On Form Middlemas Reigns at Mallory
20 year-old Sam Middlemas stormed to a victory on March 4th at a very wet Mallory Park in the Formula 600 class and battled up to second place against the big 1000cc bikes in the road stocks.
Riding a borrowed, near stock 2003 Honda CBR600RR3 from his good friend Chris Cuckoo, Sam took to the soaking wet Mallory Park track for his first race of the day, the Formula 600 class. Starting down in 10th on the grid he soon forced his way to third position into turn one Gerard’s Bend.
Sam said of his race: “I managed to go around the outside of the second placed man and then took first by out braking the race leader into Edwina’s.”
He added: “After getting the lead I was expecting somebody to be on my tail and giving me a run for my money but after about three laps I looked across at the hairpin to see nobody there. So I kept going round, as you do and it was pretty easy!”
By the end of the race Sam had mastered a lead of just over eight seconds and crossed the line first. Sam said: “You could say I was bit chuffed, especially as I had only borrowed the bike for the meeting, I was a little shocked to have actually won!”
The next race up for Sam and the stock Honda 600 was Roadstocks and he found himself up against bikes with 400cc advantage to him and a lot more modifications. Another disadvantage thrown at Sam Middlemas was starting from down in 31st and on the final row of the grid.
The rain was now coming down heavier than earlier and the start was looking more daunting than the Formula 600’s what with the rainfall, the standing water and starting on the final row of the grid.
Sam described the start: “The lights went out and I got a decent start, managing to pass a few rows going into Gerard’s and round the outside of a good eight or nine around Gerard’s. Even though there was standing water the adrenaline got the better of me and I decided to go with passing people around the outside anyway! I could hardly see a thing there was that much spray being kicked up from the other machines though so I couldn't be quite as aggressive as I’d have liked but I still managed to pass over half the pack.”
Battling up to fifth place on lap three the teaming of bike and rider passed the Suzuki GSXR1000 mounted Sean Everett into fourth, and then was gifted third after a rider crashed out at Edwina’s. “I could see what I thought was a Fireblade getting away so I was in hot pursuit. I managed to get into second place but by this time the guy that was getting away had made a good gap on me so I ended up having to settle for second spot this time around.”
The rest of the races for the day were cancelled due to the amount of standing water on the Leicestershire circuit with the ACU declaring the conditions too dangerous to continue. So Middlemas left Mallory Park leading the Formula 600 championship and with two podiums and two pots. Fortunately for his rivals this will be the only time this year that he races in the EMRA championships as Sam is taking delivery of a new Triumph 675 to race in the Derby Phoenix Formula 600 and Thunderbikes (Sound of Thunder).
By: Robin Goodwin
