18th May 2008 - Lester Goodwin Memorial - Tonbridge
On May 18th was the Lester Goodwin International Memorial Meeting at Collier Street in Kent. There was a very emotional and moving start to the day with 1 Minute of continuous applause for Lester Godwin.
Both practices went well and after a short wait it was time for my first race. I knew that the outside gates would be an advantage however heat one saw me in gate three. It wasn’t the best but I finished a respectable fifth amongst an International field. In heat two I started from the outside in gate eight. I made a great start and went into the back straight in second but pushing Glenn Phillips. The race however was stopped on the next bend due to an incident. When the race was finally re-run again I had a god start and after pressurising Mitch Godden for the last two laps finished third. In my final heat I was in gate four. Again this wasn’t the best of gates but I did my best for the four laps and finished fifth. This ensured me a place in the B Final.
The B Final was the biggest race of the day for me. With seven of the eight finalists already through to the A Final there was one place left, and that was for the winner of the B Final. I had fourth pick of gate so I went as far out as I could. I had my best start of the day and went into the first lap in the lead but was being chased hard by Robert Baumann from Germany. The race was between the two of us and it was very tight, however on the last bend of the final lap he took a tighter line than me and unfortunately took the win by a couple of inches.
I was very disappointed to be beaten by such a short distance but on reflection I had a very good day when you look at the list of International riders who I was competing against. I did myself proud and learnt new things which was my aim and the start of the day.
Photo: Mike Gordon Photography