Les Shand enjoyed more good fortune at the weekend when he competed in Round 2 of the Scottish National Championship. Riding at Knockhill, Les competed in four races in total and was rewarded with a trio of top class results, including a close second in the second Production 600cc race whilst he was always in contention for the race wins in his other races, the circuit playing host to some excellent, hard-fought action.

Riding the Henderson Racing GSXR 600cc Suzuki, Les got his day underway with a solid 6th place in the opening 600cc Production race and with the third fastest lap of the race, the Suzuki was working well, further increasing confidence as the North West 200 gets ever nearer. A quick switch to the Leeds Parcel Company R1 Yamaha saw Les back out on the grid for the first Superstock race and the crowd were treated to one of the finest races seen at Knockhill as five riders swapped the lead with frequent regularity. It was anyone's race and it was a case of being in the right place at the right time but, sadly, Les found himself bumped to the back of the quintet at the end of the 12 laps and he had to settle for fifth, just 0.84 seconds adrift of the race winner!

However, his day got better in the second of the 600cc Production events and with some excellent riding, Les brought the Suzuki home in a fine 2nd place, only 0.494 seconds away from the win. His day ended on a low note though with a first lap retirement in the second Superstock race, the clutch having expired as the race got underway.

Speaking after his day's racing, Les said:

"It's been another good day's racing and I'm happy with how it's all turned out. It was a bit damp in the first 600cc race so I just had a steady ride but it was a lot drier later in the day and I really enjoyed the second race. There were still a few damp patches and I lost the front on the penultimate lap so rather than risk a crash, I opted to take a strong, and close, second place - if it had have been totally dry, I would have gone for the win but with the North West 200 so close, it was better to excercise caution."

"The R1 Yamaha was again working well and the first Superstock race was a superb race to be involved with. It was anybody's race but near the end I felt that the clutch was beginning to slip and so nursed the bike home although I was still less than a second off the victory! With no spares to repair the clutch I came to the line for the second race with a strong suspicion it wouldn't last and so it turned out - the start was enough to fry the clutch completely so I pulled in at the end of the first lap. Overall though, it was another happy weekend and I've gone away with some more strong results and happy with how everything is progressing and building up. I'm really looking forward to the North West 200 and it will be good to get the International road race season underway."

The International North West 200 takes place next week between the 13th and 17th May on the 8.9-mile road circuit and Les will be out in the Superstock, Supersport and 400cc races.

Phil Wain
Freelance PR

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Les Shand finally got his season underway at the weekend when he competed in the opening round of the Scottish Championship at East Fortune. With the first round at Knockhill having been cancelled due to the inclement weather, Les was able to get in plenty of mileage on his Leeds Parcel Company R1 Yamaha and Henderson Racing GSXR600 Suzuki and finished the day with a haul of top results.

Visiting the East Fortune circuit for the first time in 7 years, Les progressed steadily as the day wore on and as the conditions improved. This could clearly be seen in his results which saw him finish with 3 podiums and a new lap record in the Production 600cc class. Not only was this a lap record, it was also comfortably quicker than the times set in the Supersport class, where the riders were competing on considerably higher specification machines. He also dipped under the one minute barrier on his LPC R1 Yamaha in the final Superstock race and was only just outside the outright lap record as well.

Using the meeting as preparation for his International road racing campaign, the day commenced with a steady 7th in the opening Superstock race as Les opted to use his better tyres for the later race. A close 3rd followed in the first Production 600cc race and this result was repeated in the main Scottish Championship race, where Les put in the second fastest lap of the day, at 59.730seconds, on the R1 Yamaha, just a shade away from the outright lap record. He ensured his day finished on an equal high with another close 3rd, this time in the second Production 600cc race. Riding the Henderson Racing Suzuki, Les smashed the lap record with a time of 1m01.132secs and this was over a second faster than any other 600cc rider on the day.

Speaking after his day’s racing, Les commented:

“I’m really pleased with how today has gone and it’s been ideal preparation for me prior to the road race season and a good shakedown. Although I’m not contesting the British Championships, the standard of field here in Scotland is very high and the boys can easily run in the top six when the British Superstock series comes to Knockhill. It was good to blow the cobwebs away and get re-acquainted with the R1 Yamaha and although it’s been a long time since I rode at East Fortune, 2001 to be precise, I soon got to grips with the circuit and with it’s bumps and sweeping corners, we ironed out a few issues with the set-up.”

“It was my first time out on the 600 and it feels a great bike. Apart from a power commander it was totally standard yet it felt really strong and all I could think when I was riding it was ‘this is going to be great down the Cronk y Voddy straight’. I was able to do things with the bike that I haven’t been able to do on a 600 for a couple of years and to get the lap record was a nice addition. All in all, it’s good to get going and be back at the sharp end and it’s been a good day at the office.”

