Held Racer Report: Leon Jeacock, National Superstock 1000, Oulton Park

Leon and Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing returned to Oulton Park for the second time in the Pirelli National SuperStock 1000 Championship season. A real riders track that Leon enjoys and was looking to continue his recent run of good form and consolidate his top ten position in the Championship. Both free practices held on the Friday were in wet and rainy conditions. 

Leon excelled in both sessions and you could tell he was enjoying the conditions as he posted a fourth and a sixth in the respective sessions. The team and Leon were confident for the all-important qualifying session on Saturday morning. An outstanding performance by Leon saw him take tenth position on the grid for race one. Another good opportunity to score some solid points again. 

Leon in action at Oulton Park. Photo: Neil Pidduck

Making a great start in race one Leon made three places up on the opening lap and was riding well within himself and a good pace. Just off the leading group he held seventh position until late in the race when he slipped to eighth place and took eight points. 

Confident of another good result in race two bad luck struck Leon and the team. Starting eighth in race two he made another great start and was up to fifth place on lap one and looking forward to moving further up the field. Lap three Leon felt a problem with the rear of the Suzuki and was losing grip badly and as he came in the first corner on lap five Leon crashed out finishing the weekend with a DNF, a result that his efforts certainly didn't deserve. 

The final round at Brands Hatch in a months time certainly cannot come quick enough for the team to finish the season on a high. There is of course the small matter of Leon racing in the Dutch Superbike Championship very soon in Assen! 

Held are pleased to support and supply Leon Jeacock and Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing. 
To learn more about Held in the UK please visit 

www.held-uk.co.uk

Held Racer Report: Leon Jeacock, Geo E Davies and Smirk Racing, Silverstone

Leon and the Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing Team rolled into Silverstone for the latest round of the Pirelli National SuperStock 1000 Championship. This was a weekend of considerable progress for the team and left with confidence sky-high. A change from the norm as the Silverstone National circuit was being used instead of the GrandPrix layout due to the MotoGP debacle a couple of weeks before.

Leon quickly settled into a good rhythm on the National circuit and was inside the top ten in both free practice sessions. Having found a good set up this all went out the window for the qualifying session on Saturday morning as it was held in wet conditions, however Leon put in a faultless display and took a brilliant fifth place on the grid for the first of the triple header race weekend.

Leon took a ninth place finish in race one after losing a number of places in the closing stages as his tyre started to delaminate. This problem would rear its head all weekend. Race two proved fruitful for Leon again as he battled hard and came in eleventh place gaining valuable points after more tyre issues. 

Race three was held on Sunday and once again he was in the mix and put in a gritty performance as his tyre gave up laps before the end of the race. He made it a clean sweep of points finishes in the three races by taking twelfth place.

The outstanding performance of Leon and the team over the weekend have pushed him into the Top Ten of the Championship which is well deserved. Speaking after the round Leon said “Overall it was a great weekend for the team as it showed our pace and I am happy with the results despite the tyre problems which held us back in the races.

Held are pleased to support and supply Leon Jeacock and Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing. 
To learn more about Held in the UK please visit 

www.held-uk.co.uk

Held Racer Report: Leon Jeacock, National Superstock 1000, Cadwell Park

The latest round of the Pirelli National Superstock1000 Championship was held at the highly challenging Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire. Leon and the Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing team were looking to continue the good form at a circuit that isn’t a particular favourite of Leon’s. It was going to be a tough weekend but at the end a fruitful one for rider and team in more ways than one.

Leon Jeacock, Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing

Free practice one went well for Leon as he found a good set up and put in competitive

lap times and took eighth fastest in the session. The team and Leon were pleased with the result and knew they had more to come with some changes to try. Session two went even better and he went significantly faster and finished in tenth position, confidence was soaring in Leon and the team for the qualifying session to be held on the Saturday. Leon went faster still in the sole qualifying session, despite this with the class being ultra- competitive he set a time good enough for tenth, a great effort by all.

Enthused with his weekend so far Leon was looking forward to the race and as he lined up tenth he knew he had the pace to take a good result. Dropping to eleventh on lap one then fell a further place back on lap two to twelfth place, Leon though was playing the long game and as the race went on he was running a good pace and on lap nine he jumped up two places to tenth and was closing in on ninth at the end of the race.

Leon said after “Overall we had a great weekend, in the top ten fastest in all sessions at a track that is my least favourite, we as a team are now looking forward to the next round at Silverstone with relish”

Held are pleased to support and supply Leon Jeacock and Geo E Davies & Smirk Racing. 
To learn more about Held in the UK please visit 

www.held-uk.co.uk

Held Racer Report: National Superstock 1000 Brands Hatch: Leon Jeacock

Leon and the Geo E Davies and Smirk Racing team returned to Brands Hatch for round six of the Pirelli National SuperStock1000 Championship. The Grand Prix layout was being used on this occasion (the Indy circuit having been used earlier in the season) After two points scoring finishes in the last round Leon was hoping for more success on a circuit he enjoys.

Free practice went well for Leon, finishing in the top ten in free practice one he then applied some changes in free practice two, this coupled with the rise in temperature in the afternoon sun resulted in thirteenth place, but had a good set up for the stand alone qualifying session to be held on Saturday morning for which the grid would be set for the two-part race later in the day. Qualifying went well for the team and Leon took eleventh place on the grid which was a third row place. 

Making a great start and tagging onto the lead pack Leon was settling into a good race pace when a mechanical problem caused him to pull out of the race which meant he couldn’t start the second part. The mood was deflated but the team knew they had the speed and set up for a good result in Sundays race.

Tenth on the grid for Leon once again gave him the chance to run with the leading group from the start and this he did. Making three places in the early laps he got stuck behind the sixth place rider for a sizeable part of the race and when he finally passed him the gap to the top five group was too big to bridge in the remaining laps. He crossed the line in sixth place which was his best result of the season for Leon and the team and they go onto Thruxton full of confidence and hoping to repeat this result.

Speaking after Leon said “we got the result we wanted, we came with the intention of a top ten finish and to get that after the disappointment of Saturdays mechanical woes where we couldn’t finish race one or start race two, the team are over the moon” adding “we move onto Thruxton now, another circuit I enjoy and we are aiming for a top five finish there, thanks to all the sponsors and team members for all their help hope they enjoy the result as much as I have”.

Held are pleased to support Leon Jeacock of 
Geo E Davies and Smirk Racing!

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!