Tim Capper Writes for MAG Sport

Round one of the Aprilia 125 Championships Mallory Park 19th March

We went up to Mallory Park for the Friday before the race as there was a test day, and I was in need of the track time.

The Aprilia is so different to the bike I had last year, and there is a lot to take in at this level of racing.

My first few laps of Mallory were spent getting a feel for the bike, and my lap times soon came down from a 1min 19 sec to a 1min 6 sec by the end of the day.

Sunday practice went well as I was consistently doing 1min 6second laps.

Qualifying for my race was split into two groups odds and even numbers, in my group I ended up 11th, but when both group were added together for the main race this left me in 25th.

For the race we fitted a new front tyre.
In the race I managed to make up three places on my qualifying and finished the race in 22nd place, and also improved my lap times by three seconds as well.

Round two Brands Hatch 26th March

Brands Hatch is one of my local tracks but I had no idea what it was like.

The Friday before the race was practice once again and I managed a best time of 1min 8 seconds,

Saturday qualifying was going well until the piston and the con rod parted company halfway thought the session, I still managed to improve on my times putting in a 1min 4 second lap and leaving me 28th on the grid.

It was to be a late night for my dad fitting a new piston and barrel, Sundays race went really well and my dad said he was amazed that I only finished 29th as I was looking much happier on the bike.

But we finished the race and got one more mark on my licence so hopefully I should be able to loose the novice jacket by the end of the year.

I also got Chris Walkers autograph so it was a top weekend for me, next stop Donington Park 9th April.

Donington Park

Saturday morning Practice was not to my liking as I was having problems with the Melbourne loop, which is the hairpin bend on the long circuit I was either braking too early or too late, my best time was a 2min 20 seconds.

Qualifying was a bit better a time of 2 min 14 seconds this put me at the back of the grid for the race,

I finished in 29th again and did not manage to improve my times at all.

(Not a happy day for me)

 Thruxton 24th April Round Four

We got to Thruxton in good time to set up and get ready for practice.

I was keen to get out there and try out the new helmet that I had got thought in time for this meeting thanks to Lloyd lifestyle (who are also the sponsors of the Aprilia 125 this year) and my new secret weapon ear plugs!

Yes, ear plugs if you have never tried them they are great because if it does not sound like you are going fast then you can't be!

The down side to this however, was that I did not notice the sound of the crank bearings breaking up after the fourth lap, and that was the end of that for the day.

Now I am of for a days one to one training before the next meeting at Croft on the 4th June so hopefully I will be scoring points at the next round, or at least finish in the top 50%.