There was little time for Weeden to get his bike set up after the practice session had to be stopped after only 4 laps completed due to the track curfew time being reached as result of a couple of red flags in previous sessions. He ended the practice session 12^th fastest. The team made some suspension changes and Tom felt it would allow him to knock a lot of time off in the qualifying session. Unfortunately Tom did not qualify as high up the grid as he had hoped he would; only going 11^th fastest despite going three seconds faster than his practice time. It started to rain at a few of the corners around the circuit after a few a laps and Tom pulled in to wait for it to ease off to try and put a faster lap in. The rain held off and after 5 minutes in the pits Weeden went back out to try and improve his time. Unfortunately he could not better it after making a mistake going into Shell Oils hairpin on his last flying lap leaving him in 11^th position on the grid for race 1.  He remained confident though and knew that if he got a good start he could push for a top 5 position in the race.

The rain came down for race 1 and Tom felt confident he could push for the front in wet conditions after his pole position at Thruxton in wet conditions last time out. Tom got off the line well from 11^th on the grid, and had moved up to 7^th by the end of the first lap. He then moved up two places on lap two to move into 5^th position. A fallen rider in front of Weeden on lap 4 promoted him into 4^th place. Tom held 4^th until lap 8 when he was dropped to 5^th by David Sellers, however he immediately took the place back as Sellers ran wide at the end of the lap. On the last lap Sellers passed Tom into turn 1, Weeden got the drive out of the corner and temporarily retook 4^th position, however he was passed on the brakes into Cascades. Weeden crossed the line in 5^th position in the slippery conditions and was pleased just to have finished the race.

Tom was moved up to 8^th position on the grid for race 2 based on the fastest lap times in race 1. The track had dried by the start of the second race and the dry tyres were back on. Weeden got off the line well, however he found himself boxed in at turn 1 and lost several places as he lost drive out of the corner. He crossed the line in 8^th place after the first lap, before moving up into 7^th place on lap 2. Tom got stuck behind Patronen until lap 5 and then immediately started to pull away from the pack behind him, pulling a 5.7 second gap in 5 laps to finish in a comfortable 6^th position. This leaves Tom 4^th in the championship after 3 rounds, with 6 rounds still to contest. Weeden is next out at the Snetterton circuit for round 4 of the Triumph Triple Challenge.

Team Manager Quote

“Considering the Lack of Quality track time, and the fact that Tom was suffering all weekend with “flu like” symptoms not a bad result. Some more points on the board and one more space up the leader board. We seem to have nailed the lack of grip and gearbox troubles so onwards to Snetterton”

In first practice he took it relatively steady to learn the track at first, and then started to concentrate on suspension set up for the bumpy Thruxton circuit. Weeden ended the first session in only 14th position but was confident the set up changes he had worked on would allow him to go much faster in the second practice session. Weeden went much quicker in the second session and ended up posting the 5^th quickest time after spending most of the session in 3^rd place.

The rain came down for the Qualifying session on Saturday. Weeden went out feeling fairly confident on the wet track. He immediately found that the track was fairly grippy and that he could push much harder than was possible at Brands Hatch the weekend before.  In a constantly changing grid Tom put his fastest lap time of the session in on his final lap in order to give Weeden his first ever Triumph Triple Challenge pole position.

Weeden felt confident he could push at the front for race 1 from pole position on the now dry track. Unfortunately Tom uncharacteristically got off to a poor start and was down into 4th position by the first corner. He moved up into 3^rd on lap 2 before dropping back into 4^th on lap 3 in which Atkinson overtook Weeden into Cobb making contact with Tom as he was fully leant over. Luckily he kept in control and stayed on the bike but slipped back into 5^th. The race was then stopped early with 1 lap to go due to a crash from a rider in front of Tom which promoted him up to 4^th position.  Tom posted the 5^th quickest lap of the race and as such would start from 5^th position for race 2.

