Black Country duo on title track

The Black Country pairing of Pete Wright and Martyn Siviter made the most of a bone-dry Cheshire track during qualifying to set themselves up for the win.

Siviter, from Blackheath, went out first early during practice with the aim of getting some clear laps in but hit traffic, meaning his times were way down on his usual pace.

Armed with a new set of tyres, Wright, from Tividale, was next out and he slowly built up the pace, ending with a superb lap of 1:47.890 to put the team first in Club 600 and National class and 11th overall. It was also the fastest time on a 600cc bike to be registered all weekend.

Wright said: “With the weather looking very unpredictable and rain forecast towards the latter stages of the race, we discussed our options, but as we only had two bikes we didn’t have the option of always having one on wets.

“So we got our heads together with the Track Prep team boss and pit crew to make sure we all knew the plan.

“After testing, we knew fuel would be a factor as the lads were doing faster lap times and using more gas on an already fuel thirsty circuit, so we’d run until the fuel lights came on in the first two stints, which we worked out to be 55 minutes each, leaving two 35 minute sprints at the end.

“On hot tyres, we reckoned it would take two-and-a-half laps to change to wets if needed.”

Wright went out first once the flag had dropped and got off to a flyer, rising from 11th to fifth into the first turn.

Putting in consistent laps of 1:48, the team slotted into first in the Club 600 and national classes but 30 minutes in he began hitting traffic, losing a lot time in the process.

The Pertemps team and rivals had sliced their way through the traffic, catching and overtaking Wright, who tagged on the back until the ‘limited adhesion’ flags came out due to light rain from Shell Oils to Clay Hill.

A slick pit stop sent Siviter on his way but 20 minutes in the team realised all was not right after he began suffering with severe arm pump, struggling to even twist the throttle fully, which caused a few mistakes.

“We were still first in class but had dropped further back behind Pertemps but again Mart was in on the 55 minute mark and with the weather cloudy, but holding, I went back out on dry tyres and posted the quickest 600cc lap of the race with a 1:48.03.

“After a short stint of 35 minutes, the transponder was expertly swapped back to Mart’s bike, who brought it home for the win after changing into his old suit, which was a little larger around the forearm’s and helped with the arm pump issues.

“It was fantastic to have our new sponsors Tom and Ashton of TAG Speed Motorsport Ltd there to cheer us to the win. They fitted into the team so well.

“As usual thanks go out to No Limits Racing, all the marshal’s and medical staff, the TSL Timing team and also our sponsors Track Prep Racing, Barnsdale Leisure, No Limits Tyre Support, Revs Suspension Services, DRC Race Leathers, RUS Scaffold Ltd, Central Wednesbury, Central Restoration, Cradley Kawasaki, Putoline Distribution UK, AS3 Performance, Demon Tweeks, PCR Performance, Express & Star Newspaper, MBF Home Improvements LtD, Lightning Express Ltd and finally all the team members of Double Two Racing.”