Great performances were given by the seven Jersey motorcycle racers who competed at the Croix en Ternois circuit in France, at an event organised by the British Motorcycle Racing Club.
In the Rookie 600 class Chris Hamelin continued his championship challenge with two well ridden 3rd places. It looked like Sunday would see Hamelin go one better, as he had a great start and ran in 2nd place for four laps. Unfortunately third-placed Max Hunt pressured him to use too much throttle exiting Virage Magguy, resulting in Hamelin being highsided off his bike. Heavily bruised, the doctor prevented Hamelin from competing in the last race.
Riding the only V-twin machine in the class, Gary Hotton produced consistent good results of a 6th and two 7th?s. The last race on Sunday was wet and this helped to negate the power disadvantage his Ducati had against the more powerful in line four engine bikes. This, combined with very confident riding from the start of the race, saw Hotton scythe through the other riders, jumping from 7th at the start to 4th by the end of lap three. But coming out of Virage du Pont on lap six the rear wheel lost traction and he crashed, fortunately without injury.
The first race on Sunday was run in torrential rain, with standing water on many of the corners. Luke de la Cour was chased all the way by Nick Daghorn, who led de la Cour for one lap, his previous off road riding experience helping in the treacherous conditions. De la Cour finished 9th and Daghorn 10th. The last race was also wet but with no standing water. Luke de la Cour finished off his best weekend in Powerbikes with another 2nd place, all the more creditable as he had started from 9th on the grid.
photo from www.racing-line-photography.com
