Les has completed successful testing at Nagaro South West France, more news to follow shortly.

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Hello again and welcome to the 2003 Les Shand Racing British Championship Supersport 600 season.

This year Les will be riding one of the new Honda CBR 600RR’s. The team has only just received delivery of the new bike and due to the lack of time and availability of tuning parts Les has had to use last years bike in pre season testing and the first British Championship race at Silverstone.

The team spent a week at the Nogaro circuit in Southern France at the beginning of March with the main objective being to get Les back to race speed after the winter break. The week went very well and Les feels he is ready for the challenges the 2003 season will bring. One challenge our man could not tackle however was Frogs Legs !

This Supersport 600 class has been upgraded from National status to full British Championship status for this season. This has attracted factory teams from most manufacturers with one notable addition being the new Triumph works team headed by Jim Moodie.

Each race can also be seen live on Sky Sports, you may well have the days results before I can get it to you this year.

Les and the team have just completed the first British Supersport 600 Championship round of the 2003 season at Silverstone.

During qualifying last years engine problems returned, this resulted in a frantic engine change and very little actual time on the track, Les however qualified 26th.

In the race itself Les did not get off the start line very well but fought through the field to finished the race in 19th position, his consistent lap times were 1.5 seconds of the fastest lap of the race.

Les and the team will be working very hard preparing the new bike for Snetterton on 13th April.

Watch this space.

Cheers Les

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For those of you who missed today’s racing on Sky Sports 2, the team has had an excellent weekend. Les has got a taste for being in front of the camera this weekend and wants to keep it that way! After running in 7th position in the latter stages of the race Les made a mistake braking into the final chicane losing 4 places to finish in 11th position, an excellent result for Les and the team and first 2002 spec Honda home.

The pace in qualifying was extremely hot with the top 13 riders all lapping quicker than last years lap record. The new factory Honda bike ridden by Karl Harris qualified in 4th position, Les’s time was only 7/10 second slower but put him in 18th position, proving this is the most competitive class in the British Championship.

In the race Les managed to avoid a first corner accident involving 5 bikes resulting in a full restart. Les was running in 11th position and managed to up the pace in the last few laps overhauling both works Triumph's to gain 7th position only to out brake himself losing his hard earned places. Les’s fastest lap was the 6th quickest of the race.

To achieve today’s result the team has used 3 front and 4 rear tyres again demonstrating the pace of the class.

Les and the team are over the moon with his performance today especially as he has been ill all day with a sickness bug.

The team is frantically preparing the 2003 bike but it is unlikely it will be ready for next weeks Thruxton round as sourcing ignition parts from Honda is proving difficult. The new bike should be ready for the Oulton Park round on May Day,

The new bike should reduce the top speed deficit the team is up against with the 2002 bike and close the gap between our team and the works bikes.

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Hello There
Les and the team have been back in action this weekend at the ultra fast Thruxton circuit, the weekend has proved very hard work to remain competitive in what is turning out to be the hardest class in the British Championship.

Davie struggled throughout qualifying to find a set up which would allow Les to push as hard as he wanted to. Highlighting how competitive the class is, Les’s qualifying time was within a couple of tenths off the standing lap record, this however was only good enough for 23rd on the grid. Pole position in the 600 class was fast enough for 5th place on the BSB grid !

Today, Sunday was warm and sunny Les and Davie had an another frantic morning getting the bike ready for the race as the number one bike developed a serious oil leak in morning warm up.

From 23rd on the grid Les became boxed in at the rear of a group of 6 riders, the bikes set up was good but not good enough as Les took 5 laps to get into a rhythm which allowed him to start picking of the group one by one. Using his riding skill to pass the group, all on faster bikes, took another ten laps. In the latter laps Les lined up the rider in front aiming for 16th position but the pace was so frantic he missed his pit board and a works Triumph rider passed Les resulting in an 18th position.

Les and the team are happy to have finished the race with a result and in one piece from the ultra fast 170mph circuit and can not wait to get the new 2003 Honda 600RR out onto the track.

