St Leonards star nets first win in national series

Nick Whitcher won the fourth and final race at Snetterton 300 - a track he had never previously raced at - last weekend.

Having missed this round last year, when he competed in the rookie 600 championship, Whitcher wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of results as the other riders had previous race experience at this circuit.

See also: * St Leonards racer on the podium at Donington Park* St Leonards ace bags four podium finishes in four races* Battle ace achieves first win in top national championshipBut Friday’s test day went well. He went straight in with not bad pace and rain started to fall during the last session of the day, so Whitcher got a feel for the wet as well.

Qualifying on Saturday morning also went well as he secured P2 in greasy conditions.

Race one later on Saturday took place in probably the worst weather Whitcher has ever raced in. The rain was torrential and the wind was so strong, but he took third position.

The rain stopped around half-an-hour before race two, also on Saturday, but the track was still soaked. When Whitcher got out on track, however, it was pretty much dry all the way round.

Although he was running comfortably in third position, his wet tyres just melted after a couple of laps. With no grip whatsoever, Whitcher couldn’t push on and ended up fifth.

Race three on Sunday was the first dry race of the weekend and Whitcher felt confident for it. He was in second place for the majority of the race and was reeling in the leader in the latter stages, but ran out of laps to make his move and finished second.

Whitcher knew he had the pace to win race four later on Sunday. He got a good start off the lights and was up to first by the opening corner, going on to lead all the way to the end for his first clubman win.

He said: “A massive thank you to everyone who come and supported me, even in the awful weather on Saturday. Thanks also to MSS Performance and TBR Performance.”

Anyone interested in sponsoring Whitcher or who thinks they could help in any way should email [email protected]