Tom opted for a gamble for race two in order to find him a bit of extra rear grip. He went for both a gearing and a suspension change however soon found out that it had not paid off once the race was underway. Weeden didn’t get the start he was hoping for and dropped down to 6^th position at the end of lap 1. He withheld the efforts of the riders behind him up as he struggled with the new set up but tried to pull a gap on the pack behind him. Unfortunately the suspension gamble had really affected the bike and he suffered with grip during the later part of the race causing Weeden to drop back to 7^th on lap 8. Unfortunately he could not keep with the pace of 6^th position man Hutchins but Tom managed to hold off the riders behind him to cross the line in 7^th place after a difficult ride.

This leaves Tom in 5^th place in the championship now due to a change in the scoring system; however Tom is confident he will go well at the Oulton Park circuit for round 3 in 3 weeks time.

Quote Steve

“Having suffered in the latter part of race 1 with loss of rear grip the team decided to gamble on some on some major changes for race 2 however these didn’t work as well as we had hoped, had we had a warm up session on Sunday morning this would have been apparent and we could have reverted to the previous settings, still lessons learned looking forward to Oulton.”

Photos by;    www.swaffs.co.uk

Tom concentrated on suspension set up rather than lap times in the limited free practice time he had. Despite finishing 12th fastest, Weeden was confident that the suspension changes had worked and that he had a lot more time to find in the qualifying session. New rubber was put on and Weeden went 1.3 seconds faster round the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. He was holding 5^th position when he decided to pull in and save his tyres for the race. Unfortunately the gamble didn’t pay off and he ultimately dropped down to 11^th, however Weeden had put considerably less laps on the tyres than his competition, and  he was hoping that would pay off in the first race. Further suspension changes were made for the race and Tom was confident that it would allow him to push for a top 5 position.

A crash in the previous race caused a long delay to race one however by the restart Weeden was fired up and ready to go on a drying track with wet tyres on (so much for conserving his dry’s). From 11^th on the grid Tom got a great drive off the line and rode aggressively into turn 1 moving right up the pack into 5^th position. He took a few laps to analyse the conditions on track and then started to put the pressure on Piers Hutchins and Phil Atkinson. On lap 9, Weeden made his move on Hutchins and set his sights on Atkinson in 3^rd. Tom made his move on lap 11, getting the run out of Paddock Hill bend and passing Phil on the entry to Druids. He was in for a podium however on lap 13 Atkinson made his way back past Tom and Weeden decided to settle for 4^th and some solid points as his wet tyres started to increasingly deteriorate on the drying track and in a flashback to last year didn’t want to end in the gravel. He had put in the 5^th fastest lap of race, pushing Weeden up to 5^th on the grid for race 2 on Monday where he felt he could push for a podium finish

The weather considerably worsened for the second race. Weeden opted for further wet weather changes on the grid after the sighting lap, and that choice ended up being detrimental to his grip levels in the race as he went too soft with the suspension. Tom didn’t get off the line well and dropped several places into the first corner. Luckily this allowed him to stay out of the first corner carnage that saw 3 of the riders in front of him crash out. The suspension was entirely wrong and Tom was really struggling to get heat in the tyre and find some grip in the slippery conditions. Weeden was in 10^th on lap 5 when an incident at turn 1 caused the race to be red flagged and the riders pulled into the pits. Tom corrected the changes and made a few further changes to the bike that would allow him to push harder and challenge at the front where he felt he should be. He was eager for the restart however unfortunately the race had to be declared and half points were awarded. This pushed Tom up to 3^rd overall in the championship and he is looking forward to being back out next weekend at Thruxton where is hoping to challenge for podium positions

However a lifeline has been thrown to Weeden in the form of a T3 Racing sponsored ride in the Triumph Triple Challenge. Tom finished 8th overall with a best result of 4th in his rookie 600cc season in the Triumph Triple Challenge in 2011, but will be aiming for a top 3 finish this year. The team will continue to endeavour to find the funds to contest in as many European rounds as possible with a view to doing a full season in 2013 if financial sponsorship can be acquired.

A blown engine during testing left Weeden on the backfoot immediately due to lack of track and set up time on the bike prior to the first round. The set up changes he had managed to make were completely thrown out with the news that the control European Pirelli tyres were different to that of the British tyres that were tested on. The Trickbits FBM Performance duo of Tom Weeden and John Simpson struggled to find a set up on their Triumph 675’s that would work with the new tyres, but by the end of the weekend Weeden felt he had found a set up that would work for the race.

