“You can’t keep a good man down” goes the refrain of a catchy song by Alter Irving, one of our favourite music groups who also happen to be good friends. This certainly applies to Tanel Leok and the crew of the Route 77 MVRD racing team. There is not the luxury of factory material and seemingly endless resources enjoyed by the factory teams, but there is oodles of passion make up for it, and despite some niggles at the start of the season, both rider and team have toiled like slaves to make their own good fortune.
At the third GP of the world championship series, Tanel came agonizingly close to a world championship race podium, and his tail was more up than that of a warthog that’s just chased off a lion. The second actually contested round of the Maxxis British Championship series had the cream of British – and international talent descend upon the sandy waves of Lyng, and the Estonian was keen as mustard to continue where he left off.
From early on in the day, the Estonian Express gave ample clues that he was in no mood for trifling about. He secured the third fastest qualifying time, just a tad over a second off pole, but in the all-or-nothing superpole session he brooked no argument, and posted the fastest time. A platform such as this provided all the encouragement he needed, and he blasted off the line in race one like a North Korean missile in search of a soft target. Given its head, the Honda responded, and the bike-rider combo never suffered the indignity of having the view spoiled by any other competitor for the duration of the race. Tanel crossed the line 5 seconds ahead of Tommy Searle, having hardly broken a sweat.
In race two, the roles were reversed. This time it was Searle who bombed off the line to grab the holeshot, and although he closely shadowed the Briton, Tanel could not find the opportunity to make a move, and had to contend himself with second position. Ironically, whereas Searle posted the fastest lap in race one that Tanel had won, this time the Estonian posted the fastest lap time in the race where he had to yield.
All boiled down to the third race, and the trackside fences were groaning under the collective weight of the sea of humanity that had ambled closer to the action to watch the final showdown. Again Searle drew the holeshot his way, and the battle that ensued would not have been out of place in the year’s highlight reel. The riders were close enough to swap colours on their bikes sometimes, but in the end, Searle just-just pipped Tanel to the post, eking out victory by a two second margin.
Although disappointed at not having clinched the overall victory, Tanel was beaming from ear to ear after a good day. Rider and team had won many new friends with their fighting spirit, and being called onto the second step of the podium was ample compensation. The Estonian also holds firm in second position in the championship standings behind Searle, and by the looks of it, this might turn into a season-long battle for ultimate honours.
The team will point their jolly transporter in the direction of Trentino Italy next, where the next round of the world championship series is set to take place.
RESULTS
Qualifying
Superpole
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Championship