Last weekend was round 3 for Lamonde Racing's 2024 season with the British Motorcycle Racing Club (BEMSEE). Matt, Tom & Leigh were fired up, ready to race, however, Friday's practice was a washout, so rather than risk a wet practice, they sat it out with better weather due to arrive on Saturday, all three riders have ridden at Snetterton many times, so practice was a "nice to have" rather than a necessity; risk vs reward.
First up for the weekend, was Tom - unfortunately, his Supersport 600 is currently sat on the naughty step having some engine work done after it had a sulk at round 2, finishing the weekend firing on 3, this meant that this weekend, Tom was using his stock Yamaha R6, which is a fair few hp down on the Supersport. In spite of this handicap Tom qualified on a damp in places track 15th in class, converting that to a 5th place finish, race 2 saw Tom bag another 5th, in race 3, Tom was beaten into 6th place by #28 Tom Walker, race 4 saw Tom cross the line less than half a second behind Walker for 5th. Four races chalked up and with championship points to boot, well done Tom!
Matt qualified on pole for race 1 in Thunderbike Sport, and Leigh 17th (Leigh had entered Thunderbike sport as his bike is eligible for this class too, albeit down on power to most of the rest of that class).
Matt brought home a comfortable win in race 1, with second place 10.475 seconds behind ahead of #69, Tony Russo, having put in the fastest lap of race 1, Matt was again on pole for race 2, bringing in the win 11.953 seconds ahead of Tony Russo. Race 3, held on Sunday, Matt was informed from the pit wall that he had another rider hot on his heels, #16 Jason Loomes. Jason crossed the line 0.781 seconds after Matt, however, he got a 10 second jump-start penalty, lucky for Jason, that in spite of this he retained his 2nd place on the podium. Race 4 saw Matt round off his weekend with another win, 4.628 seconds ahead of Russo. Well done Matt for a clean-sweep over the weekend, heading into round 4 next month leading the championship with 286 points.
Leigh entered Thunderbike sport to get some more valuable track-time and practice for the MRO Minitwin class that he is contending. After qualifying 17th for race 1 Leigh brought in 14th, race 2 14th, race 3 12th, and race 4 9th, a great set of results mixing it up with more powerful machines. Well done Leigh!
Leigh's main class is the MRO Minitwin class, which is fiercely competitive with identical machines battling it out on a very even playing field. Leigh qualified 14th for race 1, finishing 12th, race 2 saw Leigh cross the line 14th, race 3, 13th and race 4 a well-fought 12th. Four races in the weekend, each attracting championship points. Well done again Leigh!
The next round is at Donington Park National: 1-2 June 2024.