Matt Finch has achieved some personal bests and scored championship points despite some testing weather and mechanical issues and dramas with his race bike.
Our sponsored rider, of 445 One Ball Racing, is campaigning his 2004 Yamaha R6 in the No Limits Racing Metzeler Newcomer 600 class to promote It’s On The Ball testicular cancer charity and support group.
Making his first visit to Anglesey, he got in five practice sessions in various levels of rain.
Saturday qualifying was cut short, after a rider fell, but Matt qualified a personal best 15th in 1:19.9.
The weather deteriorated during the day, with several races red-flagged. Racing was cancelled when the wind picked up to around 50mph.
Sunday saw wet patches on the track and, starting 15th, the race was red-flagged due to a crash on lap one.
He set off again but struggled with confidence in the rear grip due to damp conditions but finished 22nd overall and 18th in class.
The sun was out for race two and, from 25th, he made up several places into turn two and continued to pass a couple of bikes a lap.
He diced with a group of five riders before finishing 21st, and 16th in class, with a 1:17.9 lap.
He started 17th in the third race and made up a couple of places into turn two. A collision in front of him caused him to swerve and roll off but he continued at pace, swapping places with two other bikes throughout this longer 10-lap race.
A last-lap lunge to get to the front of the group saw the front tyre slip mid-corner but he saved the slide with his knee and finished 15th overall, and 11th in class, with a best lap of 1:17.7.
Then it was on to Brands Hatch at the end of July.
Matt qualified 14th, another PB start position, with a lap of 1:43:4.
He made a strong start in race one, making his way up to around 10th but dropped a couple of places after a few laps, with some wrong gear selections while trying to keep with faster riders.
He finished 16th overall, 14th in class, with a best lap of 1:42:6 and more championship points.
After sorting another immobiliser issue, ahead of race two on the Sunday, he made another good start from 18th on the grid but the race was red-flagged after a rider came off. After a 20-minute break to see if the rain held off, the race resumed but cut from nine to five laps.
He settled into a battle with two riders, passing one into the penultimate corner of the final lap. But, as he crossed the finish line, his gear linkage snapped.
Matt finished 15th overall, 14th in class, with another PB of 1:42:5.
Unfortunately he was not able to make the third race.
It was still a great weekend with some more championship points despite the mechanical dramas.
You can watch Matt in race two at www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCOaVeZHL-Q&t=5s