The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Spalding race ace Kirt Powell picked up four top five finishes on his return to action at Mallory Park.
Powell, who hadn’t raced for five long months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, picked up two fourth places and a pair of fifths at the EMRA meeting.
After a two-hour drive to the track, Powell woke up feeling positive on Saturday morning with qualifying greeted by great weather.
He put in a strong time and qualified second on the grid for the open 600 class, although he also entered the Buildbase all comers – which was full of 1000cc motorcycles – and he qualified well in ninth.
Race one in the open 600 class saw Powell pumped up for a place on the front row, but he didn’t get off to the best of starts and slipped back to sixth.
He fought back and managed to take fifth place, but was unable to hunt down his next rival in the final eight laps and settled for fifth.
Dropping down to fourth place for the start of race two, Powell made a much brighter start and held onto his position.
However, he was overtaken by a persistent rival at the first corner later in the race and had to settle for fifth.
Race three was on Sunday morning, with Powell and his fellow riders again benefitting from sunshine.
Starting fourth again, the South Holland star stormed to third place early on and held that position for most of the race.
He enjoyed a number of battles with another ZX6R rider but, unfortunately, a bad exit on to the start-finish straight saw him miss out on the podium by just .0009 of a second.
Starting fourth again in race four of the Open 600, he exchanged places with a rival before having to settle for a still superb fourth position once more.
Powell was also happy to have to pick up two ninth places in the Buildbase all comers on the Sunday, making it a great weekend of racing.
Powell said: “All in all it was a mega weekend.
“The bike is faultless, a big thank you to everyone who dropped me a message of good luck, a big thank you to Angus Mills and to my partner Della for smiling all the way through and keeping me positive even though I was stressing.
“Thanks also go to my sister and nieces for being my biggest fans and keeping an eye on my progress.
“None of this would be possible without the help of my amazing sponsors, most of them personal friends so it all means the world.
“So thanks to A&J Services, S&A Electrical, Wayne Thomas, Manic Motorcycles, Mark Collishaw, Bill Williams Bricklaying and Building Services, Pitstop Motorcycles, Spalding Self Store, Garry Healey and Tina Healey, New View Windows, Mandy Powell and Wayne Pridmore, AlS Mechanical Services and Wykeham Staff Services.”