Les’ next outing will be round 2 of the Scottish Championships at Knockhill on May 3-4. He also hopes to have a couple of test days at Donington Park in order to test all of his machinery prior to the International North West 200.

Phil Wain
Freelance PR

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Les Shand was left frustrated today after heavy snow caused the postponement of the opening round of the Scottish Championship races at Knockhill. Despite an intermittent forecast, the paddock awoke to a substantial covering of snow which proceeded to get heavier as the morning progressed and, with the temperature close to freezing, it soon became apparent that racing would not be possible.

The organizers did all they could to make conditions somewhere near raceable but after consultation with a number of the leading riders, the decision was made at lunchtime to cancel the day's events, an obvious disappointment for all concerned but clearly the correct decision.

Speaking from the paddock, Les commented:

""Like everyone else, I'm disappointed but there was just no way we could race and everyone's safety has to be the number one priority. It's not a great start to the season but you just never know what the British weather is going to do so we'll come back another day and try again."

"It would have been nice to get a few races under my belt but it gives me a bit more time to work on the bikes and hopefully by East Fortune in two weeks time, the sun will be shining and we can all go racing!"

Les will now commence his season at East Fortune, which will now host the opening Scottish Championship round on Sunday April 20th and he will once again line up on the Leeds Parcel Company Yamaha R1, Oak Tree Developments ER6 Kawasaki and Bob Henderson Suzuki GSXR600.

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Les Shand took a superb 7th place in last weekend's Macau GP, the second year in succession he has occupied such a position. However, with countless British and American Superbike machines on the grid, this year's result was lot more hard fought and, riding the Barron Transport Honda, he surged through the pack after problems in practice left him in 14th on the grid, also recording his best ever lap around the 3.8-mile Guia circuit.

After preparing the machine for scrutineering on Wednesday, Les joined many of his fellow riders at the hugely entertaining PR day where teams of 4 battled it out for the fastest time on a rick-shaw, with the motorcyclists pitted against the World Touring Car and Formula 3 competitiors. Needless to say, the bike riders threw as many spanners in the works as they could with tyres let down and numerous buckets of water thrown at their rivals!

A day later, it was down to the serious stuff and during first practice, Les encountered serious tyre wear issues with the rear tyre shredding after just a few laps. Double TT winner and former road racing star Iain Duffus helped tremendously with set-up advice and with the rear shock having de-gassed, the cause of the problem was identified and the team could begin to remedy the situation. The American Corona Honda team kindly loaned Les a rear shock but he had lost a lot of time and found himself almost two seconds off where he wanted to be. With just one rear tyre left, he went out in final qualifying and promptly lowered his times by almost one and half seconds although he still ended up 14th on the grid and with a lot of work to do in the 15-lap race.

With Guy Martin being injured in practice, the Hydrex Honda team came to the rescue with a new Dunlop rear tyre for Les and he had just 15-minutes in the morning warm-up to get used to the unfamiliar rubber, usually campaigning Pirelli. The bike handled well and with a slight alteration in the gearing Les was ready to race. A fine start saw him immediately pick up a couple of places and he was soon inside the top ten, having overhauled the likes of Ian Hutchinson, Martin Finnegan and James McBride. With his best ever lap around the course, he moved even further up the leaderboard as the laps unfolded and he crossed the line after almost 40 minutes of work in a truly excellent 7th place.

Speaking on his return to his native Scotland, Les said:

"I'm really pleased with how I rode in Saturday's race and after all the problems in practice we were really up against it. I missed out on quite a bit of track time and even in morning warm-up I was still searching for the right set-up, especially with the Dunlop tyre. It's been a while since I've used a Dunlop but they've come on in leaps and bounds and the more the race went on, the better the tyres felt and the better the bike felt. I got a good start and was able to run at a good pace throughout and pass quite a few of the other riders."

"I'm very grateful for the advice of Iain Duffus and for the help given by both the American Corona and Hydrex Honda teams as they all played their part in the result. Finally, I've got to say a big thanks to Billy, Alison and Sebas of Barron Transport Racing for all their support with the Honda Superbike this year - we've had some good results on the roads and it's nice to finish the season on a high note."

Les will now begin to look forward to 2008 and hopes to have his plans in place early in the New Year.

Phil Wain
Freelance PR

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Les Shand took a superb 7th place in Saturday's Macau GP, the second year in succession he has occupied such a position. Riding the Barron Transport Honda, Shand fought his way through the pack after practice problems left him in 14th on the grid and he also recorded his best ever lap around the 3.8-mile Guia circuit.

Full report soon.

