Tag: Jake Clark
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Jake Clark British Motostar Thruxton 2018
Jake Clark in the points at Thruxton
Jake Clark was back out on his Moto3 for Wilson Racing last weekend. Riding in the fourth round of the Hel Performance British Motostar Championship at Thruxton.
The Bromsgrove racer was looking for some positive results after the crash affected weekend at Brands Hatch.
Free Practice
In very hot conditions Clark made a successful start to the weekend. In free practice one he was eleventh quickest just a tenth outside the top ten. The hotter conditions in the afternoon didn’t enable Clark to improve on his morning’s time so he ended day one in the same position.
Qualifying
The fantastic weather continued as the standard class Moto3 machines took to the 2.4-mile circuit for the thirty-minute qualifying session. Clark continued to improve shaving a second off his best lap time from free practice. The standard class is extremely competitive and despite his lap time of 1:25.447 he would line up on the grid 13th and he was feeling.
Race One
After the start of the 12 lap race, Clark found himself behind the main group of riders. Although he was running the same pace he was unable to close up. In the final few laps he was battling with four other riders and crossed the line in 12th position.
Race Two
The second race was 14 laps of the Hampshire circuit. Overnight Clark and the team had decided to stiffen the suspension further and make other adjustments to suit Clark for race two. This time he was involved in a battle with Adi Behal. The two of them were swapping places throughout the race with Clark just losing out by 0.045 seconds at the line. He finished 12th.
Jake Clark said,” In qualifying I got in with some of the quicker riders so I was trying to follow their lead. But I was struggling with the front end so after qualifying we stiffened the bike right up. It was much bumpier here than last year. It was shaking my eyes out almost! But the bike needed to be as stiff as it could be.
For race two we stiffened the bike more and changed some gearing. I had a good battle with Adi Behal and after a rough spell it brought the fun back into my racing. Some real close racing, bashing bars, we both came in with a real big smile.
Thanks to the Modern Electric Tattoo Company for sponsoring my tyres again this weekend, and also Capelli Salon, 151, VEH enterprises and of course Mandy and Bob.”
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Jake Clark Motostar Brands Hatch GP July 2018
Jake Clark scores points despite big crash
Jake Clark from Bromsgrove picked up more points at the fourth round of the Hel Performance British Motostar Championship at Brands Hatch last weekend.
The 14-year-old from Bromsgrove is inside the top fifteen in this British Moto3 championship.
Free Practice
The riders had mixed weather for the free practice sessions on Friday. In FP1 Jake Clark spent most of the time trying to improve his gear changing technique. His 1:40.362 put him in 12th position. Rain then fell before FP2 leaving the track damp. The riders went out on wet tyres but quickly returned to the pits and waited for the track to continue to dry. Eventually they went out on slicks but the surface wasn’t dry enough to make any improvement on the times set in FP1.
Qualifying
The weather was perfect for the qualifying session and Clark started well running at the pace of Cameron Horsman and Rhys Irwin. Unfortunately, they then managed to get a tow of a Moto3 GP class rider so Clark came in to the pits and went out to look for a rider to follow. Unfortunately, he didn’t find one and a lap later his tyres had cooled and running wide into Paddock Hill Bend he crashed out at 100mph. The rider was bruised, covered in dust but OK. The bike was not. The team did a great job in getting it together for the race which saw Clark start 13th in his category.
Race One
Clark made use of the warm up laps to check his feeling with the repaired bike before the race started. He got a good start to the race but later struggled to maintain the pace and was beginning to feel the aches and pains from his fall earlier in the day. Despite these he managed to cross the line in 12th position.
Race Two
Clark made a solid start to the second race and was in with a group of riders for the first couple of laps. He then ran a little hot in to Paddock Hill Bend and wary not to end up in the gravel as he
did in Qualifying he had to sacrifice a place to maintain control of his Moto3 machine. He went on to cross the line in 16th place narrowly missing out on another points scoring finish.
Jake Clark said,” Congratulations to my teammate Scott Ogden who got his first race victory in race one. Thanks also to my team Wilson Racing and Kyle Ryde’s dad, Sean for helping get me back out on track for race one, after my crash in qualifying. I got a bit tired towards the end but we scored points. Race two started well but when I made a mistake at the same place as I did in qualifying I fell back and it altered my race plan.”
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Jake Clark Bromsgrove Standard and Advertiser
Jake Clark scored his two points for 14th place in race one on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit before a mechanical issue cut short his weekend.
The first round of the Hel Performance British Motostar Championship got underway last weekend. Jake Clark was riding a Moto3 Honda NSF250 for Wilson Racing in the standard class he successfully joined halfway through last season.
Free practice
The weekend started with mixed conditions for the two free practice sessions on Friday. In the first Jake Clark registered the fifteenth fastest time on a wet track. In the second free practice session the track had dried. Jake had decided to save his new tyres for qualifying which meant he ran the whole session on old rubber. Although he reduced his lap time to 53.626 on the 1.2 mile Indy circuit it left him in 16th overall.
