttle as I hit the brakes at the end of the start/finish straight. Unable to slow down sufficiently to take Redgate corner, I barrelled into the gravel and went over the front of the bike, spearing myself head first into the gravel. Whilst I wasn’t too badly injured, the bike needed new fairing and investigation into why the throttle stayed wide open. After eight frantic days I was heading into the Channel tunnel with a repaired, but untested, race bike on my way to France.

Arriving at Le Mans, the International Bridgestone Handy Race paddock was found to be some distance away from the actual main paddock and pit lane, just outside of the actual Bugatti Circuit and along the 24Hour circuit. Surrounding us were campsites....campsites that had bikes being bounced off the rev limiters non stop, and I mean non stop. Never have I encountered such fanatical petrol heads, who were feeding engines with fuel and exhausts with combustible materials without cessation.

Whilst waiting in the transport to get to the track for Practice and Qualifying, we were treated to a thunder and lightening storm that brought hail down so hard the current session was red flagged. The circuit became wet, really really wet. Our practice began in light rain and that got gradually heavier throughout. Everyone was cautious to begin with, but soon found that the newly surfaced track was giving amazing levels of grip. Having a new fairing changed my sitting position as the race tail piece with hard foam seat covering sat me considerably higher than being on the standard seat piece. The new position put a lot of strain on my wrists, not so much of a problem in the wet as I wasn’t braking hard, but it would be an issue in the dry.

In our qualifying we were red flagged half way through, the thunderstorm once again brought hail and standing water. Once it was safe we headed back out to finish the session. I was lucky enough to know the Data Engineer from the Mistral Moto2 team, so I was parked outside the garage which offered a bit of shelter. One of the riders fathers popped out to offer his thoughts.....Mr Wayne Gardner simply thought we were all mad! At the end of qualifying I was 7th out of 30. A decent position to be in considering my top speed was between 10-20kmh slower than all the other top nine racers.

Later that evening my team and I were able to; visit the Mistral Moto2 garage, have about 30 minutes chatting with Wayne Gardner (Ex MotoGP World Champion), get a good look at the Moto2 bikes, tour around the Tech3 MotoGP garage and finished off meeting with Karel Abraham (MotoGP racer). Karel was interested to hear about the racing as well as The Bike Experience (a charity I founded to teach disabled people how to ride motorcycles). It was great to see the interest from all the racers, and ex racers, in what we were doing.

Saturday brought sunshine, clear skies and a crowd of thousands of race fans. The start was a ‘Le Mans’ style grid line up, followed by two lap formation behind a safety car, then eight laps for the chequered flag. In pairs we lined up behind the safety car and I set about warming up my tyres. I was on brand new Bridgestone R10s that were stone cold due to a mechanical failure of the generator. Initially the under-pressure tyres caused me to bounce around and slip under braking. After the first lap they were beginning to get some heat and the bike began to turn as I expected. At the end of the second lap the safety car pulled in, we rolled down towards the start line, all waiting for the French National flag to be waved. The noise of the crowd went through my helmet, my ear plugs and into my very core, it was intense and massively addictive. The flag dropped and we were racing.

As expected, the litre bikes came shooting up past me and the ones in front pulled away. I was cautious with the cold tyres and didn't want to get involved in any fairing bashing at the first chicane. Through the chicane and down to Chapelle the group was slightly spread out, and by the time we went into Garage Vert for the first time, there was a bit of order about the race. I was gapped by the faster bikes on each straight and was forced into some very late braking in order to catch up. After the third time of locking the front on the brakes I decided it wasn’t going to be safe to continue this style of riding for the race. 

I went back to what I knew best, smooth riding. The sitting position proved to be a problem for me. With a very dry and grippy surface I was able to brake hard, but that meant my backside started lifting from the seat and bouncing me off the centre line of the bike. I do not have stomach muscles, and so the act of trying to straighten myself up on the bike means lots of pulling and pushing on the bars whilst dragging my tummy onto the tank. As a result I cannot simply focus on going fast, as I can’t be sat on the ‘upside’ of the seat in a corner at pace. Nevertheless I enjoyed a decent battle with two litre bikes and another 600. 

