TM 125 pilot and reigning 125cc champion, Jim Davies, continued his title defence this weekend at the legendary Canada Heights circuit.
With a mix of loose sand, hard pack and an extremely rough track after Saturdays racing the 'Heights' was going to be difficult to master during todays three race format.
The 125cc qualifying was first out on the freshly watered track and Jim went about business as normal, after a few laps to familiarise himself he then began to wind the little TM up put in some quick laps, at the end of session Jim had managed to put himself into second position, only being pipped from pole on the last couple of laps.
The start of race one was not good for Jim, after a mediocre start Jim was then subjected to being unseated from his machine only a few turns in by a fallen rider in his path, struggling to remount in the traffic jim was forced to wait and was relegated to the back of the pack. With a good ten seconds and more in arrears of the last place man Jim got his head down and pushed on, With the TM screaming its way around the circuit Jim Picked off his opponents and within the first half of the race was now inside the top ten. With the experts riders now pulling well clear of the pack making up time was not going to be easy but Jim charged on regardless. With only minutes remaining Jim had managed to etch away the advantage of his opponents and take seventh place, only seconds behind fellow TM rider Ryan Pottenger who had put in an extremely good race to be placed sixth.
Race two saw Jim get a better start and he was soon mixing it up with the top six, heads down and throttles open the expert group started to pull clear of the pack once more. Jim began to make ground on his opponents as well as working through the traffic, With the TM singing its way around the ever worsening track Jim, as determined as ever, worked hard to make the places up, taking 5th and soon into 4th the timer had counted down and with third in his sights race two came to a close, 4th place it was.
The last 125 race of the day saw Jim get a very good start, in second place as they exited the first turn Jim got to work for the final time. With a couple of small mistakes Jim unfortunately was relegated to sixth place within the first few laps, however composing himself and finding some new lines to take advantage of Jim charged once more. With only a handful of laps remaining Jim focused and began pulling in the competition, with 5th, 4th, and then 3rd places being disposed of Jim charged in the last few laps to catch the second placed rider and he began to close the gap. Fate was once more not on Jim's side as a backmarker fell into Jims rut forcing him to take evasive action and losing Jim valuable seconds, the challenge for second was over, as they passed the final chequered flag of the day a dejected and extremely frustrated Jim was only yards behind the second placed rider and third was his reward. Again, fellow TM 125 rider, Ryan Pottenger, rode well and brought his machine home in 9th place, looking set for a top ten finish Ryan was enjoying riding the little 125cc machines and it showed.
With a 7-4-3 scorecard Jim took 5th overall on the day, the championship still very much alive as we go into round 4, sitting third in the championship standings, only ten points off the lead and 4 points to second Jim title defence is still looking good early on in the season.
Ryan Pottenger also rounded out the day for TM UK Racing with a 9th place overall in the 125cc expert class.
The next round of the series will take place at the famous Silverstone racing circuit in conjunction with the Moto GP in a few weeks time.
TM UK Racing is supported by, Electraction, Kleenrite - Professional Cleaning Services, Davies Fencing, Team Wulfsport - Pottenger MX and Premier Cars.
With Machine product support from, Maxima, Pirelli, Atol, Panta, Renthal, Regina, Fro-Systems, Carbone Lorraine, Pro-Clean, TuBliss and Raptor Racing.