Qualifying
On Saturday morning qualifying took place in bright sunshine. The track temperature had risen significantly from the previous day. Qualifying was going to be difficult with 38 riders from both the GP and standard class all keen to make a good start to the season on a 1.2-mile track. With brand new tyres on and despite the difficulties of traffic Jake Clark put in a lap of 51.842 meaning he would start the race ninth in his class.
Race One
Jake made a super start to the first race moving up to 8th place by the end of the first lap. Initially in a battle with one of his team mates Charlie Atkins he then spent several laps dicing with Ross Turner, Sam Laffins and Daniel Brooks. He ended the 15 lap race in fourteenth position to claim his first two points of the year.
Race Two
Based on his lap times in race one Jake started Sunday’s race from 13th place. He made another good get away from the start line moving up to 11th place early on. Jake found himself in a race long fight with about five or six riders with places changing several times each lap. Unfortunately, his racing was cut short when one lap from the end he suffered a mechanical issue.
Jake Clark said, “I had a really good qualifying on the Saturday. We put on some new slicks and I was inside the top ten. In race one I had some good battles but the track was crowded and one small mistake meant you lost a couple of places. In the second race I finished with black tyre marks on my leathers after some fantastically close racing. It was just a shame we had a problem and couldn’t finish.”
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Jake Clark in the points at Brands Hatch Indy
Jake Clark scored his two points for 14th place in race one on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit before a mechanical issue cut short his weekend.
The first round of the Hel Performance British Motostar Championship got underway last weekend. Jake Clark was riding a Moto3 Honda NSF250 for Wilson Racing in the standard class he successfully joined halfway through last season.
Free practice
The weekend started with mixed conditions for the two free practice sessions on Friday. In the first Jake Clark registered the fifteenth fastest time on a wet track. In the second free practice session the track had dried. Jake had decided to save his new tyres for qualifying which meant he ran the whole session on old rubber. Although he reduced his lap time to 53.626 on the 1.2 mile Indy circuit it left him in 16th overall.
Qualifying
On Saturday morning qualifying took place in bright sunshine. The track temperature had risen significantly from the previous day. Qualifying was going to be difficult with 38 riders from both the GP and standard class all keen to make a good start to the season on a 1.2-mile track. With brand new tyres on and despite the difficulties of traffic Jake Clark put in a lap of 51.842 meaning he would start the race ninth in his class.
Race One
Jake made a super start to the first race moving up to 8th place by the end of the first lap. Initially in a battle with one of his team mates Charlie Atkins he then spent several laps dicing with Ross Turner, Sam Laffins and Daniel Brooks. He ended the 15 lap race in fourteenth position to claim his first two points of the year.
Race Two
Based on his lap times in race one Jake started Sunday’s race from 13th place. He made another good get away from the start line moving up to 11th place early on. Jake found himself in a race long fight with about five or six riders with places changing several times each lap. Unfortunately, his racing was cut short when one lap from the end he suffered a mechanical issue.
Jake Clark said, “I had a really good qualifying on the Saturday. We put on some new slicks and I was inside the top ten. In race one I had some good battles but the track was crowded and one small mistake meant you lost a couple of places. In the second race I finished with black tyre marks on my leathers after some fantastically close racing. It was just a shame we had a problem and couldn’t finish. Thank you to all my sponsors.”
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Clark looking forward to season opener
Bromsgrove Standard 21/03/18 Bromsgrove racer Jake Clark is about to start his first full season in the British Superbike Moto3 support class. The 15-year-old has already had a taste of the standard class national Moto3 championship when he got the opportunity to join Wilson Racing from round five last season.
With seven top ten finishes during the final races of 2017 Jake is enthusiastic about returning to the track. This year he has had some additional help with a kind donation from Sean McCreedy of Uroglas. They have been working for over 30 years with low volume specialist car manufacturers plus numerous motorsports facilitating specialist glass.
Whilst the racing finished last October, Jake has been working throughout the winter with Mark Lammas at Athletic Performance Training. He has also spent several days at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia and then at the Circuito de Velocidad Cartagena, Murcia as part of his pre-season preparation.
The Hel Performance British Motostar Standard Class Championship is a nine-round 18 race series run at some of the best circuits throughout the UK.
Jake Clark, “I’m riding again for Wilson Racing and I couldn’t have asked for a better organised team to race for. We had a great time at the pre-season test where I got to meet up with my new team-mates. We came away really happy with the progress we made at the two circuits. I’ve been working hard on my fitness all winter and I can’t wait to get back out on the track for the first race at Brands Hatch 13 – 15 April.”
Sean McCreedy, “I’ve known Jake’s mum for a while through business and when I heard what level he was racing at, I wanted to help out. He is a local lad with a lot of talent racing at national level. He deserves all the support he can get.”