The chequered flag came earlier than I had expected, as I didn’t see the last lap flag waved to us. Suddenly it was all over, the marshals lined the circuit, the crowds waved and cheered, we all gave thumbs up to the other racers and waved back to the spectators. I was ninth overall from thirty starters. The position translated to fourth in all of the 600s (twenty of us) and second place in the 600cc paralysed class. A very respectable finishing position and one I and be proud of. The victory in my class went to fellow British rider Michael Reynolds, and congratulations go to him.

There were so many memories to treasure: being part of a MotoGP event, getting invitations into Moto2 and MotoGP garages, meeting the racers you see on television, wheeling out onto eh start/ finish straight and hearing the cheer of five thousand people. The most important part was that we, the disabled racers, got to show the world that anything is still possible.

My thanks go to you; my sponsors, my supporters, my friends, my family, my fellow racers.

Held Racer Dan Hegarty- Cadwell Park

This just in from Held wearing racer Dan Hegarty:

Had a great weekend at Cadwell, first time out on the Top Gun Racing 600. The team have put a lot of work into building engines and mapping the bikes with Motec now fitted too.

The good news is that we ran a decent pace for a short circuit straight out of the box meaning that the engine is strong. We also have an identical one as a spare.

Chassis wise the bike is in the ball park but needs fine tuning. We improved it a lot over the weekend but as the bike improved the weather battled against us so was hard to see a clear improvement in lap times.

We came away with a win, 2nd, 4th and a 6th running in with some decent British Championship young lads too (Every one of them is a flipping loon, 3 out of the 4 of them crashed over the weekend!)

We have a few changes that we are going to do to the chassis and clutch plus riding position before the next time we go there so we hope to improve again.

In other news, Wurz has today collected the Superbike from Honda and also been to Maxton to have the new suspension fitted.

He is coming down to my place tomorrow so we can start work on the her and drool over her for a while.

Next test will be 4/5th April at Castle Combe alongside the Factory team of John and Guy. We will have the 600 and Superbike for this test but not the Stocker. Latest on the Stocker is that we could now have it early April. It has gone well past a joke of how hard it is to get hold of one but we have the other bikes to keep us occupied in the meantime….

I’ll hopefully have a new sponsor to announce to you all very soon both as a sponsor to me personally and also to the team for the Superstock bike as main sponsor.

Dan Hegarty

To learn more about Held in the UK please visit 

www.held-uk.co.uk

WIN! Gino Rea's actual Philip Island Held race suit

The start of the season switch for Great Britain racer and Held wearer Gino Rea from Moto2 to World SuperSport has meant Gino has a race suit that is surplus to requirements, as such!

So, we've teamed up with Gino Rea and are offering the actual suit Gino wore in practice and qualifying over at Phillip Island as a one-off SUPERB giveaway!

World SuperSport racer Gino Rea in the actual suit we're giving away

Above is Gino in practice wearing the actual suit that's up for grabs. He's also wearing it in the piture below:

Prize: Gino Rea's race suit. One careful owner..

On top of this, we're also giving away this super signed AGT Rea Racing print, yep, you've guessed it, signed by Gino!

AGT Rea Racing Print, signed by World SuperSport racer Gino Rea

Increase your chances of winning!

This giveaway is run by Held UK (The leathers!) in association with Gino Rea (The man himself), Raceprint Artwork & Design (The designers) and Jap4Performance (Kind Sponsors of the print)

So, multiple people involved means multiple chances of winning. Here's what to do:

On Facebook:

Make sure you 'like' the following pages and have 'liked' and 'shared' the post leading to the blog. The blog post will be on:

Held (click here)

Gino Rea Official (click here)

Jap4Performance (click here)

Raceprint Artwork & Design (click here)

On Twitter:

Make sure you 'follow' the following accounts and have re-tweeted the post leading to the blog. The blog tweet will be on:

@heldbikegear

@ginorea

@jap4performance

@RacePrintsUK

So, go visit the pages / accounts above, get clicking and join in ! Someone HAS to win the leathers and the print!

If any of the posts / tweets are not live yet check back in a bit :) 

We'll choose the winner at random who has joined in as above on one of the accounts. The winner will be announced after the weekend of Gino's World SuperSport UK race at Donington Park at the end of the month! 

