RatMally Ambassador; Nick Round
Just four weeks after a massive highside, RatMally Ambassador Nick Round arrived at the Anglesey Coastal circuit operating at roughly 85 percent fitness. Knowing the physical demands ahead, securing a top result was never going to be easy, and the challenge magnified immediately during a chaotic qualifying session.
On a rapidly drying track, a tyre gamble backfired. Both Nick and his teammate Tom found themselves stuck on wet tyres on a drying surface, dropping them well down the field to record one of their worst qualifying positions of the season. Given the fierce pace of the grid and Nick's questionable physical fitness, the squad admitted they would have been happy just to sneak onto the lower steps of the podium.
The race start brought more hurdles. Despite Nick getting his usual quick launch off the line, he was immediately blocked off by a cluster of riders at the first turn, dropping them even further back. Persistent quickshifter and lap timer issues complicated the early stints, leaving Nick running in clear air around 10th place, temporarily unable to bridge the gap to the frontrunners.
The turning point came at the first pit stop. A rapid turnaround followed by a blistering stint from Tom fought the team all the way back up to 3rd in class. The relentless pressure paid off when their primary title rivals suffered a late penalty and a stroke of bad luck, promoting the squad into 2nd. Returning to the track for the final stint, Nick managed the gap beautifully to bring the bike home for a remarkable 2nd-place podium finish.
Given the circumstances, the result was far more than the team could have hoped for, marking arguably their best performance of the entire season. The podium keeps the fight alive, leaving the squad with a mathematical shot at clinching the national championship at the final round.
Nick's Gear;
👕 Support Nick's season; Randy Racing 9 Merch
👉 RatMally Custom Cow Patches (for promoting sponsors and supporters on your leathers)