The 2003 team colours will be applied to the bike this week and all being well with parts it will be out in anger at the next round at Oulton Park on May 5th the May Day Bank holiday weekend

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Hello There

After some very late nights over the last couple of weeks the new Honda CBR 600RR made its track debut in practice at Oulton Park this weekend. The bike looks awesome in its new colours and Les reports the handling to be superior to the 2002 bike. The motor on the RR however is still 2 horsepower down on the older machine, the team therefore made the decision to stick with the more powerful bike for the remainder of the weekend. Further work on the new bikes fuel injection system should have the power where we want it for the Knockhill British round in a couple of weeks time.

Saturday’s first qualifying session was run in wet conditions, Les was the fastest rider through the wooded Clay Hill section and finished the session in 14th overall. The 2002 CBR was running really well in this session at an ideal temperature of 70 degrees, due to the cooler conditions. Les reports he felt very smooth but felt could have gone quicker.

Sunday’s second qualifying session was run in dry sunny conditions. The overheating problems re-occurred knocking Les down to 22nd on the grid. Sunday evening was spent making fairing modifications in an effort to lower the 2002 bikes running temperature and thus increase power for the race.

The previous evenings efforts had been in vain as the bike temperature in Mondays race was still high, Les had made a good start but after 4 to 5 laps the engine overheating raised its head again. Les carried on relentlessly to finish 18th. Although Les is disappointed with 18th this position is still 3rd privateer in the championship, every other rider bar two are full time, team backed riders and Les is only 2 seconds of fastest lap on one of the longest lap tracks of the season.

In hindsight the team should have used the new bike, as although it is down on power when both bikes are at optimum temperature the new bike would have had more power during the race, as its temperature would have been constant

The next round will the teams home round at Knockhill on 18th May. The new bike will definitely be sorted and be in action.

Check out this web site for photos of the new bike at Oulton Park Web site in next couple of days.

Cheers Les T

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The Team were at Knockhill for the latest round of the BSB Championship. The long range weather forecast was overcast with showers, but with Knockhill you can never be sure, it appears to have its own weather system which defies prediction. A wet race would have suited the team as it evens out the power advantage of some of the works teams and Les is very comfortable with wet racing.

Friday -Practise

The scene was set for a fantastic battle to gain some points with Les on home territory. The weekend began with practise on Friday, we took the laptop to the pit lane to try some alternative settings for the bike with differing power curves, Les came into the pits and out again several times to report his feelings on the improvements before the final race settings would be decided upon at the team meeting following practise.

Following practise Les was very confident in the setup of the bike after the changes made in the session, he knows the track well and the bike felt great.

Saturday - Qualifying

Qualifying was wet and saw Les in second place for most of the session only one tenth of a second off the works Honda, nearing the end of the session the track started to dry seeing Les fall back to ninth position. Due to the amount of riders on track when it dried Les could do little to improve on this. He was very pleased with the position considering it’s the first weekend on the new bike and he was only 100th of a second off the Monstermob Ducati.

Les also qualified for the Regal in second.

Sunday - Race Day

Regal – Wet Race

Les got a good start and maintained second, he pushed Craig McLelland for the whole race and tried several overtaking manoeuvres until the final corner when while in the latter stages of a superb outside passing manoeuvre whilst negotiating some back markers, Les was forced into the gravel trap by one of the backmarkers picking up an injury in the process, fortunately, Les managed to keep it upright and rode the bike out of the gravel to finish in 2nd. Many people commented that Les and Craig had produced the most entertaining race at Knockhill for a while.

British – Wet track, drying but threatening rain

The BSB race had started in similar conditions and the good old Knockhill clouds had produced a downpour, therefore, Les made the decision to go with wet tyres anticipating some rain during the race from the huge black cloud looming overhead. Les got a good start only losing one grid position. He soon regained this on the 1st lap, continuing to gain places with some skilful riding moving from 10th through to 7th by the 3rd lap, he maintained this until the 8th when despite the loyal supporters praying for rain and the black cloud still looming, none had materialised, so Les was left in the position of having a rear wet tyre that was rapidly degrading. He started losing places and despite some valiant efforts to maintain speed in the bends the tyre was giving less grip each lap, to the point where it was almost unrideable, however, Les persevered to the end and finished in 17th. Closer inspection of the tyre following the race revealed it was completely shredded. Les was in good company as several of the top teams had similar problems.

