Racing Career Summary
GRC & Metrakit GP 50 Racing
2009 GRC 4.2 RR 2009 was the year planned for racing the GRC 4.2 RR competitively. Aaron’s GRC RR was a secondhand bike that was previously an ex-hire bike, but with much advice, knowledge and assistance from many friends, it was enough to run competitively. Aaron ran at the front of the pack from the onset, however his physical size and weight proved to be a disadvantage. Every other contender was smaller and lighter than him.
Round 2 saw technical problems with the bike, where by Heat 1 resulted in a highside crash due to the engine having seized. Needless to say, this resulted in a DNF, however Aaron went onto gain a 2nd and 1st place in the subsequent heats giving him an overall 3rd place.
During Round 3, Aaron had gained a 1st and 2nd place in the first two heats, but Heat 3 saw a problem. Whilst leading from the start line and going into the 3rd corner, Aaron had a insignificant crash, letting his arch rival through to take the lead. On having picked his bike up and continuing the race, he found himself in 9th place, which wasn't an option for Aaron. He spent the rest of the race getting himself into 2nd place. The strength and resources that Aaron found inside himself during that race, made an impression on himself and many people in the paddock. Any small insecurity he may have had about his ability and determination had just been put to bed. The ‘want’ for winning had always been there. Round 5 saw issues with the weather, which meant an indecisive tyre moment just before the first race. With a wet track and riding on slicks, Aaron stormed the day with three 1st places in the heats. During Round 7 practise day and qualifying, there were some spectacular crashes mostly due to technical problems, and minor damage and repairs were required. The chain and carburettor had to be replaced at various intervals and Aaron then raced with the bike plastics literally covered in duct tape. Aaron took an overall 1st place at the track where only one short year before, he had raced at an outdoor track for the first time and gained his first win. At the last round the objective was to gain a 3rd place in the first heat to take the championship title. This was carried out during that first heat, and Aaron gained an overall 4th place. However, he was later given the knowledge that for various reasons, his race engine had been substituted for a well used, un-tuned engine before the race meeting. 2009 Metrakit GP 50 At the end of January, the chance to buy a 50cc Metrakit came up. The plan was to ride the Metrakit in the 2009 championship and spend the season getting used to the transition between a pocketbike and a bigger, faster bike with a gearbox. This is also a natural progression in racing. The Metrakit was an older bike with an AM6 engine, not as competitive as the Derbi or Metrakit engines seen in the paddock. Due to the engine and associated set up, the bike naturally did not handle as well as some of the newer bikes, and the rider would have to work much harder to get results. Despite this, its history was well known and it had been well looked after. Aaron’s spent a track day at the end of January learning to ride the Metrakit and then went into Round 1 in March. The first two rounds were a learning curve, and Round 1 (having a notoriously slippery track) resulted in Aaron experiencing a low-side crash in Heat 1 but going on to gain a 3rd and a 4th place in the subsequent heats, resulting in an overall 4th place. By Round 3, Aaron was at one with the bike and finishing on the podium at every round, despite numerous technical problems as the season progressed. With 2 rounds to go to the end of the 2009 season, the Metrakit had serious technical issues which resulted in a total engine re-build by Scott Finlay of Finlay Race Preparation. He was also racing in the British championship at some rounds during 2009 including a round at Llandow Long — a bigger track designed to give young riders an insight into racing at tracks such as Mallory Park, Pembrey and Donnington. Here, Aaron gained a 3rd place. Aaron had been lying in 4th place in the National championship for most of the season, however at Round 7 he had moved up to 2nd place. He kept this placing to gain the Runner Up title in the championship. Aaron had achieved an incredible amount in his first year of racing. He had been riding for less than a year when he entered his first race, become National Novice Champion in his first competitive year and taken the National GP 50 Runner Up title 10 months after having ridden a gearbox bike for the first time. He did this with precision and focussed determination, and taught himself to work through problems and never give up. He achieved his results riding machines that were well maintained and set up, nevertheless they were older, less competitive bikes than many on the grid. During 2009, Aaron gained pole position on four occasions but the GP50 classes show that he is also capable of starting further back and finishing on the podium. Aaron has set the fastest lap on six occasions in his first year, the most notable being Round 3 when regaining his position after the crash.
Aaron was part of a Team challenge in 2009, which ran along side the classes he was entered for. This involved 2 teams as he raced in two classes: Junior Novice and GP 50.
In the GP 50 team, unfortunately the 3rd member did not continue in the championship, however the ‘team of two’ managed to gain 12th out of 22 teams. In the GRC team, the three riders gained 2nd out of 22 teams. They would have won had one member not already won his championship title and decide to abstain from two races!
Aaron has been unlucky this year off track. He has sustained a broken wrist from falling from a push bike, and rode in Round 4 three weeks later. He rode at Llandow Long with a swollen eye after he was hit with a hockey stick at school, and was hit by a car whilst standing on a pavement resulting in whiplash. None of the incidents stopped him racing — in fact not being able to race was his worst fear.
