UK (8/18/2010) - Comerton
Farm, Leuchars provided the venue for a double
header in the 2010 GOLDSPEED ACU British Quad
Championship at the weekend, Quad Racing Scotland
promoting rounds four and five of the seven
round series at the deep sand circuit on Saturday
the 14th and Sunday the 15th of August.
Travelling from their Comber base to the
challenging circuit just 40 miles north-east
of the Scottish capital, Justin Reid and the
Justwin Racing Can-Am crew were keen to maintain
the string of fantastic results recorded since
returning from injury four weeks earlier,
and despite a weekend fraught with bad luck
and frustration, Reid had overcome multiple
set-backs to move up to 18th in the overall
standings.
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| #14
Justin Reid's first race of Saturday
was plagued with disaster as his front
tires became flat & then more mechanical
issues were suffered later on in the
race as well - forcing him to retire
from the race |
With glorious sunshine overhead as Saturday’s
action got underway with the first of three
planned twenty-minute plus two-lap motos, Reid
got a fantastic start from his greatly handicapped
21st pick of gate rounding the first corner
in 5th as the twenty-nine strong field charged
out on the opening lap, but within two corners
luck deserted the former British Champion as
he picked up a puncture. Forced to ride almost
one mile of the deeply rutted circuit at a snails
pace, Reid dropped back to dead last as the
team frantically changed both front wheels,
setting off at a blistering pace to chase down
the leading group over a lap down. Using the
excellent handling of the Justwin Racing Can-Am
DS450 Xmx to tame the tough circuit, Reid moved
his way quickly in to a points scoring position
with three quarters of the race still to run
and more positions up for grabs, but unfortunately
his race was brought to an abrupt end when mechanical
gremlins struck, Reid dropping back out of the
points and forced to retire.
Taking his spare bike out for the second
heat, Reid struggled a little off the start
line and gated midpack as the field headed
out in a cloud of dust, but once again quickly
finding his rhythm and finding better lines
around the constantly changing circuit, Reid
began to rise up the leaderboard and by half
distance had moved in to the top ten. Continuing
his pursuit and maintaining his pace as he
mastered the terrain, Reid moved up to 7th
and became involved in a battle for 6th for
a few laps before losing momentum slightly
while negotiating back markers, settling for
7th at the chequered flag and a superb result.
With a 3rd block of races still to run and
the shadows lengthening rapidly, the organizing
club took the difficult decision to cut short
the days proceedings on the grounds of safety,
Reid finishing the day 12th overall and moving
inside the top twenty in the series.
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| Justin
Reid had slightly better luck in the
2nd moto of the day with a 12th place
overall finish on the day |
As the sun graced the paddock for yet another
days action on Sunday, in the first moto, Reid
got a good start from his 19th pick of gate
and headed out on the opening lap just inside
the top fifteen and began to work his way towards
the front, but unbelievably another puncture
left him with no alternative to retire from
the race for no score. A disappointing start
by his standards left Reid gating outside the
top twenty as the field swept around the first
corner in moto two, the sun baked powdery sand
rising in a wall of dust as the leading group
charged out on the opening lap.
Struggling to see a few feet in front of
his bike and not wanting to take unnecessary
risks in the early stages, Reid settled in
to a comfortable pace before increasing his
tempo as the field spread out and the dust
became more manageable, moving inside the
top fifteen with half the race run. Circulating
at a furious pace as the track came to him,
Reid continued to pick off places as the race
progressed, moving up to 11th as the chequered
flag came out after twenty-five hot and dusty
laps. With conditions continuing to deteriorate
and not wanting to jeopardise the upcoming
Pont De Vaux Mondial Du Quad meeting taking
place the following weekend, Reid made the
difficult decision not to take any further
part in the days proceedings and withdrew
from the final heat.
| |
| Justin
Reid decided to conserve his energy
for the upcoming Pont De Vaux in a few
week in France |
Reid commented after the event: "This is
a really tough track as is cuts up really rough
but it is nice and wide so there are multiple
lines around some of the corners which, luckily
for me, is good for passing! The punctures were
unlucky but it’s just one of those things
that can happen racing. The dust was absolutely
awful – I had to actually stop to check
that I was still on the track at the start of
the second moto. Unfortunately I had a few mechanical
issues with my spare bike towards the end of
that moto too, so I had to decide to call it
a day and was not able to make the start of
the third moto.’
|
Saturday
14th August, GOLDSPEED ACU British Quad
Championship Rd 4 |
|
Race One
- Paul Winrow
- Paul Holmes
- James Hellewell
- Jason Macbeth
- Mark Watson
|
- Paul Holmes
- Paul Winrow
- Jason Macbeth
- Carl Bunce
- James Hellewell
- 7th – JUSTIN REID Justwin
Racing Can-Am
|
Sunday 15th August, GOLDSPEED ACU
British Quad Championship Rd 5
Race One