Held Keltor Protector Waistcoat- Michael Dunlop's 2015 TT choice

Not only will Michael Dunlop be wearing Held Titan Evo Gloves at the TT this year (and more races), but he will also be wearing the Held Keltor protector waistcoat, RRP £129.99. Ladies sizes too! Protects: Shoulders, Ribs, Chest, Back, Cocyx..

Held Keltor protector waistcoat (rear view)

Keltor

Protector waistcoat Art. 9481

Outer shell
breathable Lycra mesh panels (80% nylon, 20% spandex)

Lining
3D air mesh panels (100% polyester) in back to promote air circulation
hypoallergenic sweat-wicking mesh covering

Fit/features
DIN 1621-2 certified
anatomically shaped, flexible back protection
V-shaped design for excellent shoulder protection
coccyx protector
removable protector
washable
body-hugging waist belt with wide Velcro closure

Held Keltor protector waistcoat (front view)

Protection
SAS-TEC® coccyx protection
EN 1621-2 CE-approved SAS-TEC® back protector
SAS-TEC® breast protection
rib protector made in special foam

Color
black-green

Sizes
S (64x33), M (64x33), L (69x34), XL (69x34), XXL (76x35)

Ladies sizes too! Perfect :)

Sizes Ladies

DXS, DS, DM, DL, DXL

To see more about Held in the UK, including our 2015 collection and a list of UK stockists please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

NEWS: HELD WEARER TRAYLER SET FOR SUPERSTOCK RETURN WITH MSS COLCHESTER KAWASAKI

TRAYLER SET FOR SUPERSTOCK RETURN WITH MSS COLCHESTER KAWASAKI

Essex-based racer Jesse Trayler will make his return to the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship this season after teaming up with the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team as he prepares for one of the biggest seasons of his career.

Jesse Trayler- looking ready in his Held gear!

Trayler from Dunmow in Essex, has been establishing himself in the class in previous seasons, but teaming up with the Colchester-based squad gives him the best opportunity to move to the next level as he prepares for the season to get underway at Donington Park at Easter.

Trayler said: “I am absolutely ecstatic to be reunited with the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team for the 2015 season in which we will be making a full assault on the Superstock 1000 title. It's great to have Colchester Kawasaki on our side as I feel I can give them the coverage and exposure that is expected from me as a rider on, and off the track professionally.

“It's such a fantastic opportunity for me riding for such a professional squad, for that I have had some of my best results for in the past riding with them last in 2009. I am confident we can be a force to be reckoned with this year and I feel fitter, more experienced and ready than ever for this season. And especially having MSS performances very own in house Built ZX10R which I know are built to the highest meticulous quality."

Team Owner Nick Morgan said: “Everyone knows that racing is addictive and as a team we were forced to stop prematurely in 2012 with the economical climate. However this has enabled us to have a bit of a restructure and now the business is back in a position to go racing as a team and do it properly. We have worked with Jesse before so it is great to have him back onboard and we will see what we can do to add to the other results we have had in the past as team.”

Colchester Kawasaki, Managing Director, Luke Gregory commented: “This announcement is great news for MSS as it has been a few seasons since we have had our own team in the British Championship paddock, although we have been supporting riders in different classes. The biggest question we get asked by our customers is what is happening with the racing, so for us this is a fantastic update for our fans, customers and staff. We have high hopes for Jesse and have had success in the series before, so we will be working hard again for more results.”

If you'd like to learn more about the gear that Jesse and many other racers wear, the award winning Held range can be seen at www.held-uk.co.uk

British Electric Motorcycle Land Speed Record set by Held wearers

SAIETTA AND DARVILL RACING SET THE FIRST BRITISH ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE LAND SPEED RECORD

Saietta R demonstrates top performance and sets benchmark for electric road motorcycles:

The first British Electric Motorcycle Land Speed Record set by Saietta and Darvill Racing – a British made motorcycle and a British race team. 

New British Land Speed Record for Darvill Racing and Saietta

The Record was set at British National Records event at Elvington Airfield In Yorkshire on 17th May 2014.

Darvill Racing, a British racing team, have been successfully racing since 1960s and is now enjoying a resurgence.

Saietta R is one of the world’s leading British premium electric urban sports motorcycle brands, designed and made in London.

