You can’t deny class. Like good cream it will come floating to the top. And Latvian teenage motocross rider Thomas Sileika has class. Oodles of it. The world at large may now yet know it, but here’s a tip. DO mark this name somewhere in the corner of your mental notebook. It may yet pop up again in a news report here and there in future.
A few weeks ago, the young Latvian packed his gear, stuck everything into the van, kissed mom, the goldfish, the chickens and dogs goodbye, and headed way south for a training stint in Sardinia. That was also the scene of the first Italian championship race. Now anyone that has ever been to an international Italian Championship event, will tell you that the local riders, on home soil, make for formidable opposition. Thomas, a relative newbie on a 125cc bike, was going to have his work cut out for him if he were to make any headway.
The first round of the series at Riola on Sardinia yielded some mixed results for Thomas. His race bike was in less than fine fettle during qualifying, and this held him down to a relatively modest 16th place. To add salt to the grumpy teenage wounds, the bike completely gave up the ghost in a puff of two stroke smoke during the first heat. He hauled his practice bike closer for the second race, and rode to a very creditable fourth place.
The points system in the Italian championships is like no other. The Italians award points as if they were lire, with 250 points going to the race winner. A DNF, therefore, costs you a lot, and at the end of a troubled first round, Thomas was 15th for the day, which also represented his championship standing at the time.
Despite the less-than-bleeding-marvelous start to his season, the likable youngster was quietly confident after the race. “I got more used to the track and the opposition as the day got along,” he opined. “If my race bike is ready, and I get a good start, I think I can do very well.”
Some things are easier said than done, but Silky is the kind of person that likes to prove a point, and he trotted off to the second round at Malagrotta with more than a hint of determination carved on his face. He immediately proved that he was seriously in the hunt when he posted the fifth fastest qualifying time, on an unfamiliar track. Most of the opposition, meanwhile have streets in the area named after them for all the time they have spent on the track.
Like any true great sportsman, Thomas is not much fazed by the minor issue of the odds being against him. He spurred his game little KTM pony into second position off the start, and bit onto the leader as well as his perfect set of pearly white teeth would allow. A mistake in the early stages dropped him a few spots down, but he quickly set matters to order and reclaimed the spots to get into second position again. The leader had by now opened up a sizeable margin, but Thomas was more than happy with his second position.
One does not know what kind of hay he fed his pony during the break, but it was surely the right kind, for in the second heat Thomas produced a clear holeshot and catapulted into the lead. Within 3 laps, he had created a 5 second padding for himself, and from then on he rode a controlled race, keeping a beady eye on the opposition in his metaphorical rear view mirror. He finally clinched his first victory on Italian soil with a six second margin, and in so doing also ensured that the biggest bottle of champagne and the prettiest trophy girl would be allocated to him.
Thomas collected a wheelbarrow full of points on the day, and this has launched him to third position in the championship standings. His DNF in the first heat is all the more a pity, then, for even a lowly finish in that particular race, something he would be able to do with slippers on whilst sending a tweet, would have seen him leading the championship by now. Still, the third round of the series at Arco is yet to come, and with his tail as up as a warthog’ s at full trot, Thomas is surely set to give hit his all to clinch overall honours.
ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
Qualifying
Race 1
Race 2
Overall
Championship