TCG Motorsport riders were head-to-head at Pembrey

Forze Extreme
By Dennis Smith, Wildcard Photography
June 29 2005

TCG Motorsport team-mates Tom Gazzard and Stewart Willetts went head to head on Sunday morning at Pembrey when Rookie 600 rider Gazzard stepped up to the Forze Extreme class for one race only, to gain knowledge of the track and ensure the bike was set up for the two Rookie races later the same day.

This followed a mechanical failure on Saturday when his clutch disintegrated on the warm up lap, and prevented him from starting his second Rookie 600 race of the day. In the Forze Extreme he finished a creditable ninth amongst more experienced racers, many on 1000cc machinery. Team-mate Willetts was demoted from second to eleventh following a ten second penalty when he was adjudged to have jumped the start.

In his first race on Saturday Gazzard also fell foul of the judges when, after finishing third following a race long battle with Michael Collins, he was adjudged to have overtaken under a yellow flag, and was given a ten second penalty which relegated him to fifth.

Gazzard’s first Rookie 600 race on Sunday was a very different affair. As a result of the DNS on Saturday he was placed at the back of the grid, but when the flag dropped he rocketed off the line and by the hairpin was mid-field. Recovering the lost track time by entering the Forze Extreme paid dividends as he carved through the field, setting the fastest lap plus the fastest Rookie 600 lap ever at Pembrey of 1min 02.726sec - the only sub 1:03 lap for a Rookie 600 rider of the weekend. Unfortunately, even at this pace, the low grid position proved too much to recover from and Gazzard finished in third place behind championship rivals John Angel and Pat Sheridan.

Whilst running in second place, Gazzard’s final race of the day was stopped after one lap following a serious accident involving four riders and the race declared void, possibly to be re-run at a later meeting. Despite a challenging weekend, Gazzard maintains the championship lead, which he is keen to keep to the end of the season.

Stewart Willetts continues to improve, although his lightning starts proved too much for the officials this time, with top ten finishes in three of his five races plus the lost third place for jumping the start. Willetts also now holds tenth place in the Clubman 1000 Championship – an impressive feat considering he has only competed in three of the six rounds so far this year.

The Team are now looking forward to the next meeting at Brands Hatch on the GP circuit, where both riders have had good results in the past.