First Race

Well, how did my first race go? The track was great, hard pack and slightly hilly, with some great jumps. Before practice I was nervous, at one point feeling sick. I just needed to get on the track so I could ride.
As I was building my speed up for time training, I lost my front end on a slippy part of the track and broke my clutch lever clean off! Luckily, I fell right next to the working area, so I pushed my bike in and ran back to the van, remove the lever off my spare bike, run back and fit the lever back onto my race bike. I think this actually helped me keep calm a little, I was a little disappointed that I was as low as 24th in qualifying.
With this feedback I was able to consider what I was doing to be slower than I was aiming for, which, I had worked out.
Before the second race, I was feeling really negative, and was scared about going into race with other riders. Fortunately, my dad (who was with me) said just go out and enjoy yourself. I felt quite alot of relief when I heard those words.
In the races I felt that my corner speed was good, most of the time (I write most of the time because finishing in 23rd and 24th, clearly the speed was not high enough)and I know I let myself down on the whoop section and the bike didn't feel particularly fast on the straights.

I need to finish building the best bike I can get, so that there is no hesitation about the bikes performance. I am fully aware that the first 5 or so bikes are factory backed (if not, well prepared, performance wise) and that most of the riders have got some kind of mechanical support.

As I get more races under my belt, I will start to get better results with what I have got, which is great.

I am racing in France this weekend, on a track that I have ridden before that is a really fun track to ride. I will write about my experiences when I get back.