Pete Wright gets off to a flying start

So he was over the moon to finish third in just his second-ever race in the new format during round one of the No Limits championship at Donington Park over the weekend.

After claiming three back-to-back endurance titles, Wright, from Tividale, was back competing under the Double Two Racing banner – but this time in the 600 Sprint class.

And he loved his ‘amazing introduction into the explosive world of sprint racing’ during round one where there were ‘lots of ups and no real downs’.

“It was a huge learning curve for me, my wife Aly and the pit crew,” said Wright.

Cautious

“A frantic 10 minutes on a very cold track surface and a very long delay in the holding area saw most of the riders enter the track with stone cold tyres.

“So the first few laps everyone was taking it really easy to get some heat into the rubber, leaving only a few laps to post a fast lap time.”

Having qualified 12th overall, and third in class, Wright began race one with a cautious approach into the first corner.

“That was a first lesson to be learned in sprint racing because I got swamped by other riders but I quickly got my head down and headed into Craners.

“Soon after the red flag was out after multiple crashes and everyone was lined up back on the grid.”

The accidents saw the opening race cut to six laps, with two warm-up laps and a second bite of the cherry for Wright to get a better start.

“I lost a couple of places to finish fifth in class, narrowly missing out on fourth by just a couple of feet after pulling back the gap in race one,” he said.

After another good getaway in race two, Wright held position through Redgate but after tipping into the notorious left-hander at Craners two riders in front went down heavily but luckily both riders were okay.

Meanwhile, Wright held second place until around lap seven until Ben Wotton got passed into McLean’s to take the win, with Wright lapping up a fantastic third to grab his first sprint trophy for Double Two Racing.

Struggling with rear-end grip for race three, Wright brought the bike home in eighth place, which left him 19th on the grid for the start of race four.

“Two laps in I was down to ninth in class but putting in my fastest laps of the weekend consistently and battling back to seventh, I tagged on to the back of the train, from second to seventh, which was the most satisfying part,” added Wright.

“Thanks to everyone who came to support us and to No Limits Racing, the medical staff and the marshals, as well as Track Prep Racing for sorting the suspension out.

“Thanks also to our fantastic sponsors DRC Race Leathers, Properly Protected Insurance, Cradley Kawasaki, Putoline Distribution UK, TAG Speed, Motorbykebitz, PCR performance, Novol, Motorcycle Parts Warehouse, PFC Braked, AS3 Performance, Revs Suspension Services, Profibre, Express & Star, Hel Performance, MBF Home Improvements Ltd and RUS Scaffolding.”