Buxton racer leaps to second in Championship

Glorious weather heralded the first Qualifying session on the Friday morning, where Chris was only able to put in a time good enough for 7th place on the grid. The start of Race 1 saw the Buxton man engaged in a first lap squabble with several other riders but manage to get up to 3rd place. As the race began to settle down and gaps emerged the 2 leaders began to pull away and a massive fight for the final podium spot took place with 3 riders swapping places and racing very close to each other, often mere centimetres apart. As the laps counted down the fight looked like going all the way to the line when, on the last lap, one of the leading duo had engine issues, came into sight and was passed before the final corner. Exiting the corner, Chris had a good run but was unable to capitalise before the line and finished in 3rd place by just 0.05s. “That was a great battle but I misjudged the last corner and lost the chance of a second place. Even so, I’m happy with my performance and I improved my lap times by 3 seconds from qualifying”

Race 2 on the Saturday morning once again saw beautiful sunny conditions with the local man starting from the front of the second row in 4th place. Unfortunately, an incident involving 3 riders from the other class caused a red flag to be shown and a shortened race was rerun. This time Chris got a great start and took the lead on the run to the second corner but lost it on the straight to the hairpin. Once again a 3 way battle for the final podium place raged throughout the race and was only settled at the final corner when Chris was able to outbrake his opponent and get to the line ahead. “That was another close battle. None of us could pull a gap so I was just hoping to get into position to put a move on the guy in front at the last corner and it came off, so I’m happy with another 3rd place”

The final race of the weekend was looking like being another 3 way fight for the last podium place, but mechanical issues for both the previous front runners meant that Chris was involved in a fight for the win. As before the same 3 riders raced very close and many overtakes were being made. After 3 laps, Chris decided to hold back and watch the other 2 fight it out, in the hope they may impede each other. A gap behind meant he was safe from attack and spent 2 laps following the battle ahead. Then with 2 laps to go he made his move and overtook both riders at the last corner to lead across the line. Then, as is usual with MZ racing, he was repassed and was in 2nd place until half way around the lap, when an incident brought out the red flags and the race was stopped. The result was taken from the previous lap and Chris declared the winner. “I’m really chuffed to take the win! My plan to sit back and then go for the lead towards the end of the race worked out and fortunately I was ahead at the crucial moment. I’ve scored more points at this round than any other MZ rider and have moved up into 2nd place. It’s just a shame that I will have to miss the next 2 rounds due to work commitments”