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On Thursday evening TeamAfterDark rolled into the paddock with high expectations for the coming weekend.
Frday test day went really well with James settling in very quickly on the Louigi Moto 749. By the third session, Kyle of Hawk suspension had the bike dialled in and James was up to race pace very quickly.
Unusually on race day, the Thunderbikes had to qualify due to having the Pro Thunderbikes on the grid with them. James settled in nicely and on lap 3 he started to up his pace. Lap 4 he took provisional pole from Steve Palmer, only for Steve to take it back on lap 5. James then dug in and put in an absolutely blistering lap 6 to take pole position 1.25 seconds ahead of the field.
As the lights went out for race one, James dropped into Paddok Hill bend ahead of the pack and never looked back. Lap on lap he pulled away from the field finishing nearly 10 seconds in front of 2nd place man Rob Eyre.
Unfortunately race 2 was cancelled due to delays throughout the day and was moved to Sunday morning.
Sunday came and the conditions were far from perfect, the rain was falling early and James was first race out. Luckily the rain stopped in time for the track to dry up during the morning warm up sessions, so race 1 was a dry track.
Once again James dropped into Paddock Hill in front of the pack but Steve Palmer wasn’t going to let James walk away with this one and a battle commenced with the number one slot changing back and forth between the two of them but James once again showed true determination and pushed into the lead and brought the Louigi Moto 749 home to the chequered flag.
Another shower came down not long before the 2nd race of the day, leaving the team with a decision - wets or slicks? With the track drying, it was decided with team and rider that slicks would be the option. As they lined up spots of rain started to fall on the riders visors but the lights went out and the pack pulled away. This time James didn’t have it all his own way and found himself in 3rd out of Paddock Hill but out the back of the circuit, James moved through to take the lead once again but a battle royal started with 3 riders all challenging James for the lead. The lead changed several times throughout the laps and James continued to pass the line in first place, then on lap 5 a big slide out the back of the circuit saw James relegated to 3rd spot with a lot of work to do on the final lap. Having to dig deep again James pushed and managed to come across the line in second after passing Martin Cooper out the back of the circuit.
Thankfully race 3 saw the sun shining and no sign of rain. After getting bulked on the first lap, James came round in 3rd on the 1st lap and then moved up to second by the end of lap 2 but had been gapped by the leader by about 1 second. James knew he had to get his head down and push if he was going to take the race win and as they crossed the line going into the 4th lap James posted the fastest time and was right on the tail of Steve Palmer. Yet again the two of them started trading the lead but with another big push on the last lap James crossed the line triumphant once again.
All in all it was a fantastic weekend for James and the Team.
Frday test day went really well with James settling in very quickly on the Louigi Moto 749. By the third session, Kyle of Hawk suspension had the bike dialled in and James was up to race pace very quickly.
Unusually on race day, the Thunderbikes had to qualify due to having the Pro Thunderbikes on the grid with them. James settled in nicely and on lap 3 he started to up his pace. Lap 4 he took provisional pole from Steve Palmer, only for Steve to take it back on lap 5. James then dug in and put in an absolutely blistering lap 6 to take pole position 1.25 seconds ahead of the field.
As the lights went out for race one, James dropped into Paddok Hill bend ahead of the pack and never looked back. Lap on lap he pulled away from the field finishing nearly 10 seconds in front of 2nd place man Rob Eyre.
Unfortunately race 2 was cancelled due to delays throughout the day and was moved to Sunday morning.
Sunday came and the conditions were far from perfect, the rain was falling early and James was first race out. Luckily the rain stopped in time for the track to dry up during the morning warm up sessions, so race 1 was a dry track.
Once again James dropped into Paddock Hill in front of the pack but Steve Palmer wasn’t going to let James walk away with this one and a battle commenced with the number one slot changing back and forth between the two of them but James once again showed true determination and pushed into the lead and brought the Louigi Moto 749 home to the chequered flag.
Another shower came down not long before the 2nd race of the day, leaving the team with a decision - wets or slicks? With the track drying, it was decided with team and rider that slicks would be the option. As they lined up spots of rain started to fall on the riders visors but the lights went out and the pack pulled away. This time James didn’t have it all his own way and found himself in 3rd out of Paddock Hill but out the back of the circuit, James moved through to take the lead once again but a battle royal started with 3 riders all challenging James for the lead. The lead changed several times throughout the laps and James continued to pass the line in first place, then on lap 5 a big slide out the back of the circuit saw James relegated to 3rd spot with a lot of work to do on the final lap. Having to dig deep again James pushed and managed to come across the line in second after passing Martin Cooper out the back of the circuit.
Thankfully race 3 saw the sun shining and no sign of rain. After getting bulked on the first lap, James came round in 3rd on the 1st lap and then moved up to second by the end of lap 2 but had been gapped by the leader by about 1 second. James knew he had to get his head down and push if he was going to take the race win and as they crossed the line going into the 4th lap James posted the fastest time and was right on the tail of Steve Palmer. Yet again the two of them started trading the lead but with another big push on the last lap James crossed the line triumphant once again.
All in all it was a fantastic weekend for James and the Team.
Additional Links :
TeamAfterDark Home site
TeamAfterDark blog
Contact Info
Team Manager,Tim WhitePhone : 07983400206
Email : whitetim136@gmail.com