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Les Shand enjoyed a solid workout at the recent Sunflower Trophy races held at Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland as he made final preparations for the forthcoming Macau Grand Prix. Riding the Barron Transport Honda primarily as a shakedown to iron out any potential problems, Les proclaimed himself happy with the performance of the machine and will head to the Far East next month with hopes high of scoring another top result.

Having overcome a clutch problem in the morning's Superbike race, Les put in a strong ride in the feature Sunflower Trophy event and brought the Honda home in a fine 12th, despite conditions being far from ideal with a cool air temperature and an earlier oil spillage making the surface extremely slippy.

With the BTS Honda now in fine working order and set up to its optimum, Les will now have a three week break before heading to Macau where he will once more be looking for a high class result. It will the fourth year he has competed at the 3.8-mile Guia circuit and having already scored a 3rd (2005) and an 8th (2006), against some high class opposition, it's clearly a circuit he enjoys and excels upon.

Practice commences on Thursday 15th November with qualifying taking place a day later whilst the 15-lap Macau Grand Prix gets underway at 14:50 on Saturday 16th November (7am UK time).

Phil Wain
Freelance PR

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Les Shand enjoyed a solid workout at the recent Sunflower Trophy races held at Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland as he made final preparations for the forthcoming Macau Grand Prix. Riding the Barron Transport Honda primarily as a shakedown to iron out any potential problems, Les proclaimed himself happy with the performance of the machine and will head to the Far East next month with hopes high of scoring another top result.

Having overcome a clutch problem in the morning's Superbike race, Les put in a strong ride in the feature Sunflower Trophy event and brought the Honda home in a fine 12th, despite conditions being far from ideal with a cool air temperature and an earlier oil spillage making the surface extremely slippy.

With the BTS Honda now in fine working order and set up to its optimum, Les will now have a three week break before heading to Macau where he will once more be looking for a high class result. It will the fourth year he has competed at the 3.8-mile Guia circuit and having already scored a 3rd (2005) and an 8th (2006), against some high class opposition, it's clearly a circuit he enjoys and excels upon.

Practice commences on Thursday 15th November with qualifying taking place a day later whilst the 15-lap Macau Grand Prix gets underway at 14:50 on Saturday 16th November (7am UK time).

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Les Shand enjoyed a successful day of racing on Sunday when he competed in the final round of the Scottish National Championship at Knockhill. Held in tricky, cool conditions, Les was one the pace in all of his races and racked up a third, a brace of fourths and a fifth from his four outings, two on the Leeds Parcel Company R1 Yamaha and two on a borrowed, seven year-old R6 Yamaha!

Having qualified fifth on the R1 and sixth on the R6 Yamaha, Les opened his account with 4th in the first Sports Production race, which was restarted due to an incident on the first lap and then took sixth in the opening 600cc Production race. With weather conditions improving all the time, Les had a very strong ride in the second Sports Production outing and took a fine third, just over three seconds behind the race winner and ahead of championship winner Bruce Birnie. He wrapped up a successful day with another fourth place in the second 600cc Production event, again well in touch with the race leaders despite being on a vastly underpowered machine.

During the day, Les was also constantly being filmed by a local college student who had chosen the meeting as the topic for his course project. All aspects of the day were filmed, from initial signing on, to scrutineering, pre-race procedures and post-race celebrations (!) and firmly highlighted the fact that motorcycle racing isn't simply a case of competing for 12 laps!

Speaking at the end of a busy day Les said:

"It's been a throughly enjoyable day's racing and it's been great to be back racing at Knockhill. Conditions were really tricky in the morning as the temperature was very cool and it was difficult to guage how hard to push but when the sun came out in the afternoon, it was a lot better for everyone. There were a few red flags during the day and it meant a few of the races were unfortunately shortened so they were very much sprint races! By the time I'd settled and got into my stride, there were only a few laps left but I was happy with the way I rode in all of the races and it was very nice to be back on the podium in my final outing."

"I've got to say a massive thank you to Kevin Mitchell (aka 'Wite-off') who lent me the R6 and it was like going back in time turning up to a meeting and then taking off the lights and number plate off the bike! Although the bike was a few years old and we were way down on power, I think I showed that I could still ride a bike and was only lapping 0.3seconds off the fastest lap of the race winner who was on a 2007 machine. It was my final race of the year on the R1 so thanks go to Andy Wilby of Leeds Parcel Company and I'm looking forward to continuing our successful partnership in 2008. As I said, it was good to go back to Knockhill to race in front of my sponsors and I owe them a big thank you for pulling together again to get me out on the track this weekend. Without them, I wouldn't be racing so thanks a million!"

