Tim hastings race Report - Round 10 - Croft

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Zax
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Tim hastings race Report - Round 10 - Croft

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Round 10 - Croft

KRP’s Tim Hastings climbed on to the Championship podium for the fourth time this season when he scored an impressive 3rd place finish in the latest round of the Relentless 125GP Championship at Croft.

Yet another ACU Academy Cup victory also means that Tim is now within just a few points of retaining the Cup trophy he won so convincingly in 2008.

2008 also saw Tim’s first ever Championship race win at the fast and bumpy Croft circuit - a track he loves - so he knew that barring any problems he was likely to have the pace to run with the leaders. With the overall Championship now out of reach for Tim, his focus was on ensuring a trouble -free run to victory in the Cup, and the weekend started well with him finishing Friday’s two free practice sessions in 2nd spot.

Saturday’s two qualifying sessions saw Tim put the KRP Honda in provisional 4th place in the morning, before settling for the front of the 2nd row in fifth place on combined qualifying times.

Although race day remained dry, the 125 riders had to contend with gusting winds as they took to the track immediately following the first Superbike outing of the day. At the lights, Tim produced yet another scintillating start and slotted into second place through the first few corner, while behind him a huge highside for Danny Kent took out Championship contender Rob Guiver on the very first lap.

Long time Championship leader and KRP team mate Martin Glossop also went out on the first lap and Tim soon found himself heading a breakaway group of five riders, with last year’s champion Matty Hoyle chasing them down.

Knowing that the Cup win was his primary target for the day, Tim gradually dropped back and wisely kept clear of some frantic battling between Behan, Clarke, Stuart, Hayward and Hoyle in front of him, but his pace ensured that he was there to take full advantage of other’s mistakes.

As the race reached its closing stages, firstly Tom Hayward came off in spectacular fashion and forced Matty Hoyle onto the grass - promoting Tim to 4th - then fellow Scot Robbie Stewart crashed heavily out of the lead with just over a lap to go - moving Tim into a rostrum place. Tim comfortably maintained his place until the chequered flag and can reflect on an excellent overall performance which achieved exactly what he set out to do.

3rd place in the overall race sees Tim move to just five points of fourth place in the Championship, while the Cup victory extends his lead to 41 points with only two rounds remaining.

With Team Twister already making plans for the 2010 season, Tim now looks ahead to the weekend of the 27th of September and the penultimate round of season at Silverstone.

Once again Tim would like to thank Shark, TCX, Knox, NGK, Evadne and Gibsons Builders for their continued support, along with Mark Keen and everyone at KRP for a superb bike. Team Twister would also like to say a big thank you to all those who continue to support Tim through the “Twister…Powered by Fans” campaign - and finally wish Robbie Stewart a quick recovery from the injuries received in his crash.

Well done once again Tim :2up
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