John Price hits top gear to net hat-trick of wins

John Price and James Evans battled it out at round two of the Tonfanau championships, which was blighted by some nasty crashes that saw several red flags and even the air ambulance called to scene.

Price, 48, from Shrewsbury, still managed to continue his sublime form taking his bike to two firsts in 400 Supersport class and one first in the Forgotten Era.

“I just beat the lap record by a 1,000th of a second,” he said.

“Unfortunately I had a DNF in the last race after going a little bit too quick into paddock bend and then low-siding in front of the spectators.

“I quickly leapt of the bike, jumped out of the way and came away with no injuries and very little damage to the bike.

“Sadly, Sunday’s afternoon racing had an unfortunate spell of red flags and two air ambulances arriving.

“This had a big effect on the race time and therefore all classes only had two races in each class.

“But massive thanks must go to all medics, marshalls and the team for dealing with the difficult situation superbly.”

Evans, 32, from Shrewsbury, leads the 450cc to 1100cc class by 15 points after finishing in the top three during both his races.

“I finished third in race two and second in the next one – which meant I was second overall because, due to red flags and time delays, we only got in two races instead of the usual three .

“They was also shortened in the amount off laps but I’m now currently 15 points in front in championship, so I’m very pleased.

“I also hope everyone that was injured makes a speedy recovery.”

Paul Myler, 51, from Telford, was one of the unlucky riders after coming off his bike during a seven-bike pile-up.

“I got injured quite bad in the Superbike race, suffering two broken wrists and broken ribs,” he said. “All in all it was a bad day for racing.”

The next Tonfanau meeting is on July 2.

Jon Wright and Alun Brooks were also flying the Shropshire flag during round four of the ultra-competitive Thundersport GB.

Wright, 42, from Shrewsbury, finished no lower than third in all four of his races at Cadwell Park, two of which were on his Suzuki GSXR750 in the GP1 Classic class, and the others on his tried and trusted CBR600 F3 in the Golden Era Steelsport.

He battled his way from 11th in both GP1 races to claim a third and second place finish, as well as two more seconds on the CBR600.

“I’ve been struggling on the Yamaha because she’s a pig through the corners and I need to work on the set-up,” he said.

“I’m plugging away and getting points in the bag but although I’m going faster than ever before it just feels all wrong.

“There were some very hot and sunny conditions, which meant the track was in perfect condition.

“I had a good start in both steelsport races and gained a few places on the opening lap.

“It was brilliant fun and finishing second to Mark Biswell in both races, who won the championship last year.”

Brooks, 44, from Welshpool, enjoyed mixed fortunes pulling out some good results despite suffering with mechanical issues early on.

“I qualified seventh for the first race and was second by first corner, dropped to fourth by lap four and then my gears got stuck so I didn’t finish, but I was seventh in race two,” he said.

“I qualified in 12th for Monday races and was sixth by lap one then went for fifth into the gooseneck and I collided, which put us both of track.

“I managed to rejoin but my rear sets got bent in the tussle and I struggled to change down gears, eventually finishing 13th.

“Last race there was a crash on the start of the warm up lap, which delayed it by 15 minutes, during which time the weather changed and it started to rain.

“I made the wrong tyre choice and pulled in as I didn’t stand a chance to get in the points and it wasn’t worth the risk in pushing too hard.”

Round five of the Thundersport GB takes place at Mallory Park, June 22-24.