Race Report: Held wearer Sean Neary, Ducati 848 challenge

Race Report – Round 3 – Snetterton 300

Race 1: 14th
Race 2: 10th 

Sean Neary, Ducati 848 challenge racer and Held wearer

It’s been a very eventful two weeks that’s for sure. We competed in the W 100 Powerbike Championship the weekend prior to Snetterton and it looked as if we would skip the Snetterton round while searching for a further sponsor to assist the team. 

A big crash at Anglesey on 30th July meant the bike sustained some damage but thanks to my Held suit I escaped with cuts and bruising but no breaks thankfully. On the Monday night I received a call from Charlie at Arclid Power who said he would make it possible for us to get to Snetterton, if I wanted to ride. 

Now if anybody asks me do I want to ride you know what the answer is! Charlie ordered the parts we needed from JHP Ducati Coventry and Cheadle Autobodies repaired the panels for us. I took a week off training as I didn’t have much movement in my neck and also heavy bruising on the hips. Thanks to the whole team we managed to get the bike repaired and off to Norfolk we went.

Sean's Held Phantom II gloves clearly visible

Many of my competitors had been testing the previous week at Snetterton so we knew we would be up against it. We tried yet another spring in the rear shock so practice was used to try and tweak this and remember which way the circuit goes. 

Qualifying turned out to be interesting to say the least. We changed gearing on Friday night and unfortunately the lads didn’t tighten the rear wheel. We left pit lane and 200 yards later the rear wheel locked against the swinging arm meaning we didn’t even get a lap in during qualifying. After some pleading with the organisers to let me in the race they agreed to let me start at the back although I hadn’t even completed a lap. The mechanics were distraught at their error but these things happen and I am 110% sure it won’t happen again!

Race 1
Starting from the back of the grid and needing some serious track time was never going to help. I battled through to 14th from the back of the grid. The positives are that I made up a good number of places but I will never enjoy finishing 14th! Enough said.

Race 2
I started race 2, 15th on the grid and after a good battle for 10th I managed to finish in 10th. After the disaster of qualifying if somebody had offered me a top 10 I would have taken it. We also tried a new rear spring again this weekend which was much more positive. A few more tweaks and we will be back challenging for the top 5 and hopefully higher for the Oulton Park round. In addition with assistance from Motul we now have the front braking issue solved and the team know exactly what to do to ensure they stay strong throughout the race.

To summarise it was certainly a tough weekend but the way my team worked after the qualifying session gave me great faith for the remainder of the season. My sponsors once again pulled together to get us there and as always I am truly grateful. With Arclid Power now on board for the remainder of the season in addition to our existing sponsors it should give the team more stability. I am now in training for my Calais to Amsterdam cycle at the end of the month so I will be in fighting fit shape for Brands! Let’s av it!

Thank you all
Sean #10



To find out more about the gear Sean wears please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

7th Place for Held wearer Joe Burns at Snetterton

National Superstock 1000 racer Joe Burns and his Held leathers

 Soaring temperatures at Snetterton Circuit over the weekend helped encourage a huge crowd of spectators to come and watch for some excellent racing, with the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship continuing to maintain its strength with 54 entries.
Qualifying 1 took place on Friday afternoon, with Joe still learning the Snetterton 300 track layout, the resulting 8th fastest time was just 7 tenths off the table topping time set by Jimmy Storrar who was riding a BMW, a bike well suited to the long straights of this circuit. 

Saturday brought a continuation of the good weather, and Qualifying 2 was held just after midday, by the time the chequered flag came out Joe had posted the 6th fastest time giving him a combined qualifying grid position of 7th for the feature race on Sunday.
Joe did not get the best of starts and fell back into 11th place, however by lap 3 he had moved up to 10th and then the race was interrupted by a safety car for 3 laps whilst a fallen rider and bike where recovered, by lap 13 Joe had made it to 7th place where he would finish the race. 

