Cadwell Park 20th & 21st August - MRO Rounds 11 & 12

Cadwell Park saw another successful weekend of racing for teenage star Matt Bond as he took a clean sweep of three victories and extended his championship lead in the latest round of the MRO MiniTwins championship.

The weekend began well, with Bond setting a blistering pace in qualifying, grabbing pole position by over a second from his nearest rival Graham English. Bond’s time in qualifying was just inside the existing lap record and thus Bond looked in good shape for the opening race of the weekend, to be held later in the day.

As the field rolled onto the line for the opening race of the weekend Bond took pole alongside him was English with Rob Wittey and John Harrison completing the front row. The lights went out and it was Bond who made a lightning quick getaway and lead into the first turn. Behind English had made a poor start and it was Craig Polden who slipped in behind Bond, with Harrison taking third.

At the front Bond began to breakaway, gapping the following riders, which gave the Beccles lad a two second lead by lap three. Whilst Bond strived to pull away English had moved into second spot and began to close in on the leader. The next three laps saw English smash the lap record again and again, as he tailed Bond around the undulating 2.1 mile Lincolnshire circuit.

Entering the final lap the duo caught a backmarker and Bond managed to squeeze through the tiniest of gaps only for English to attempt the same manoeuvre, causing a collision between himself and the backmarker, resulting in a heavy fall for the latter. Unbeknown to him, Bond put his head down and flew round the final lap, setting the fastest time ever recorded in the MiniTwin class. The lap time of 1 minute 38.45 seconds gave Bond the win from English with Polden taking third.

Sunday saw the first of the main races come to the line with the grid set by the Saturday race finishing positions. The field took off from the grid and it was Chris Foster making the best start of anyone, taking the lead from sixth on the grid as the field entered the opening corners of the first lap. Behind him Bond had made an average start and laid in fourth for the opening lap.

This then became third and then quickly second as the youngster battled towards the front in search of the all important championship points. Lap three saw Bond make his move, taking the lead at the 100mph left handed turn one, demoting Foster to second. From here it was plain sailing for Bond as he stretched his lead to over 5 seconds at one point before gradually decreasing his pace to take the victory ahead of English and Polden by just over two seconds.

The second race began very much like the first, but this time Bond grabbed the lead on the opening lap and instantly began to pull away from the pursuing pack. Five laps in and Bond had created a three second gap between himself and the following pack, but suddenly the race was stopped due to an accident at the far end of the circuit. The race was deemed to short to be called a result and thus a restart was commissioned and the race became a four lap sprint.

On the restart Bond made a poor start and slipped to fourth, with Harrison leading the field away with Polden second and English third. The end of the lap saw English break through into second and Bond into third with Harrison edging out to a light advantage. The end of lap two came about with English leading and Bond close behind in second and Polden third.

Coming out onto the back straight it was Bond who got the best drive and slipstreamed past English, taking the lead as the duo entered Park corner. Bond then rode defensively to protect the lead and did so perfectly as he took the win by a slim margin of 0.2 seconds. The third win for Bond meant he extended his championship lead to 39 points from English with Polden slotting into third in the points table.

The next round of the series takes place at Pembrey in Wales in three weeks time, where Bond will be looking to further his series lead on board his T&J Commercial Repairs machine. Thanks go to all of Bond’s sponsors and supporters for their continued help.