Photo: Max Revs Images
15-year-old TJ Toms from Puriton took a fifth place finish in the first of the two Hel performance Motostar British Championship races over the bank holiday weekend. With four rounds left he is third in the championship.
There was a difficult start for TJ Toms to the bank holiday weekend racing at Cadwell Park, when he fell four laps into the free practice session. Unfortunately, TJ clipped the kerb as he went through the section known as The Mountain and crashed out early in the session. His bike fell on his right hand causing a hole in his little finger exposure the ligament.
Qualifying
Soon patched up and sporting new gloves from Oxford Products the Somerset racer was ready for Q1. Toms was keen to make amends but with light drizzle falling he was wise enough to take it steady in the first few laps of the circuit. On his sixth lap he set a 1:40 lap time placing him fifth in his class. As the session continued the rain became heavier and it was impossible to make any further improvements on the lap time during the session.
Having rested over night the damage to his right hand was uncomfortable but wasn’t enough to stop him racing. The track was dry for Q2 and Toms was lapping mid 1:39s in the early part of the session before pulling in to the pits for some final adjustments. After his out lap he immediately dropped into the high 1:38s and was heading for 6th position on the grid. Yet he wasn’t finished. Somehow he managed to find over a second on his final lap setting a lap time of 1:37.512. It was the third quickest time and meant he started on the front row in the first race.
Race One
In the first 10 lap race of the weekend Toms got a great start moving into third place on the first lap. The Wilson Racing Moto3 rider worked hard to maintain that position but eventually slipped to a fifth place finish after a small error caused him to lose two places, but still a very positive result.
Race Two
Toms had to wait until the middle of Sunday afternoon before the second race, which was of 12 laps. The race was very tight at the beginning with Toms in fifth less than a second from the race leader. The following lap he made his way into fourth place and at a third race distance Toms was third just three tenths splitting the front three. On the fifth lap Toms almost had a coming together with a back marker and lost valuable time. He closed the gap back up to the leaders but in doing so pushed too hard and lost the front end and slid out of the race.
TJ Toms said, “Race one was good. I had plenty of pace and apart from a small mistake I made at the end I could have been on the podium. I knew we had the pace so for race two I was feeling really confident. But, having closed the gap to the leaders I lost the front and crashed. It was really frustrating. Now we need to put that behind us and focus on the next round. Thanks to my sponsors, Warren Bright Racing Foundation, Swindon Karting, SRC Driver Training, SMW Limited, Skills Direct, Munchkins Catering, K&B Motors, Johnson Metals, Oxford products, Daytona Boots, Auritech, MustHaveMediaServices.com and my Grandad. Also thanks to Gary Wilson for giving me a great bike this weekend.”