Tim Hastings Racing #50

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Round 3 - Silverstone (27/28/29 April)

With three rounds now completed in the 2007 season, Falkirk teenager Tim "Twister" Hastings has moved up to 4th place in the 125GP Championship Cup after an eventful Silverstone race.

Although the Northamptonshire circuit was yet another new track for Tim to learn, he managed to improve his lap times in every session from first practice onwards. Early on in the weekend Tim struggled with confidence as the bumps in many of the braking areas unsettled the front end, but a full check of the bike's suspension set up soon helped to put his mind at ease, and he set a best qualifying time of 1.38.781 - placing him 27th on the grid.

Despite being on the 7th row Tim was in confident mood and felt that, with one of his customary lightening starts, a good result was well within his grasp. Unfortunately, as the grid waited for the off, the two riders next to him both jumped the lights. This was enough to distract Tim who then missed the start and, in his panic, dumped the clutch prematurely causing the bike to baulk. By the time the pack had completed the long drag up the start-finish straight to Copse corner, Tim found himself second to last of the 44 bikes!

With a start like that there was only one way for Tim to go. Displaying the whirlwind approach that originally earned him his nickname, Tim made up a spectacular 12 places by the end of the first lap and had moved through to 27th at the end of lap two. He then set about closing the three second gap to the group ahead of him, led by Jess Trayler. Lapping consistently quicker, Tim caught and passed the group to take 21st place with just two laps to go. Unfortunately, he then outbraked himself going into Abbey, which let Jess back through and meant Tim finished the race in 22nd overall - with an impressive 6th place in the cup.

While his remarkable charge from the back of the field brought Tim ten more Cup points, the team could only contemplate what might have been if the start had also gone to plan. Team Manager Pete Banks, however, simply reflected on it as part of the learning curve. "Every rider makes bad starts at some point", he said. "Better to have a bad start when you're on the 7th row, than to have a bad start when you're on the front row."

Overall it was yet another successful weekend and another huge step in the right direction for Tim. Once more he found himself embroiled in a multiple rider scrap for position, and such jousts can only benefit his race craft as he gains more experience. The original aim for Tim at the start of the season was simply to ensure he qualified for races at this level, but now - through the scream of the two-stokes - you can just about make out the sound of the goalposts shifting...

Read the race reports from previous rounds.