Matt right on track by achieving racing goals
Matt Finch finished his season with an action-packed race meeting at Donington Park GP track.
Matt, of 445 One Ball Racing, has been promoting It’s On The Ball testicular cancer charity and support group while competing on his 2004 Yamaha R6 in the No Limits Racing Metzeler Newcomer 600 class.
At Donington he also competed in some mixed Clubman and National 600 races. Qualifying and race sessions were back to back so it was a full-on race meeting.
He qualified 37th in his first Clubman 600 class race but battled his way through to finish 25th, and 11th in class, to score his first Clubman points.
Starting the second Clubman race 35th, he finished 27th, and 14th in class, after the race had to be restarted after a red flag in lap two.
Matt’s main focus were the Newcomer 600 races, which he had been contesting all season.
He qualified 16th for the first race and, after chasing a mid-pack group of riders, finished 14th, and 11th in class, with a fastest lap of 1:43:0.
Race two saw him start from 15th and, after being squeezed into the inside of the circuit on turn one, made progress through the pack to finish 13th, and 10th in class, with a new PB of 1:42:4.
Starting 12th in race three, he missed some gear changes and lost places before running through a gravel trap. Staying on the bike, he worked through the pack again to a hard-fought 17th, and 13th in class.
Matt summed up his season: “I set out with some aims for the season and have achieved them and so much more. I set out to obtain a Clubman licence which would allow me to race in the British Championship.
“I wanted to finish in the top 20 of a championship filled with bikes which are all a lot newer, lighter and faster than mine. It really feels like an achievement getting to the end of the season achieving all of my goals.”
Meanwhile, Fred Mcmullan was competing in the final round of Junior Supersport at Donington Park.
Riding 3D Racing’s Kawasaki Ninja 400, the 16-year-old qualified 12th in the first race but was boxed in at the start.
He had regained 12th place with ease by the third lap but a little too much enthusiasm at Goddards resulted in a crash. It meant he started the second race 18th on the grid.
The crash unfortunately resulted in Fred falling on the same knee he had damaged at Oulton Park, when he lost his knee slider. The crash also left him with a swollen ankle but he soldiered on to finish a very creditable 15th.
[Matt Finch photo: Michael Wincott Photography]