Although not the result Les wanted and with him knowing he was capable of a much better result in the British, the team nevertheless gained valuable telemetry from the meeting and despite being disappointed himself, Les’ supporters were all full of praise for his superb efforts.

Les has reported that although his arm is very painful from the collision in the Regal it appears to be mainly bruising. Les has asked me to pass on his sincere thanks to his supporters.

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This weekend Les was invited to take part in an Endurance race at Snetterton due to the unavailability of the usual team rider.

KRC Endurance Race at Snetterton

To set the scene, an endurance race is basically a race in which rider and machine are pushed to the limits for an extended period of time (6 hours in this case). It involves three riders taking 1 hour sessions, the changing of tyres and refuelling, it also involves the old grand prix start, where the riders line up on one side of the grid and the bikes are on the other, they run across the track, climb on their bike start up and go, very entertaining for the crowd.

This was the first endurance Les had ever been involved in, therefore, he was looking forward to the new challenge.

The team he would be riding for was “Team Twilight” owned by Vic & Robbie Allen.

The riders were: Les Shand, Donald McFadzean and Vic Allen. They would be racing a Yamaha R6 (600cc) road bike with some modifications for racing regulations but power wise it’s a road bike. They would be racing against similar bikes and also up to 1000cc machines, therefore they knew it would be hard.

They qualified 15th out of 42, a brilliant result considering the power difference between the bikes.

Donald had to have his running shoes on for the start as he had the first stint (it must be quite difficult running across the track in motorcycle boots!) It was very difficult most of the time to tell what position everyone was in due to the different teams pitting at different times, Donald handed over to Les after 1 hour, then Vic did the 3rd, Donald the 4th, Les the 5th and Vic did the home leg of the 6th.

At one point during the race, the team was two laps ahead of everyone but eventually the power advantage had to tell and the team finished 2nd in their class and 5th overall which was a fantastic result.

The pit stops were really interesting, to explain in more detail, the team had to come in to the pit, engine off, put the bike on the stand and refuel, once refuelling was done the tyres could be changed, then the new rider could take it off the stand and go, amazingly the team did all this in, wait for it………2 minutes 13 seconds!!!!!!
The tyres used were the normal race tyres which even after a 28 lap race are pretty much useless for racing, the wheels & tyres were changed twice during the race so you can imagine what they looked like after 3 hours of racing. The brake pads also took a bit of a bashing, by the end of the race they were almost down to the metal!

The main comment from Les was that it was very hard on rider and machine especially towards the end of the race when the brakes and tyres would have been suffering, you had to push hard enough to be competitive but also remember that the tyres and engine had to last a whole race, so you couldn’t ride it like a normal 28 lap race. That said, all the riders pushed the bike to it’s limits during the race and it is amazing that a basically standard road bike can put up with this degree of punishment and survive!

Well done to Vic, Les and Donald, and special thanks to “Team Twilight” for giving Les the opportunity to race.

I think judging by Les’ comments on how much he enjoyed it, maybe Les is hoping he gets another chance at something like this.

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The team travelled down on Thursday in preparation for the race meeting. We knew this would be a difficult meeting for Les because the track uses a combination of the Indy and GP circuits, Les has not raced this before so he would have to learn the track, therefore, he was at a disadvantage immediately. Qualifying on Saturday was in dry conditions and Les managed to qualify in 30th with times 2 seconds off the lap record set by a works team ducati. The circuit is very fast with approach speeds on one right hand bend at approx 150MPH. The bike was handling well but the team had many adjustments to make because this is the first dry race proper on the new bike. During warm up on Sunday it was wet and Les was 11th fastest, however, this doesn’t count towards grid position. Wishing for rain to even out the power advantages didn’t come off and the race was dry. Les did well in the race managing to get some places back with some excellent pace and skills on the bends finishing in 23rd. Les commented that he was reasonably pleased with the performance on a new track, especially with more performance to come from the bike yet and much data gained. He passes on his thanks to the pit crew again and says he’s looking forward to the next race at Rockingham where he has raced before and he knows he must improve his performances from the last visit. A newsletter will be out shortly.

