There was a full field this Sunday with no National Trophy, it would be the first time since September that I raced everybody in a West Mids race. I had been feeling stronger every race for the past couple of races and wanted a podium, but the course was hard. One section was horrible, bumpy, a slog through mud and constantly turning round 180 degree corners. The rest of the course was fairly straightforward, similar to last weekend. I was gridded on the front row, but wasn’t really looking forward to the start. Usually at Stourport we start by going up the hill and into a sharp bend, this time they decided to send us down the hill and into a sharp bend. 
My start went well, I was 4th going into the bend and 5th heading into a climb at the side of the track. That was interesting, there was 3 of us battling for 3rd wheel and I won, so I was 3rd going into the first technical section. After the hurdles I moved up to second, then went back to third. Ben Askey has got a small lead, and after a tight battle to get into 2nd place again, I started to chase. I looked behind me at the end of the first lap and there was nobody there, I had dropped everybody else!
I tried for the next couple of laps to close to Ben but he extended the gap and my aim was to make it as small as possible. Lapping riders without losing time was a struggle, there seemed to be more riders than usual! I was slowly losing time to Ben but gaining on everybody else, and after a final dash to the line I finished 17 seconds behind, the closest I had been to the winner all year (not including when I won!). Overall I am extremely pleased with my performance, I feel like I’m building into the season. One more Welsh league race next weekend and then its the Welsh champs, if I could have one amazing race all year I’d probably choose that one.
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