Tom was concentrating on making the necessary suspension adjustments during practice and the 1st qualifying session and had it all to do in the 2nd session. He made further adjustments during qualifying 2 before putting new rubber on and going back out for a flying lap. Weeden bettered his previous best time by a full second and put his Trickbits FBM Peformance Triumph on 28th position out of a grid of 38 riders. Tom was pleased to qualify in 28th considering that he had been struggling with set up all weekend and was confident he could make places up in the race.

Weeden got off the line brilliantly in the race and made up several places round the outside into turn one moving up into 21th position. He then ran wide at the hairpin and dropped back several places. Tom had a massive moment on the first lap going into the fast downhill braking Rivazza corner. Weeden left the braking too late and it looked as if he was going to go straight into teammate John Simpson. He squeezed the brakes as hard as he could to avoid hitting John and somehow managed to miss John and get the bike turned for the corner, however he lost several more places doing so. At the end of the first lap Tom was in 27th position but was eager to start picking off the riders ahead of him. However at the end of the 2nd lap a rider crashed ahead of Weeden at the last chicane causing Tom to shut off to avoid the carnage. This lost him further places and a lot of time on the pack ahead. Weeden rode a fairly lonely race from then on, however on lap 8 he made a mistake going into the hairpin, accidentally selecting neutral causing him to sit up to select first gear and losing him another position, putting him in 28th place. Tom remained in 28th, however on the last lap on the exit to the last chicane the engine blew and he just managed to cross the line before rolling to a stop at the side of the track covered in oil that had sprayed from the engine.

Weeden is back out for the first round of the Triumph Triple Challenge at Brands Hatch next weekend where he is hoping to be a podium contender.

European Superstock 600 – Imola Race Result

Pos – Rider – Team – Time
1-Russo Riccardo- Team Italia FMI – 21’04.967
2-Calero Perez Nacho- Team Trasimeno – 21’07.501
3-Van der Mark Michael- EAB Ten Kate Junior Team – 21’10.799
4-Morrentino Nicola Jr.- Elle 2 Ciatti – 21’15.594
5-Egea Stéphane- Team Falcone Competition – 21’16.016
6-Chesaux Bastien- EAB Ten Kate Junior Team – 21’16.186
7-Morbidelli Franco- RCGM Team – 21’24.301
8-Casalotti Stefano- Team Riviera – 21’25.756
9-Gamarino Christian- Team GO ELEVEN – 21’29.868
10-Duwelz Gauthier- Team MTM Racing – 21’30.036
11-Mulhauser Robin- Rivamoto Junior Team – 21’30.889
12-Fritz Marvin- Racedays – 21’32.597
13-Davies Matt- Team GOELEVEN – 21’32.758
14-Vrajitoru Mircea- CSM Bucharest – 21’33.246
15-Krajci Tomas- TK Racing Slovakia – 21’33.576
16-Coveña Tony- Team GO ELEVEN – 21’34.133
17-Nestorovic Adrian- Team MTM Racing – 21’34.287
18-Suchet Sebastien- Team B.S.R. – 21’37.100
19-Vitali Luca- Team Italia FMI – 21’37.324
20-Salvadori Luca- Team PATA by Martini – 21’37.352
21-Schacht Alex- Schacht Racing SBK ONE – 21’45.243
22-Cecchini Riccardo- FRT – 21’45.366
23-Cavalli Francesco- G.A.S. Racing Team – 21’55.798
24-Mercandelli Roberto- RCGM Team – 21’59.915
25-Viglieno Emanuele- Bike Service – WTR Ten 10 – 22’00.646
26-Zeelen Koen- Benjan Racing – 22’02.798
27-Willcox Jonathan- Team Trasimeno – 22’05.619
28-Weeden Tom- Trickbits FBM Performance – 22’07.347
29-Snowsill Corey- MTM Racing Team – 22’16.565
30-De Tournay Richard- FP Racing – 22’25.047
Not Classified
RT-Simpson John- Trickbits FBM Performance – 19’46.823
RT-Romano Gennaro Antonio- FP Evolution – 16’11.978
RT-Benini Filippo- G.A.S. Racing Team – 13’43.367
RT-Cocco Francesco- Team PATA by Martini – 7’49.803
RT-Ponsson Christophe- MRS – 4’07.971
RT-Marchal Mathieu- Garnier-Racing Team – 2’08.011
RT-Basic Tedi- Bike e Motor Racing Team – 2’08.880

