Race ace on Wright track for ‘perfect’ day

Wright returned to N G Road Racing action at Donington Park – and once the sun came out the Shrewsbury ace went on to claim four wins in four races.

It had looked like the weather may hamper his performances once more, as showers arrived on the Saturday, which meant changing to wet tyres yet again.

Wright, who is also competing in the Wirral 100 championships this year, went on to finish fourth and second.

“The conditions frustrated the hell out of me because I’ve been struggling with feel in the wet,” said Wright, racing in the Pre Injections 1300 and Streetstock 1300 classes.

“Then a 90mph-plus sideways spin whilst leading knocked my confidence. I was very lucky to stay on board but dropped positions and rode to the flag for points.”

Thankfully, the sun came out for the Sunday – and with Wright “getting out the right side of bed” everything clicked.

“I battled hard to win four races and set a new class lap record along the way,” he said.

“I even led a race from flag-flag, winning by 14 seconds, and the next race I took the lead after a cracking start but had no idea three riders were right behind me until a peak on the last lap spurred me on.

“The club recognised the effort and awarded me performance of the day (Sunday) and then performance of the meeting after an epic race long battle in the last. So I’m feeling very satisfied after such exhilarating and tight racing.

“Thanks to family, friends and to NG Road Racing for running a great championship, as well as the marshals and medics.”

Tom Bryant is also back sidecar racing this year following a horror crash in 2018, which left him with broken vertebrae, whip lash and a broken jaw.

However, he has a new team in True Heroes Racing, which has entered the British Sidecar series with the ultimate goal of racing at the Isle of Man TT in 2020.

In between, passenger Bryant, aged 28, from Shrewsbury, and his new driver, Michael Russell, found time to race at NG racing – picking up two podiums for good measure – as well as getting a run out at the opening round of the British Sidecar championship at Oulton Park, on the under card of the British Superbike (BSB) championship.

“BSB was my first weekend back racing since my accident but we have quite high hopes for that bike,” said Bryant.

“This year we are doing the British Sidecar championships, as well as the Southern 100 on the Isle of Man, but this bike is predominantly about the TT. We’ve already got a good partnership and hopefully we can be competitive.”

Russell, who has won the Manx GP twice and has also been crowned leading privateer at the TT, is also taking on a new challenge, swapping from racing solo machines to sidecars for the first time.

“We came second in the first race at NG and then had a few problems in the second and third races because we were just trying different things to see what worked. The last race we went back to our original settings and went quicker again and won the race.

“The F2 sidecar we have and those used in the BSB are different, because the BSB sidecars are longer.

“We were never going to go that well at Oulton Park because the BSB sidecars also corner so much better and pick up their speed quicker.

“We would be better suited to the F2 championship but from a sponsor’s and team point of view it also makes sense to do the BSB rounds, where there can be between 20,000 and 30,000 fans.

“Had we been racing in the F2 sidecar championship our times were quick enough to have won the F2 Cup race, but the competition and standard was really good at NG because there were a lot of TT stars there preparing.

“It’s encouraging to know that already we are not that far off. Tom, as a passenger, is absolutely awesome so we need to build on his skills.”

Paul Biddulph, 67, from Telford, looks to be back to his best in classic racing series.

And this year he is also racing two bikes for good measure, a Honda CB250 and Honda CB350, the latter again in the over 55’s championship.

“This year’s racing is going well,” he said. “I built the 250 over the close season and I’m still developing it as it is notoriously difficult to get them to go as fast as the 250 Ducatis, which are raced in the same class.

“We have raced at two rounds so far, at Castle Combe and Pembrey, and I am currently third in the Classic 250cc Championship – where, sadly, there’s no age class – with a fourth and third-place finish at Pembrey.

“I’m also sixth in the over 55 years Classic 350cc Championship, as there are a lot of youngsters this year – just the 55 years of age! – so it’s going to be a very competitive.”

Biddulph next heads to Cadwell Park, June 8 to 9, where he hopes to consolidate his 250 position and improve on his current 350 championship standing.