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This weekend has been very difficult for all teams and riders at the Rockingham banked oval circuit. Restraining lines painted on the circuit by the BSB organisers to keep riders away from the dangerous outer circuit concrete wall caused problems on Friday morning practice. Four Supersport riders crashed as a direct result of the lines, thankfully not Les.

Circuit staff spent from 9.45 a.m. on Friday morning to 3 p.m. on Saturday removing the lines, this resulted in no qualifying sessions for any classes. The decision was made to form the starting grids for each class in their respective championship positions, Les therefore being 19th for the Supersport 600 class.

The team however made good use of the lack of track time to further modify the new bike. The modifications have been a success as Les was the 6th quickest top speed through the timing lights.

The race was always going to be difficult for all riders with the lack of track time to set the bike up especially if it was the first time at the circuit with a new bike as we were.

Sunday’s race was run in dry sunny conditions, Les got a good start and was running in 19th position. On lap four Les ran of the circuit whilst trying to out brake the rider in front. The run of area at Rockingham is surfaced allowing him to stay upright and re-join the race, but in last position.

Les got his head down and put in a string of consistent laps to finish in a credible 18th position

The next round will be at Oulton Park on 10th August 2003 as the team will miss the Mondelo Park round in Ireland due to long term commitments. Oulton Park is one of Les’s favourite circuits, watch this space.

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THREE PODIUMS FOR LES AT KNOCKHILL

Les and the team have just returned from an unscheduled but very successful Scottish Championship round at Knockhill. After Les was offered a Suzuki GSXR 1000 from injured rider Simon Glennie to do the next British round at Oulton Park he though that this would be an ideal opportunity to get the bike set up for him and some extra track time on his 600 Honda.

Saturday afternoon was practice, with Les putting in some excellent lap times, commenting that his 600, although very fast felt much easier to ride after coming off the more powerful 1000cc machine. Sunday Race Day, perfect dry conditions. Sunday morning was qualifying, first on the 1000cc bike and qualified 2nd despite the bike developing a miss-fire near the end of the session only 0.4 of a second behind the leader. Next was the 600cc and with fantastic time of 53.1 seconds this put him on pole.

The afternoon was very busy with Les in three 600cc races and two 1000cc races.

Race 1 600cc: - Les had a good start and battled the whole way through finishing a creditable 2nd only a tenth of a second behind the leader.

Race 2 1000cc: - Another good start saw Les in second position but the miss-fire returned on the bike and saw him drop to third. Because of his strong position he decided to keep going, on lap seven the miss-fire was so bad that by the end of the straight he had only got up to fifth gear instead of the usual sixth, not realising this he counted down the usual three gears for Duffus Dip and locked up the back wheel sending him sideways and into the gravel, he managed to keep the bike upright and rejoined in fouth place (not bad considering) Les finished the race in 4th place and with the bike in one piece.

Race 3 600cc: - Les lead the race from the start and went on to pull a three second lead from the pack finishing a comfortable 1st and setting a 53.03 second lap only a tenth of a second off the lap record.

Race 4 1000cc: - After much work on the bike between race’s to find what seemed to be fuel injection problem he went out to race with his fingers crossed, confident of a podium finish. But this was not be be as on the first lap the miss-fire returned, Les finally brought the bike home in 4th slightly disappointed but only half a second slower than the race winner (who incidentally holds the lap record on a 1000cc).

Race 5 600cc: - Another hard fought race from Les who just could not find a road round the leader, still finishing a close 2nd

Les finished the day with the fastest lap in every 600cc race and a lot of vital suspension set up for the 1000cc for next week when he is at Oulton Park. The team will be working very hard to rectify the Suzuki’s miss-fire before leaving on Wednesday.

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The team is currently on its way back from this Bank Holiday weekend’s British Championship meeting at Cadwell Park.

