Tim hastings Race Report Round 8 - Brands Hatch GP

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Zax
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Tim hastings Race Report Round 8 - Brands Hatch GP

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Round 8 - Brands Hatch GP

A season of frustrations for KRP’s Tim Hastings continued at Brands Hatch where clutch problems and a first lap excursion off track ended his hopes of fighting for the 2009 Relentless 125GP Championship title.

Friday's first free practise session was the only wet session of the weekend and with the rest of the weekend forecast looking favourable, Tim took things easy to finish in 14th place. As predicted, FP2 was dry and Tim soon set about getting to know the circuit at speed, before posting the fastest time of the day to top the timesheets.

Saturday was again dry and very warm and Tim soon upped the pace - ending the first qualifying session once again at the top the timesheets courtesy of a fastest lap that took 1.3 seconds off his previous best at the Brands GP circuit. The afternoon qualifying was also held in very hot conditions and Tim’s Q1 time was only beaten in the dying seconds of the session, leaving him in 3rd place on the grid, just 0.06 off pole.

A massive crowd at Brands saw racing in near perfect conditions throughout the day, but for Tim the 125 race turned out to be hugely disappointing. At the start of the sighting lap Tim knew he was in trouble as he felt a problem with the clutch. Despite his best efforts to try and adjust it himself before he formed up on the grid, at the lights the clutch failed to "slip" and Tim was swallowed up by the rest of the field.

Sitting in 12th spot on lap one Tim chose to run around the outside of several riders into the final turn but found himself pushed wide and had to take to the grass to avoid a collision. Fortunately, he stayed on board but rejoined the circuit in last place, well behind the pack. As has been a trademark of Tim's determination this year, he kept his head down and set about taking as many places as possible throughout the fourteen lap race - finally ending the race in 18th overall and 6th in the ACU Academy Cup.

Tim said: "This season started with a DNF and that bad luck has followed me to every race meeting! It is very frustrating and disappointing as I would have liked to have raced for the main championship title this year. As it is, the championship is now gone for me so I will have to focus on retaining my ACU Academy Cup title and try to finish as high up the main championship table as possible.”

“I have trained harder than ever this year and improved my riding to give myself the best chance to win, but it just wasn't meant to be. I had a good talk with Bradley Smith after the race and he said that no-one has any control over these things - you just have to keep trying and keep smiling and search for all the positives from the weekend. I'm looking ahead now to Cadwell and hopefully a podium finish."

The weekend’s result now sees Tim in equal 5th place in the Championship, but he still retains a healthy 36 point lead in his bid to retain the Cup - something that no rider has ever achieved.

As ever, Tim would like to thank Shark, TCX, Knox, NGK, Evadne and Gibsons Builders for all their continued support, along with Mark Keen and all at KRP, as well as big thank you to all those who continue to support Tim through the “Twister…Powered by Fans” campaign.
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