Championship Points

1-R. Russo-25
2-N. Calero Perez-20
3-M. Van der Mark-16
4-N. Morrentino-13
5-S. Egea-11
6-B. Chesaux-10
7-F. Morbidelli-9
8-S. Casalotti-8
9-C. Gamarino-7
10-G. Duwelz-6
11-R. Mulhauser-5
12-M. Fritz-4
13-M. Davies-3
14-M. Vrajitoru-2
15-T. Krajci-1

European Superstock 600 – Imola 2nd Qualifying

Pos – Rider – Bike – Q1 – Q2
1-Russo Riccardo- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’55.366- 1’54.525
2-Van der Mark Michael- Honda CBR600RR- 1’54.906- 1’54.800
3-Calero Perez Nacho- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’55.094- 1’55.142
4-Morrentino Nicola Jr.- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’55.695- 1’55.117
5-Vitali Luca- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’55.324- 1’55.227
6-Morbidelli Franco- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’58.098- 1’55.258
7-Egea Stéphane- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’56.461- 1’55.342
8-Cocco Francesco- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’56.224- 1’55.446
9-Gamarino Christian- Kawasaki ZX-6R- 1’56.957- 1’55.576
10-Chesaux Bastien- Honda CBR600RR- 1’56.126- 1’55.650
11-Casalotti Stefano- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’57.117- 1’55.941
12-Vrajitoru Mircea- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’56.892- 1’55.962
13-Benini Filippo- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’56.941- 1’56.027
14-Fritz Marvin- Kawasaki ZX-6R- 1’57.814- 1’56.055
15-Duwelz Gauthier- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’56.732- 1’56.281
16-Simpson John- Triumph Daytona 675- 1’57.788- 1’56.327
17-Nestorovic Adrian- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’57.271- 1’56.367
18-Coveña Tony- Kawasaki ZX-6R- 1’59.832- 1’56.376
19-Mulhauser Robin- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’56.812- 1’56.484
20-Salvadori Luca- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’58.304- 1’56.548
21-Krajci Tomas- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’57.546- 1’56.555
22-Suchet Sebastien- Honda CBR600RR- 1’58.898- 1’56.600
23-Davies Matt- Kawasaki ZX-6R- 1’57.780- 1’56.705
24-Cecchini Riccardo- Triumph Daytona 675- 1’57.496- 1’56.720
25-Schacht Alex- Honda CBR600RR- 1’59.035- 1’57.199
26-Basic Tedi- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’57.484- 1’57.664
27-Mercandelli Roberto- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’58.857- 1’57.724
28-Viglieno Emanuele- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’58.003- 1’58.382
29-Weeden Tom- Triumph Daytona 675- 2’00.496- 1’58.246
30-Marchal Mathieu- Yamaha YZF R6- 2’00.037- 1’58.344
31-Willcox Jonathan- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’58.438- 1’58.607
32-Zeelen Koen- Honda CBR600RR- 1’59.333- 1’58.701
33-Ponsson Christophe- Kawasaki ZX-6R- 1’58.925- 1’58.791
34-Snowsill Corey- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’59.516- 1’58.941
35-Cavalli Francesco- Yamaha YZF R6- 1’59.128- 1’59.810
36-Romano Gennaro Antonio- Yamaha YZF R6- 2’00.212- 1’59.167
37-Nogueira Ruben- Yamaha YZF R6- 2’01.099- 1’59.965
38-De Tournay Richard- Kawasaki ZX-6R- 2’06.033- 2’00.711

