New machine boost for Ollerton racer Lynden Leatherland
The racing gods have not been smiling down on Ollerton’s Lynden Leatherland so far this season, but things could be about to change for the better.
Following engine failures at the first two rounds of the No Limits Pirelli Super Series 600 Championship, the motorcycle team were left scratching their heads as to what they could do to improve their fortunes.
“We pride ourselves in looking after our engines, always making sure we comply with the maintenance schedule and have very rarely had failures during my racing career,” said Lynden.
“The failures at Snetterton and Brands Hatch were due to matters that we could not foresee and pretty much messed up any chances of championship success.”
The team have run Yamaha’s for the past four years but have decided to make the change to Triumph powered machinery to stay competitive.
“The Yamahas have been really good, but are coming towards the end of their development and, having raced against Triumphs, they seem to have an advantage in key areas, so we have made the swap,” he said.
The team made the long trip up to Scotland to collect the bike in advance of having it fully prepared for round three of the No Limits Championship at Croft in North Yorkshire.
Some technical issues with the bike at a Donington Park track day meant the team had to burn the midnight oil to have it ready in time, but with no opportunities for any testing before the meeting.
It is clearly not ideal to go into a race meeting having spent so little time on the bike, but the team went into the weekend in good spirits, using it as more of a test session and the first impressions were good.
“The bike is great and has lots of potential,” said.
“It is completely different to the Yamaha and has completely different power characteristics to my previous bike and needs riding differently.
“It has a full electronics data package that will take some working out, but we’ll get there.”
Lynden qualified in eighth position for race one and finished eighth in his first outing on the new machine.
Once again, the racing gods decided to not help the team out and the weather changed overnight with wind and showers forecast for race two.
The heavens opened as the bikes went to the grid and Lynden rode well to finish a very creditable fifth, narrowly missing out on fourth place.
The final race of the weekend was held in nightmare conditions for a racer with a drying track, not suitable for wet or dry tyres, meaning a gamble was necessary.
Lynden chose to go out on dry tyres and was battling for fourth place when he unfortunately found a piece of wet track and slid off, causing no injury or damage to the bike.
“Overall, it was a good first weekend out on the bike and we improved in every session,” he said.
“I was just unlucky again in the last race when the rear slick tyre just caught a damp patch and down I went.”
The team are now hoping to get in some test sessions before trying to get a wild card entry for the next round of the British Supersport Championship at Snetterton towards the end of the month.
Lynden added: “Everyone associated with the team would like to send their deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of Derek Kitson.
“Derek was a long-time friend and sponsor of the team who sadly recently passed away following a lengthy illness and will be sorely missed.”