After the race Joe said "I came here not expecting a great deal, it not a favourite circuit of mine, so to finish 7th is better than I expected, but this is a long season and I have held onto 2nd place in the Championship."
 
The result keeps Joe in second place, the gap has opened up to 25 points between 1st and 2nd place, but closed down to just 1 point between 2nd and 3rd . A satisfying result, the next race takes place at Brands Hatch on July 19/20/21

For more information on Held motorcycle clothing, Held motorcycle helmets and Held motorcycle accessories please visit www.held-uk.co.uk

Held gloves - how they are made

Held gloves. Many awards, huge amounts of great feedback. Here's how we make 'em. Here's why they're good!

Grading

Every single piece of cowhide, kangaroo pelt and stingray skin is checked by hand – often by Erhard Held or his son Christian Held personally. Hides are very rarely perfect, but any faults such as marks from barbed wire, thorns or ticks are identified and the piece rejected. The leather is then soaked so that it can be stretched for punching, to ensure that the finished items will not lose its shape with use.

Punching


All Held gloves are punch cut. This is far more precise and provides a cleaner edge than cutting with scissors. A costly, sharpened metal die must be fabricated for each leather section. And when you consider that a pair of Held Phantom gloves has 156 individual sections, this means we need a lot of cutters! It then takes 18 minutes to punch out each pair.

Moulding

We only use carbon fibre of the highest grade, which we punch-cut and pressure mould ourselves to ensure a perfect fit. Once cut, each piece is heated to 450˚C and then subjected to 40 tons of pressure and shaped over our custom moulds. These custom protectors are often underlain with shock absorbing gel and sometimes even overlaid with Titanium.

Stitching

Each pair of gloves take a highly skilled machinist 90 minutes of sewing time.

Finishing

Finally every single Held glove is carefully formed on hot irons to create the perfect ergonomic fit. Once this is achieved, the material and workmanship of each one is carefully inspected. If even the slightest irregularity is detected, the glove will be rejected.

There! Hope you found that interesting. We'll be blogging lots more from now on - so please be sure to check back. Meanwhile, if you'd like to know more about Held, our range, our stockists etc please visit www.held-uk.co.uk 

Pics: c Held GmbH; schöffel design

c Held GmbH; schöffel design

JPS Norton replicas in the pipeline

JPS Norton, time to raid the piggy bank

Forty years after winning the 1973 F750 TT, Peter Williams is to build 25 replicas of his winning JPS Norton. The legendary motorcycle development engineer and former dealer who introduced the first viable cast wheels, disc brakes and beam frames to racing, has put a price tag of £65,000 on the replicas.

The engines are to be built by renowned Northampton Norton specialist Mick Hemmings, using all new parts, including Williams’ own design cams. Only four of the original JPS Nortons were built and these are now valued in excess of £250,000 which, says Williams, puts the replica price into perspective.

Williams said the project will be used to raise working capital for the development of a new model with a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis. He produced the first prototype in conjunction with Lotus and development is underway for low volume production. For more information tel 01327 220534; info@peterwilliamsmotorcycles.com

For some superb motorcycle clothing to accompany that imminent JPS Norton purchase please visit 
www.held-uk.co.uk

Burns Takes 2nd at Knockhill

Held Wearer Joe Burns took his third podium of the season in the 2013 Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship, a great result that sees him consolidate his 2nd position in the Championship table and closing the gap to just 14 points behind Adam Jenkinson. 

Held wearer Joe Burns, left, on the podium at Knockhill. Image: Double Red

The Knockhill weather lived up to form and over the three days of the race weekend it varied from dry and bright to wet, free practice was cloudy but dry and Joe was second in his group by 3/10ths of a second, qualifying 1 was also dry but overcast and Joe took advantage of the conditions to put in a time that gave him 3rd place in his group and 5th overall. 