British electric urban sports motorcycle brand, Saietta R, in partnership with Darvill Racing, made history today by setting the first ACU sanctioned British Land Speed Record for electric motorcycles for the ‘Yorkshire Mile’ at British National Records event at Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire. Saietta R production model achieved its top speed of 101 mph when it made the record. Agility Motors has designed the Saietta R from the ground up, with the mission to create the most rewarding urban sports motorcycle experience and is developing a race bike model which will achieve record-setting speeds.

Well done!! 


To see The Held range of motorcycle equipment and clothing please click here

One piece look from a two piece suit- Held Yagusa

If you love the look, fit and safety of one-piece motorcycle leathers but often wish they could 'split' in the middle for convenience then the Held Yagusa is worth a look!

It's a race-spec two piece suit, based on Held's famous 'Slade' one-piece suit- as seen at race circuits and on the roads!

The Held Yagusa- in Black, Black/White, Black/White/Red RRP £899.99

The Yagusa is priced at £899.99 and offers excellent value for money. Take a look at the features:

Outer shell
• kangaroo leather (approx. 40%) / cowhide

Lining
• 3D comfort foam (100% polyester)
• breathable mesh inner lining (100% polyester)

Fit/features
• 2 inner pockets
• KEVLAR stretch panels at arm, crotch & back of knee
• stretch leather panels at knees, back & shoulders
• knee sliders
• front air-vent zipper
• cuff in stretch material

Protection
• EN 1621-1 CE-approved SAS-TEC 3D
shoulder & elbow protectors
• exclusive EN 1621-1 CE-approved Held cloverleaf SAS-TEC knee protectors
• titanium protectors on shoulders, elbows & knees
• double stitched
• KEVLAR stretch panels at under- and inner arms, crotch & calves
• double leather reinforcement on seat
• optional austauschbar mit CE Protektor Art. 9316
• EN 1621-1 approved SAS-TEC 3D protection on hips
• EN 1621-2 CE-approved SAS-TEC back protector
• SAS-TEC coccyx protection
• Velcro for optional breast protector, art. 9280
• hard plastic reinforcement at forearm
‘engineered by Skill Skin track performance’

Sizes
48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60
only in black 01 in stocky: 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
only in black 01 and black-white 14 in slim:
98, 102, 106, 110, 114

The Held Yagusa two piece motorcycle leather suit

With words such as 'Kangaroo', 'Kevlar',  'Titanium' and 'SAS-TEC' you can already see the value for money. The feel and fit of the suit as well oozes quality and is super comfortable. The jacket and trousers zip together to complete the one-piece feel. It's great though to be able to take the jacket off if you need to!!

To see the Yagusa in our online catalogue you'll need flash player and to navigate to page 24 here

For a list of UK stockists of Held please click here

Held wearer Tom Weeden Oliver’s Mount Gold Cup

Held wearer Tom Weeden signed off his debut road racing season in fine form at the Oliver’s Mount Gold Cup road races last weekend. The 19 year old was certainly in good company with most of the big TT names attending; Tom was up against the likes of John Mcguinness, Michael and William Dunlop, Guy Martin and Bruce Anstey to name a few. Tom entered the 3 races and was certainly kept busy jumping between 2 bikes all weekend. 

Weeden: Overtook Michael Dunlop in style

 He was entered in the Supertwin races on the Trickbits FBM Performance Suzuki SV650 and also in both the David Jeffries 600cc class and the Darren Lindsay Trophy on his own Triumph 675. Tom was racing against 1000cc bikes in the Darren Lindsay Trophy but was confident that if it was wet, as the forecast said it would be, then he was in with a good chance of a decent result.

Practice went well on both bikes. In the initial practice sessions Tom went 6th fastest on his Triumph and 3rd fastest on the SV650, this was certainly a confidence boost going into qualifying and into the races. Weeden went 11th fastest in the 600 qualifying session and 13th fastest in the Supertwin session but was confident that if he got off the line well he good push for a decent result from there. 

Tom made a good start in the 1st of the Supertwin races and soon started to make up places. He crossed the line in 8th position at the end of lap 1 and momentarily dropped back to 9th before reclaiming the place back. Tom put some consistent laps together before putting his fastest lap of the race in on the last lap to cross the line in 8th behind Chris Palmer. 

