27th July - ACU Best Pairs - SWeGA
Due to the cancelation of the 2007 Best Pairs, I went into the meeting as the reigning 350cc Champion. This year I competed in the 350cc Best Pairs with Richard Smith and in the 500cc Best pairs with Thomas Cooper.
After an incident in practice Tom’s bike was not able to be ridden so a few changes were made and he would compete on our spare bike for the meeting.
The 500cc title chase got off to a great start when in the first two heats Tom and I scored maximum points by finishing first and second in both heats. In our third heat we came up against John Jefferies and Martin Williams who like us had maximum point and were unbeaten. They made the better starts but on the third lap Tom was forced to retire with a mechanical problem whilst we were sitting comfortably in third and fourth. With a ten point deficit we headed into the semi final where we were in opposite races. In our semi final we finished in second and third position which put us six points behind John and Martin. Due to the incident in the semi final of the 1000cc sidecars the meeting was abandoned and the podium places were decided on points scored after the semi Finals. A very satisfactory second position on a very hot day
The defence of the 350’s also got off to an excellent start when like in the 500’s my partner (Richard Smith) and I scored maximum points in the first two heats with some excellent team riding, with one of us riding the outside line and the other racing on the inside making it very difficult to pass. We went into the third heat with a three point lead over Matt Etherington and Bob Dolman. However our one two winning combination was broken when I finished second and Richard finished fourth in a race that saw us four as the only riders. This put us level on 44 points heading into the final. Again, due to the incident in the semi final of the 1000cc sidecars, the podium places were decided on points and then count back. As Richard and I had two wins and three second positions compared to the two wins and two second places of Matt and Bob, we were crowned 2008 350cc British Best Pairs Champions
Photo: Mike Gordon Photography