As well as his regular M&S Motorcycles Honda CBR 600RR Les once again had the use of Simon Glennies Superstock GSXR 1000.

Sunday qualifying went well on both bikes with Les on the pace with both, only minor suspension set-up changes were required.

On the 600 Les put in some excellent lap times only 4/10ths of a second off lap record. As usual the Supersport class times are so close this equated to 16th position, 4th row of the grid.

The Suzuki GSXR 1000 once again was going well and Les pushed hard on a bike shod with his used 600 tyres to qualify initially in 6th position until the tyres went off and he slipped to a magnificent 8th position on the second row of the grid. Les pushed so hard in qualifying that after a heart stopping moment at old hall bend when he lost traction of the front tyre, he wore away part of the engine casings! Sorry Simon.

Monday – Race day - dry and sunny
Race 1 – Supersport 600

Les got a good start and settled into the race feeling he had a good rhythm he was pushing the works Triumph for 13th place when he lost the front end and crashed out of the race.

Les suffered minor injuries to his right shoulder and neck the bike suffered little damage.

Race 2 – Superstock 1000

Les got another good start and being a little more used to the 1000cc bike power characteristics was confident of a good result. On the 2nd lap the effects of the 600 crash began to show with Les losing sensation in his right hand, this being his throttle and brake hand this was not good. Lesser mortals would have pulled into the pits as he was losing 2 seconds a lap to the leaders but our man persevered giving his all to finish the race. Les’s determination paid off as he finished in an incredible 10th position which he was less than happy with as he felt he could have finished in a much stronger position without the injury.

Les would like to say a huge thank you to the four Scottish Race Marshals who after chatting to Les and hearing he was running used tyres on Simons GSXR 1000 clubbed together to buy Les a new set of tyres for the race, so once again guys much appreciated.

Les would also like to wish team mechanic Dave a get well soon as he missed the first meeting in 3 years following an injury.

The team now face a busy week ahead in order to get the CBR repaired to compete at the Scottish Championship Regal Series at Knockhill this weekend. Following the Scottish meetings Les has entered so far this year to test the new 600 he now finds himself in a position where he could finish the regal series in a dominant position.

See you all their

Regards, Les T
Les Shand Racing

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The team is currently on its way back from this weekend’s British Championship meeting at Brands Hatch.

As well as his regular M&S Motorcycles Honda CBR 600RR Les once again had the use of Simon Glennies Superstock GSXR 1000.

Qualifying – dry and sunny
Throughout all qualifying sessions the team struggled to get the Honda 600 suspension set up to get enough tyre grip. Les struggled to better his Friday session times. Normally the team uses Friday’s first session time as a benchmark to build on and drop a couple of seconds for final qualifying. The problems centred on tyres, if Les found a setting to get rear tyre grip he would then have problems with the front. The team worked very hard but could not improve Les’s lap times.

As the Supersport 600 is the Les’s main class for 2003 the team felt they should dedicate as much time as possible to the Honda as Brands Hatch is a circuit which exaggerates poor bike set up, this Had a detrimental effect with the qualifying efforts on Simons Suzuki 1,000

In final qualifying Les put the 600 in 21st position and the 1,000 in 15th.

Les was disappointed with both qualification positions as he knew he could go quicker given the correct set up on the 600 and more time with the 1,000.

Sunday – Race day - dry and sunny again
Race 1 – Supersport 600

On race day warm up the team tried further changes to the 600 but still could not improve the set-up. Les was becoming a little disheartened and felt something radical had to be done. The decision was made the to change from his normally reliable Pirelli tyres to Dunlop. Changing tyres just prior to the race was a major gamble, as it required major steering geometry changes to the bike. The team therefore had a major challenge between warm up the start of the race. To their credit they achieved it with time to spare.

In the race itself Les got a great start and immediately noticed more grip from the Dunlop tyres but took it steady for the first few laps just get used to the different characteristics of the new Dunlop’s. Les then went for it and carved his way through the field to finish a magnificent 13th place, one of the teams best finishing positions in the class this year.