Les' next outing will be at Bishopscourt, Northern Ireland on October 20th/21st where he will be campaigning the Barron Transport Honda Superbike. He will be using the meeting primarily as a shakedown for the Macau Grand Prix held in mid-November but will also be looking for a strong result in the feature Sunflower Trophy race.

Phil Wain
Freelance PR

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After his successful outing at the Ulster Grand Prix in August, Les Shand will contest the final rounds of the 2007 Scottish Championship at Knockhill next weekend, where he will line up on the Leeds Parcel Company Yamaha R1. The meeting, which is also hosting the annual Jock Taylor Memorial races, will see Les aim to finish his season on a high note and he is also hopeful of securing a 600cc machine in order to rack up even more results and say a big thank you to all his loyal sponsors.

Financial implications have meant he has had to shelve plans to contest the final rounds of the British Superstock Championship at Donington Park and Brands Hatch but he still has plenty of racing left in 2007. In addition to his Knockhill outing, Les will campaign the Barron Transport Honda Superbike and McKinstry Skip Hire R6 Yamaha at the Irish Sunflower Trophy races which are to be held at Bishopscourt on 20th/21st October and, a month later, he will make his fourth trip to the Macau Grand Prix where he will again be looking to secure a top ten finish.

Phil Wain
Freelance PR

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Les Shand ensured his International road race season ended on a high note when he posted some excellent results at the Ulster Grand Prix, in only his second ever appearance at the famous Dundrod circuit. Despite the inclement weather conditions, the organisers did a great job in ensuring the racing went ahead and Les ensured his trip to Northern Ireland was more than
worthwhile with the highlight being a superb twelfth place finish in the Supersport 600cc race, hot on the heels of the factory backed stars.

The week was hampered by varying track conditions and the ever changing weather made it very difficult for both the organisers and the riders and the lack of quality track time meant that Les qualified in the second group for Thursday's Dundrod 150 Superbike race. Nevertheless, he made good progress from his 30th place grid spot and he opened his account with 23rd place and a very respectable fastest lap of 121.530mph.

Race day for the Ulster Grand Prix dawned extremely wet on Saturday and racing was delayed for more than two hours as the track was made safe for racing. The rain abated so it was the Superstock race that got proceedings
underway and conditions improved as the race wore on. Starting from 19th on the grid, Les got a good start on the LPC R1 Yamaha and made steady progress through the field to claim a fine 13th place at the chequered flag. He immediately switched to the McKinstry Skip Hire R6 Yamaha and this would prove to be his best race of the day. Despite being considerably down on power with his standard machine, Les rode the wheels off the bike to hassle the factory backed riders and he ended the six laps in 12th place just behind works Honda rider Ian Hutchinson and ahead of Martin Finnegan.

Unfortunately, the rain returned at the end of the 250cc race and the feature UGP Superbike event started in extremely damp conditions. However, Les and the Barron Transport Honda were working well and he was lying 12th
on the road as the riders began their fourth lap. By this time though, the rain was getting heavier and the amount of spray being thrown up was making visibility very poor and the race was rightly stopped - with no signs of improvement the result was declared and the remaining two races abandoned.

Speaking at the conclusion of Saturday's races, Les said:

"It's been a tough week with the weather but it's been the same for everyone so I got stuck in as best as I could and am very pleased with the way it's gone. With it only being my second time here, I'm still learning the circuit so the damp track wasn't ideal for me in qualifying and meant I was slightly lower on the grid than what I would have liked. I had a very lonely race on
Thursday so it was good to be in the first group of riders all day on Saturday. I had a good start to the day in the Superstock race but I was delighted with the result in the Supersport race as I was up against it with
the factory backed, fully tuned machines. The track had a dry line and I rode as hard as I could so to finish just behind Hutchy and ahead of Finnegan was very satisfying. That set me up nicely for the Superbike race
and with a decent start I was moving steadily up the order and another top 12 finish looked on the cards but the weather had other ideas."

"The rain was getting heavier and the visibility poorer as the amount of spray was really bad - all I can compare it to is following a bus in the rain at 160mph! The bike was hooking up well though and I was catching
Stephen Thompson on the factory AIM Yamaha but I agreed 100% with the decision to stop the race as the conditions were definitely getting worse. The organisers did a fantastic job all week considering the conditions and everyone of the riders got at least one race so they did very well to make the circuit rideable and put on a show for the spectators. I've got to say a big thank you to Barron Transport Services, Leeds Parcel Company and
McKinstry Skip hire for the loan of the bikes and I've thoroughly enjoyed the week."

Due to financial difficulties, Les has opted out of round nine of the British Superstock Championship being held at Cadwell Park this weekend but hopes to rejoin the series at Donington Park in September.

Phil Wain
Freelance PR

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