14-year-old EBC-equipped racer competed in the Superteens class of the series at Snetterton
With optimism and determination flowing through her veins ahead of another competitive season, it seems that Jayda Howe’s hard prep work paid off during the debutant 2021 round of the Thundersport GB series, where she is currently competing in the Superteens class on an EBC Brakes-clad Yamaha R3.
Held at Norfolk’s Snetterton Circuit, the weekend saw mixed weather conditions and plenty of other thrills and spills thrown at the riders. Despite this, Howe managed to secure some impressive positions across the races carried out, including a third-place finish on the Sunday.
Howe recalls the weekend in her own words below.
”There were mixed weather conditions for Saturday’s practice, I spent the day re-learning the bike after having the GYTR performance kit fitted over the winter. This was the first time out on the bike and it felt so much faster. It had been nearly two years since I’d ridden Snetterton and last time here I was on the Aprilia. The bike felt amazing and I couldn’t wait for the race weekend to start.
Sunday started nice and sunny with a dry track for qualifying, I managed 20th on the grid and 8th in class. Race 1 didn’t start the way I wanted; the lights went out and as I pulled off the grid the front wheel came up in the air. By the time I sorted it out I was at the back of the pack. I kept going and got up to 7th in class and 14th overall in the Junior Cup. I must have been pushing hard because I set my best lap time of the weekend in the race!
”Just before Race 2, it started to rain very heavily making it horrible conditions to race in. I didn’t want a repeat of Race 1’s start so used less revs but this time stalled it on the grid. I quickly restarted the engine and was furiously playing catch up again. I caught the pack up pretty quick and knew I was putting in some good times from my lap timer. I finished well but it wasn’t until I pulled into the holding area at the end of the race and saw Dad holding up three fingers that I realised I’d got 3rd place in my class. I couldn’t believe I’d got my first podium at Thundersport. I even finished the race in 11th overall, scoring points again in the Junior Cup. I was so happy to get my first podium in the Superteens class.
On Monday, we woke up to a cold and damp morning and I didn’t feel too well – maybe it was all the excitement from Sunday. The plan for warm-up was just to sort out my starts. In Race 1, I got a much better start and finished 8th in class and 16th in the Junior Cup. In Race 2, like the day before, the heavy rain came just before the race but I knew I had to do the same as Sunday’s wet race. I had another good start and was just getting settled but unfortunately the race was cut short by a red flag, but I achieved 4th in class and 10th overall.
I had an amazing weekend for the first weekend back racing and was able to knock 28 seconds off the time I set here two year ago. Unfortunately, Uncle Alan wasn’t at the track but I had the next best person to step into his shoes, so a big thank you to Vince for all your help and support this weekend.
Now I can’t wait for Cadwell Park on 29-31 May.