Race 2 – Superstock 1000
The Superstock 1,000 class is every bit as competitive as the 600, given the lack of set-up time Les had he could have been forgiven for not competing in the event but Les gave it his all as usual and finished in a credible 15th position, given the circumstances.

Les would like to say a huge thank you to Dave and Meg for the work and effort they put in this weekend especially as Dave is still injured.

Les would also like to say a huge thank you to Sophie from Sweden, who was working with Penthouse Magazine at Brands, for posing for some photos with Les and bike and taking a spin on the Honda round the paddock, watch the web site for some pictures soon.

The next round is Donnington Park British Championship, we are hoping for a great result here as Les loves the circuit and is over the moon with this weekends results. The team has shown a newfound maturity this weekend by overcoming such a major problem with the 600. We will take this to Donnington and finish the season on a high.

Regards, Les T

Les Shand Racing

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The team is currently on its way back from this weekend’s British Championship meeting at Donnington Park near Derby.
As well as his regular M&S Motorcycles Honda CBR 600RR Les once again had the use of Simon Glennies Superstock GSXR 1000.

Friday Practice – dry and sunny but cool
As Donnington Park is a very popular track entries for all classes were high. Practice on both bikes went well with no mechanical or set up problems but Les started to notice a bit of pain and numbness from his right wrist area.

Saturday Qualifying – dry and sunny but cold
First session on the M&S Motorcycles Honda CBR600RR again went well with a provisional 19th position. In the second session Les knocked one second of his previous lap time but was still pushed back to 21st on the grid.
On the Suzuki GSXR1000 Les was having problems with his wrist again, as the bike is much more physically demanding due to its extra power and weight.
In the first session he was in 17th position but was in real pain and frustrated as he knew he could lap much quicker without the wrist pain.
In the second session on the 1000 the team decided Les should do some steady laps on used tyres and then come in for new tyres and a gearing change a try to put in 4 quick laps. This strategy worked perfectly as Les qualified the three year old GSXR in an excellent 9th position.

On Saturday night Les saw the circuit medical staff who diagnosed a trapped nerve in his wrist following his Cadwell park crash, an Osteopath gave some treatment but Les did not feel any immediate relief.

Sunday – Race day – Damp patches on track but drying
Race 1 – Superstock 1000
Halfway through race the pins and needles / numbness returned and Les dropped from 9th to 16th, he was having great difficulty in controlling the front brake and throttle. Les made the decision to pull in, as it was too dangerous to carry on. This is the first race Les has ever pulled in from and was understandably unhappy, as he was sure of another good finishing position.

Les took some pain killing Ibuprofen and rested his wrist before Supersport 600 race.

Race 2 – Supersport 600 – Dry but cool
Les got a good start but as he out-braked another rider he was pushed wide into the gravel trap, he stayed on board, recovered his composure and set some excellent lap times to finish an excellent 15th.

Race 3 – Superstock 1000 – Dry but cool
Les again got away with the leading pack but began to struggle with wrist pain he fought hard to keep 12th which considering the circumstances is an another excellent result, again showing Les’s grit and determination.

Les would like to say a huge thank you to the team this weekend for their extra special effort at this weekends final 2003 British Championship round, they were Bob, Allan, Paul, Barry, Dave, Meg, Coni and Andy.

The next round the team will compete at will be at Knockhill in October for the Scottish 600 Championship

Regards, Les T
Les Shand Racing

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The team are just back from a fantastic weekends racing at Knockhill, a good crowd attended on a very cold day to watch some outstanding races in both wet and dry conditions.

The 15 minute practice session on Saturday went well despite some sleet threatening to spoil it. Les qualified on pole with both bikes.

Race 1 - 600cc Supersport – Les knew he had a good chance from pole position but knew he would have a battle on his hands to retain this throughout the race. Les was first into the first bend but lost a place towards the middle of the lap. He fought the whole race eventually finishing in 3rd.

Race 2 – 1000cc Production – Les got a great start and retained first position into the first corner, he battled throughout the race with the second placed rider keeping up the pressure on him and finished a superb 1st.