Pos – Rider – Team – Time
1-Van der Mark Michael- EAB Ten Kate Junior Team – 1’54.906
2-Calero Perez Nacho- Team Trasimeno – 1’55.094
3-Vitali Luca- Team Italia FMI – 1’55.324
4-Russo Riccardo- Team Italia FMI – 1’55.366
5-Morrentino Nicola Jr.- Elle 2 Ciatti – 1’55.695
6-Chesaux Bastien- EAB Ten Kate Junior Team – 1’56.126
7-Cocco Francesco- Team PATA by Martini – 1’56.224
8-Egea Stéphane- Team Falcone Competition – 1’56.461
9-Duwelz Gauthier- Team MTM Racing – 1’56.732
10-Mulhauser Robin- Rivamoto Junior Team – 1’56.812
11-Vrajitoru Mircea- CSM Bucharest – 1’56.892
12-Benini Filippo- G.A.S. Racing Team – 1’56.941
13-Gamarino Christian- Team GO ELEVEN – 1’56.957
14-Casalotti Stefano- Team Riviera – 1’57.117
15-Nestorovic Adrian- Team MTM Racing – 1’57.271
16-Basic Tedi- Bike e Motor Racing Team – 1’57.484
17-Cecchini Riccardo- FRT – 1’57.496
18-Krajci Tomas- TK Racing Slovakia – 1’57.546
19-Davies Matt- Team GOELEVEN – 1’57.780
20-Simpson John- Trickbits FBM Performance – 1’57.788
21-Fritz Marvin- Racedays – 1’57.814
22-Viglieno Emanuele- Bike Service – WTR Ten 10 – 1’58.003
23-Morbidelli Franco- RCGM Team – 1’58.098
24-Salvadori Luca- Team PATA by Martini – 1’58.304
25-Willcox Jonathan- Team Trasimeno – 1’58.438
26-Mercandelli Roberto- RCGM Team – 1’58.857
27-Suchet Sebastien- Team B.S.R. – 1’58.898
28-Ponsson Christophe- MRS – 1’58.925
29-Schacht Alex- Schacht Racing SBK ONE – 1’59.035
30-Cavalli Francesco- G.A.S. Racing Team – 1’59.128
31-Zeelen Koen- Benjan Racing – 1’59.333
32-Snowsill Corey- MTM Racing Team – 1’59.516
33-Coveña Tony- Team GO ELEVEN – 1’59.832
34-Marchal Mathieu- Garnier-Racing Team – 2’00.037
35-Romano Gennaro Antonio- FP Evolution – 2’00.212
36-Weeden Tom- Trickbits FBM Performance – 2’00.496
37-Nogueira Ruben- Central Churrasco Mavisport – 2’01.099
38-De Tournay Richard- FP Racing – 2’06.03

21-year old Simpson dominated last year’s British Supersport Cup, taking no less than 9 race wins and 16 podiums before clinching the crown with a round to spare, whilst he was also a regular points scorer in the Championship proper. The Northern Ireland youngster is expecting to be amongst the front runners on the domestic scene whilst also looking to make a major impression on the European Championship with the long term aim of moving onto the World stage.

He will be joined in the Trickbits FBM Performance squad by former GP125 rider Weeden who will focus his efforts on the European Superstock 600cc class. The Maidstone rider finished 8^th overall in last year’s Triumph Triple Challenge and, after finishing 11^th in the final round of the National Superstock 600cc Championship, he’s now relishing the opportunity to further his career in the 600cc division and on the European circuits.

In what promises to be an extremely busy season, the duo will also be contesting selected road races during the year with Aberdare Park and the International Gold Cup at Scarborough featuring heavily. Simpson dominated the Welsh meeting in 2011 and also impressed on his Oliver’s Mount debut so is eagerly looking forward to furthering his real road racing credentials whilst Weeden will be aiming for a solid debut on the public roads.

The team will be heading out to Imola on the 16^th March for testing in readiness for the first round of the European Championship at the Italian circuit at the end of the month. In between, there’ll also be out on track at the two official BSB tests at Brands Hatch and Snetterton on the 21^st and 22^nd of March.

Speaking about the year ahead, team principal Paul Jinks commented; “We’re delighted to have John and Tom on board for 2012 and moving into Europe is the next logical step for us to take. We’ve secured some good support the year and are extremely pleased to be continuing with FBM Performance again who helped us to win the Supersport Cup in 2011. Kevin Brown’s engine work and technical knowhow will be a great benefit to us in Europe and with John and Tom, we believe we have two excellent riders who can carry us to the forefront in both of the Championships we’re contesting.”

Picture by Glynne Lewis