Middlemas Debuts On Triumph

The collaboration of Sam Middlemas and the Triumph Daytona 675 launched last week at the EMRA championship race at Mallory Park after an intense week of set up.

After two half days of testing (afternoons), which included setting up the suspension and fitting a steering damper Sam was finally able to produce some competitive lap times in the high 57’s on very cold Friday afternoon on a no limits track day.

To gain more practice and track time on the new bike Sam decided that he would enter the Alamo Mallory Trophy races, he said, “I went into day leading the F600 championship so decided that I would enter the Alamo superbikes as well just to get more time on the new bike.”

For the first Alamo heat Sam lined up 16th on the grid against a throng of bikes with a larger capacity than his. Unfortunately for Sam and his other competitors the opening heat was a crash strewn affair with multiple riders going down which saw two red flags in two attempts to get the race underway. He added, “I was feeling good coming out the Bus Stop and down the Devil’s Elbow hard in hot pursuit of Dan Cannell the reigning 600 champion but then I suddenly saw people in the gravel trap and bikes everywhere, then the red flag.”

The next race up was the Formula 600s, with being the championship leader Sam Middlemas started the race on pole position, “I got a brilliant start and took the hole shot into Gerard’s.” Coming out of Gerard’s Sam was passed by ex R6 cup racer Michael Niblett and Michael started to put a gap between himself and Sam in 2nd position.

“I was second on the opening lap after Nibbo got around me but I managed to close up to Nibbo in first position at the hairpin. I got through the bus stop and Michael nailed the throttle hard leaving a black line behind him but then unfortunately high sided out of the Devil’s Elbow. I took a wide line and nearly hit his bike with Lee Statham also nearly running into the back of me.” The race was red flagged as Michael Niblett’s 07 600RR was still stranded in the middle of the track and a few riders collided with the fallen machine.

From the restart Sam was again starting from pole, after the lights went out Sam got a bad start but was able to anchor into second place at the first turn. “The leader was riding really defensive and this allowed others to attack me as he was bulking me a fair bit in the corners.”

Sam dropped back to seventh position whilst struggling but was able to regain his composure and claw his way into sixth place at the flag, “I was quite disappointed as my times were well off what I know I was capable of. This was practically the first race on the new bike though and I feel there is a lot more to come.”

For the Alamo trophy final Sam again started from 16th position but following another crash, this time involving Sam’s friend Gary Arden who crashed at the very high speed first corner Gerard’s, the race had to be red flagged. This resulted in an 11th place finish for Sam. Sam was happy enough with this as against the bigger capacity bikes this was just used as a practice race although it had become more of a drama than a race.

The final race of the day was the second F600. Starting from pole for the second time Sam was running in second into the first corner and out of Gerard’s, taking a more cautious approach into Edwina’s with concerns of the tyres being colder on the left hand side, Michael Nibblet and Lee Statham passed resulting in Sam and his 675 dropping down to fourth. After a mistake at the hairpin Sam dropped down to fifth place. Charging like a red devil up to the next rider after feeling more comfortable on the bike, “I saw the guy in front nearly have a big high side out the elbow and thought i would be able to get by him on the last lap. But I forgot the laps were reduced so trying to set him up at Gerard’s was canned as the chequered flag was out and I hadn't noticed a last lap flag!”

Sam said of the event, “Overall I was pretty disappointed as I would have liked top five finishes. I’d done faster times on the bike on Friday afternoon but for some reason couldn’t get down to those times today. In saying that though for the first meeting on the new bike, I learnt a lot and at least and stayed on, unlike many of my good mates in the paddock. I've dropped to third in the championship though but hopefully a new rear shock to replace the stock unit and some more time on the bike will see me up there in the top five at the next round. It’ll be nice to finally get used to a bike and race it this year after borrowing the Honda for the first round and the rush to get the Triumph out there for the second!’’

It has also been decided that Sam will continue to compete in the EMRA Championship throughout the season aboard the Triumph.

Best wishes go out to all the riders that were injured today; hopefully you all recover to full fitness.

By: Robin Goodwin