Race 3 – 600cc Supersport – Again Les was first into the first corner, the lead changed hands several times during the race and with the rain threatening towards the end, Les came through in the to finish in 1st.

Race 4 – 1000cc Production - The threatening rain had now materialised and Les chose wet tyres, this was the right decision as the track remained wet, from his pole position start Les lead the race and proceeded to pull out a 3 second a lap gap on the second placed rider, he lead the race from start to finish, finishing 1st, some 20 seconds ahead of the next rider (which equates to approximately the length of the pit straight). After the race Les was asked why he didn’t ease off when he had opened out a gap? Les explained that if you ease off that’s generally when you make a mistake and leave the track, so he just kept pushing to the end….plus he was enjoying the conditions.

Race 5 - 600cc Supersport – Another wet race which Les lead from the start and never appeared to be under threat, he rode a controlled race keeping his pace constant throughout, comfortably finishing 1st, some 2 seconds ahead of the next rider.

This was a clear demonstration of Les’ dominance on home territory on any bike in any weather conditions and was a great end to the season. It’s clear to see that the competitiveness of the British Championship has improved Les’ skills and speed and we are sure this improvement will continue into next season.

Les has the Celtic match races coming up on 11th & 12th October at Pembray in Wales, where Les will be representing Scotland and after that it’s a quick break then back into his winter fitness training programme in preparation for next season.

Some interesting stats from the weekend

1st into the 1st corner on every race

Four 1st places out of Five races

1 set of dry & 1 set of wet tyres used on each bike

Many thanks go from the whole team to the pit crew, Davie, Bob & Alan, Thanks also to Simon Glennie who was due to ride the 1000cc but unforeseen circumstances prevented this, all the best for next season Simon.

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The team is currently on its way back from this weekend’s Celtic match races at Pembrey Circuit in South Wales.

The Celtic match races are an annual end of season competition held between Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man and West England. The Celtic Trophy is scored over two legs with each rider’s finishing position scoring towards the team score. This is a slight departure from Les’s usual weekend of going all out to score points for his own championship, scoring points for the team is the major objective. It is also as rare occurrence for any sportsman in their chosen sport to be asked to represent their country.

The weather over the weekend was dry and sunny over both days with an autumn cool air.

Race 1 Supersport 600 support race
Les had an excellent start to the weekend with a second position in the first Supersport 600 race of the day an excellent result as the riders only had a fifteen minute practice session that morning to set the bike up, Les was also unfamiliar with the circuit.

Race 2 Celtic Match Races Leg 1
The Celtic races are also open 1,000 cc machines and was going too much harder to achieve a good result. The race was full of action with a lot of hard racing, national pride was at stake. Les was hit from behind on lap three and forced of the track, he managed to stay upright however and rejoined in fifth. As usual Les got his head down and finished in another excellent third position.

Race 3 Supersport 600 support race
In the second Supersport 600 race disaster struck when Les high-sided out of a leader board position in spectacular fashion at high speed. Les was bruised but unhurt, the bike however was two badly damaged to repair for Sunday’s races.

Last years race bike had to be used which was going to difficult as it is a totally different machine requiring a change of riding style and Les had not ridden it for half a season.

Sunday Race 1 Supersport 600 support race
Les was using this race to get used to the number two machine and found adapting to the older machine came naturally scoring another excellent second place.

Race 2 Celtic Match Race Leg 2
The Scottish team manager gathered the riders prior to the second leg to strictly instruct that the whole team must finish this leg as there had been a high attrition rate in leg one and Scotland also needed points. The number two bike did not have the power or the good handling of the RR and Les struggled to stay with the 1,000cc bikes. He also did not want to let the team down by trying to hard and crashing out. Les finished in an incredible tenth position. This with his third from leg one assisted Scotland in scoring enough points to finish second overall rounding of an excellent and enjoyable end of season weekend for the team

The final team results were:
Ireland First
Scotland Second
South West England Third
Isle of Man Fourth
Wales Fifth

Les will be in touch personally in the very near future to thank everyone for their help this season.

Regards, Les T
Les Shand Racing

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