Alex Gault - CB500 Cup Rounds 1st and 2nd - May 2006

Well how long has this been in the coming?

It seems we have been preparing for it for ages.

Rounds 1 and 2 of The CB 500 Cup, took place at the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk.

Usually when you look forward to something this much it turns out a disappointment, not a bit of it! Believe the Hype that has been predicted in the run up, the largest grids, some very well prepared bikes by very professional teams proved this is a very competitive and is going to be a very enjoyable series to run in.

We arrived early morning as our departure from home had been delayed as Alex is sitting his GCSE
exams at school and it was 5pm on the Friday night before we could start our 8 hour journey to the Norfolk Circuit.

Round 1

Qualifying seen 23 bikes line up in dry conditions and as usual I examined the pack to see who I though would be the competition, from the youngsters Jamie Hamilton from Northern Ireland has shown remarkable form in the first two rounds of the Club championship, his team mate and local lad Aaron Easter must be a serious contender and last years runner up Sam Parry could also pose a threat.

The CB championship has been running for some 10 years and there are also some very experienced riders intent on lifting the crown, Included in this bunch are names like Simon Hart, Andy Burbridge, Chris Pickergill, Richard Gelder, the list goes on, then there is the new recruits to the class, could one of them pose a threat?

Throughout qualifying the tension was immense, who would take pole, Alex by almost 1.5 sec! Followed by Jamie and new comer Michael Jenkins a fantastic result at his first ever race meeting! Completing the front row, Errol Ahmet.

Race 1 in this CB 500 Championship at the New Era Super Club organised meeting saw 24 CB’s line up, and as the lights went out Alex got the hole-shot and didn’t make a mistake winning by over 11 seconds from Ulsterman Jamie Hamilton with Simon Hart taking the last step on the podium.

Behind them I got the chance to see some fantastic dices almost completely through the field riders were falling into groups and fighting for the spot in front.

The second race that day for the CB’s, was going to take place in wet conditions or was it damp, or was it dry? One of those where you don’t know which set up would be best, as it happened most riders like us went for a wet set up with the race being truncated to 6 laps due to the many crashes in other classes and the organisers running out of time. Every lap would be important.

This was Alex’s first time aboard the MAGSPORT Honda CB500 in the rain, so really anything could be expected.

Disaster! spinning the back wheel up at the start; seen him enter the first corner in 9th however up to forth on lap two, 2nd by lap 3 then take the lead on lap 4, our hearts were pounding as we watched Sam Parry put Alex under pressure for the remainder of the race.

Alex took the win by one and a half seconds from Sam with 3rd place going to Simon Hart a distant 13 seconds further behind, the wrong tyre choice for young Jamie Hamilton had ruled out any chance of him doing well in this one as he finished back in 15th place with his team mate Aaron Easter giving a very good performance bringing it home in 4th place.

So a fantastic first round of the championship for Alex, this was enhanced when he proudly received the “Uniform Solutions” MAN OF THE MEETING award from Jean Becroft.

Round 2

Heavy over night rain made set up choice easy for the first race of the day for the CB’s setting off from yesterdays qualifying positions seen Alex on pole. Now it is at this point the Commentator Fred Clark picked up on the 100% win record for Alex 1st in both races on the 400 at Knockhill and 1st in both races of the CB 500 Cup! I only hoped it was not a Murray”ism”!

Perhaps some of you will remember the very famous Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker.

“Murray-ism” springs form what he was infamous for, almost every time he predicted a win, it all went pear shaped for whom he spoke about. Countless times Murray said “OH YES!!! He Must win from this position” in his usual enthusiastic voice only to have the driver spin off at the next corner!

Again a slow start and Alex entered “Richies” in 4th; Jamie Hamilton was away out in front with Simon Hart in close pursuit. Alex passed Simon at the end of the first lap and caught up with Jamie, the slippery conditions dictating caution, the two youngsters put on a fantastic show of skill however they were slowing each other down, giving Simon the chance to catch up and tail the pair.

Lap 4 and Alex took the lead after slipstreaming Jamie down the “Revett straight” and out-breaking him into the “Esses” now the pair started to lose Simon who then frustratingly crashed out of third spot on lap 6 allowing Andy Burbridge to take the position. Out front Alex and Jamie had a fantastic race Alex taking the win by only 0.03 sec.

On to the last race to finish off round two and as Fred (the Commentator) reminded every one off Alex’s 100 % record, my heart sank, surely this is a record Alex can’t keep but would have liked to held on to it until round 3.

Again as the lights went out and as Jamie took the lead Alex was back in 6th a strong group at the front this time made it a bit more difficult for Alex to catch up but he did and as he latched onto the back of Jamie 4 riders pulled away from the trailing pack, Jamie, Alex, Sam Parry and newcomer Paul Russo putting in a very good account of himself in 4th spot.

Alex took the lead on the 4th lap of “the again” shortened 6 lap race, on the last lap a mistake from Alex seen him drift wide hit the paint on the outside off “The Esses” which unsettled the bike just enough to let Jamie through, with only three corners left to go Alex fell in to the clutches of Sam Parry and Paul Russo, amazingly he managed to catch up with Jamie, as they entered Russell Bend the last corner before the sprint to the finish line, it was too late, with Fred’s words echoing in my ears, “That’s it! the young Scott can’t come back from here!”

As he said it, Alex pulled out of Jamie’s slip stream and edged along side as they crossed the line………….. Fred announced ……”ALEX GAULT……..ALEX GAULT!

Takes the win by half a wheel length!!!!”

Bitter disappointment for Jamie, adulation for Alex. Fantastic racing; the two fifteen year olds showing the rest of the pack true skill in the very difficult conditions. It might be a different story when their weight advantage at the ultra fast Snetterton will turn into a disadvantage at the technical Oulton Park circuit when the championship visits there in a fortnight’s time.

Alex has shown his potential over the past 5 races after his move to 4 strokes and we are all very happy with his performance and are looking forward to a great year of racing.

As they say! Stay Tuned