Qualifying 2 took place in damp conditions and Joe decided that the times were not going to be faster in comparison to qualifying 1, so he cruised to an easy 7th fastest on the day, his decision was correct and he was rewarded with 5th place on the grid for the feature race, middle of row 2. 

Race day was bright and sunny and Joe made an excellent start moving up to 4th place at the second corner, Tristan Palmer also got away well and took a lead which he proceeded to extend, whilst Joe, Adam Jenkinson and Hudson Kennaugh fought over second, third and fourth places. 

On lap 2 Joe moved up to 3rd and then took 2nd place on lap 8, he then proceeded to hunt down Tristan Palmer who was 1.8 seconds ahead, Joe was taking a tenth of a second a lap out of the lead, closing to within half a second by lap 17. The race looked to be shaping up for a thrilling finish, and a potential win for Joe, but sadly it was red flagged on lap 18. 

After the race Joe said: It was disappointing that the red flag came out, I felt really good and was closing down Tristan, I think he was struggling with tyre wear, but my JG Speedfit Kawasaki was just mega and I think I could have taken my first win of the season! 

Held wearer Joe Burns: 2nd in the championships

The result takes Joe to within 14 points of the Championship lead and also extends the gap to 17 points between 2nd and 3rd position. A good result, the next race takes place at Snetterton on July 5/6/7. 

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

2nd Podium of 2013 for Held wearing racer Joe Burns

Following the most horrendous rain and wind on Friday, the weekend weather changed completely and Donington Park enjoyed warm and sunny conditions for the Saturday and Sunday of the World Superbike meeting. 

Held wearer Joe Burns - National Superstock 1000 2nd place at the WSBK event

On Friday Joe sat out the free practice sessions as the weather was just crazy, there was a brief respite for about 6 laps of the qualifying 1, and Joe took advantage of the only 5 dry laps to set the second fastest time of the day. 

The 40 riders entered for the race took to the track on Saturday for the 2nd qualifying session, making the ‘traffic’ quite difficult, despite two stops at the pits during the session, Joe just could not get a clear lap, and he was a little disappointed to only qualify 3rd. But this secured a front row of the 3 by 3 grid, a good place to be. 

From the start of the race Joe took second place behind Steve Brogan, however with an excellent move Joe took the lead, and a lap later Adam Jenkinson moved up to second, the leading trio then lapped consistently with less than 1 second covering all three of them. 

A small mistake by Joe coming into the esses was pounced on by Jenkinson, and Joe was now second, a position he held to the end of the race, clearly the leading three were in a class of their own, the gap between first and second across the finish line being just 0.340 of second. 

After the race Joe said, ‘I did not get the start I wanted, but getting into second place on the entry to Redgate was good, I managed to take the lead on lap 3, but made a mistake and fell back to second, a good race and I am very happy with the result, especially as I am now second in the championship!’ 

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

Superb Held Sports Touring Gloves - just £54.99

If you're looking for some superb gloves now the weather is (finally) warming up but don't want to break the bank why not consider the Held Troy? At just £54.99 (RRP) and available in mens AND ladies sizes they offer superb value, comfort, style and safety.

Held Troy Motorcycle Glove - RRP just £54.99

Let's look at a few more details:

Sporty touring motorcycle gloves with a perfect price ticket. Goatskin palms make for good grip, supple cowhide back and leather covered knuckles provide protection. These gloves are unlined for summer use. In our book: Comfort to just hop on and ride off.

• Goatskin palm
• Supple cowhide back of hand
• Colourfast and sweat proof
• Leather covered hard plastic knuckle protector
• Knuckle protection backed with Temperfoam
• Reinforced edge of hand and thumb
• Superfabric reinforcement on fingers and edge of hand

Held Troy motorcycle gloves- many colour options available

Check out the full spec on page 185 of our online catalogue: http://held.de/livebook_english_2013/index_livebook_english_2013.html

For our main website including a dealer locator please click HERE