Next up was the Darren Lindsay Trophy for bikes of 600cc and above. Weeden was starting at the back of the grid and so just decided to have fun and treat it as a bit of practice. He made a good start again, however on the first few laps his brakes were not working properly causing him to run wide at the hairpins. He still managed to pull the bike home in 17th place after 8 laps around the Olivers Mount road circuit but was adamant he should have finished higher if it wasn’t for the brake issue. 

In the David Jeffries Cup Tom finished 8th in both the Heat race and the first leg, but had sorted out the brake problem and was confident that he could produce a good finish in the second leg on Sunday. 

Tom only completed 1 of the two available practice sessions on Sunday morning in order to save the only set of wet tyres the team had for the races. He completed 2 laps on his Triumph and went 9th fastest and then posted the fastest time in the Supertwin session after pulling in after only 3 laps. This boosted Tom’s confidence and he knew that if it was wet for the races then he was in for a good chance of a decent result. 

After 1 lap of the 2nd leg of the Darren Lindsay Trophy the rain started to come down whilst all the riders were on dry tyres. Tom pulled in hoping to be allowed to change to wets and that the race would be restarted. The race was then halted before half distance which meant a full race restart would be made. A lot of the riders felt it was a passing shower and went for intermediate tyres or drys for the restart, Tom however decided to risk it and kept the wet tyres on hoping it would rain again otherwise he would chew up his only set of wets. From the very back on the grid Tom had nothing to lose and everything to gain and decided to go for it for the 3 lap restart. 

After 1 lap Tom had moved up into 10th. Then on the second lap the rain came down and Tom decided to gas it and make up as many places as possible. Weeden found himself in 5th going into the last lap and decided to just keep his head down and stay focused in the difficult conditions. 

On the last half of the lap he caught up with the TT stars on their 1000cc bikes and snapped up the opportunity to overtake such high profile names. Tom moved up into 2nd place, overtaking Michael Dunlop around the outside into one of the hairpins and was ecstatic as he crossed the line to take 2nd from very last on the grid. 

Tom was next out for the second leg of the David Jeffries 600 Cup. From 12th on the grid, Tom made good progress on the first lap and crossed the line in 9th position. On lap 3 Weeden moved into 8th position and set his sights on the next rider in front of him. On the fifth lap he moved into 7th place and put in some fast laps to gap the riders behind. Tom crossed the line in 7th and then was straight back out in the next race on his Supertwin bike. 

The last Supertwin race had to be restarted twice after two incidents occurred on the track. But once they got away Tom made a great start and slotted into 4th place on lap 1. The rider in front narrowly avoided highsiding in front of Tom and he had to quickly make avoiding action as he slotted up into 3rd place. He remained there for the remainder of the race to take another top 3 finish and end the season on a high. 

Tom left the Oliver’s Mount road circuit over the moon with the results he had achieved and he can’t wait to return next year.





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

Donington: Solid 4th Place for Held wearer Joe Burns

Solid 4th Place for Joe Burns 

Joe Burns at Donington- Jon Jessop Photography

Friday free practice and qualifying 1 turned out to be a complete washout, in free practice Joe used old wet tyres and achieved 24th fastest time, qualifying 1 was little better more rain, but with new wet tyres Joe cruised to 20th.  There being little point in taking risks, as the forecast for the weekend was for dry weather.

Saturday was indeed dry and sunny, and qualifying 2 was much more representative of Joe’s abilities, he was 3rd fastest in a very competitive 46 bike session, so the race would include a valuable front row start place. The top four riders were within 0.35 seconds of each other.

Warm up on race day and Joe put in the 2nd fastest time, showing once again that he is highly competitive in this race series.

In the race Hudson Kennaugh got the best start and into turn 1 Joe was dropped to 4th place but in a very tight group, for the next 8 laps he chased Victor Cox and at one point took third place, only to lose it at the next corner.

Joe’s front tyre began to lose grip and he came home in an excellent fourth place, just 4.6 seconds behind Coxa good intelligent ride that sees Joe rise to 8th in the championship.
Superstock now has a three week break until we race again at Silverstone.

 To see more about Joe Burns click here

To see more about Held Rider Equipment that Joe wears click here