Injury forces Wright to end shortened campaign early
Pete Wright may have been forced to bring a strange season to an early finish – but the racer still had plenty of fun while out on track.
After starting the shortened No Limits campaign in top form, a crash ended up causing the Tividale star all sorts of problems.
Despite bravely battling on, Wright decided to end his season – already dominated by lockdown and restrictions – a round early to fully recuperate in time for 2021.
After a pretty fast crash while testing at Oulton Park, and unfortunately breaking his hand and dislocating finger, Wright decided to still race at Cadwell Park a few weeks later.
"It was never going to be a sure thing that I would even be able to ride at all, only physically getting on the bike on track would determine if we stayed or went home," he said.
"Initially, although uncomfortable, I felt I could ride to a decent level to be safe."
Test day went well for Wright but he "didn’t light any fires" as down shifts using the clutch started to take their toll on his injured left hand, but he still qualified fifth in class and 13th on the grid.
He managed to get a good start in race one but got squeezed to the white lines on turn one and had to shut off to keep the bike on track.
After catching the five-rider train in front, headed by Ryan Cole, he was unable to get past and had to settle for eighth place.
"On return to the pits, I struggled to get my left glove off as my hand had swollen again, which we had kind of expected but now I knew I’d reopened the fracture," said Wright.
"Overnight some of the pain and swelling had subsided and after a little paracetamol, and with our first Sunday race fairly late into the day, we thought it should be fine."
Wright went on to finish eighth in race two and three but with his injuries starting to cause more and more pain, he was faced with a difficult decision.
"I had considered sitting out the final race as my hand was getting worse but as it started at 6.15pm it gave me more time to hopefully get me to the end," said Wright.
"I was having had a proper ding-dong, with all of us making awesome passes on each other throughout."
An incident involving two riders soon followed, with Wright confronted with a "floundering orange R6 right in front of me" but he managed to take the inside line and missed his fellow competitor by millimetres, eventually finishing seventh.
"I certainly wasn’t giving high fives to anyone as I switched off the bike because I was in a world of pain," he added. "My hand was like a boxing glove.
"For me, I knew the 2020 race season ended there but we’ll be back in 2021 with some exciting plans for the future.
"I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at No Limits Racing NLR for the absolutely mammoth task of making it possible to race.
"Thanks to all the orange army of marshals and track officials, along with the superb medical staff.
"I’d also like to thank all the riders and entourage for making our racing experience such a special thing, with special thanks to team Datasys Racing #72 for being awesome friends, especially Karl Freeth who always goes above and beyond to help anyone.
"And a thanks to all my amazing sponsors who let me compete in a sport I love: DRC Race Leathers, Motorcycle Parts Warehouse, Properly Protected, Novol Paints, Cradley Kawasaki, Motorbykebitz, PCR Performance, RUS Scaffolding, Profibre, AS3 Performance, Putoline UK and Express & Star Newspaper.
"Also, huge thanks to our official team photographer, Matthew Sisson of Chequered Flag Images, for the stunning photos he produces along with son, Finley.
"And finally the biggest thanks goes to the most important member of the team, always by my side no matter what – and that’s my amazing wife Aly. Thank you, Al, I love you."
