Fenland 25/4

We awoke on the Sunday morning to find that it was lashing with heavy rain, it was raining that hard that thoughts started to creep in that it would be another cancellation, all the way north then east the fears got worse as the rain got heavier, we arrived at the track at 9.30ish and unloaded the bikes in the rain, but by 10.00am the rain had stopped the skies brightened and we had no more rain until just before the finals were run, whichwas a ten minute shower and just watered the track nicely to lay any dust.

Harland had suffered with tooth ache all week, but was so fired up and looking forward to Fenland's meeting that the adrenalin had already kicked in and the tooth was fine.

One session of practice on each bike to confirm the gearing was correct, then relax and get ready for the onslaught.

The meeting was run with straight finals, all heat points counting for gate position choice only.

The first block of racing was going to be hard, with back to back rides in heat 1 on the 500 then straight out in heat 2 on the 250, was his race fitness strong enough yet? The answer was yes back to back wins, but there was a long way to go, and energy to conserve.

The decision was made by the team that Harland would ride as conservatively as possible to qualify for a good gate position in the finals, he done this with 2 more heat wins on the 500 and 2 2nd place finishes on the 250.

The 250 final was an absolute pleasure to watch, the tapes flew and the 250 JRM was away level at the front, then it all changed as they all went into the first corner Harland just appeared to change up a gear and exited the corner with a substantial lead, 2009 youth British Champion Josh Dingle chased hard, but could make no inroads into Harland's lead. One down one to go!

Last race of the day the 500 final, Harland went to the tapes as top points scorer, and chose the outside gate position, 2nd highest scorer British international Vince Kinchin drew in next to him, the tapes flew and Harland and Kinchin gated neck and neck with Kinchin just getting the drop into the first corner, for a lap and a bit they were on top of each other vying for position, then on the top bend Harland swept by, Kinchin had no answer to Harland's speed and had to settle for second spot.

A victory in both the 250 and 500 classes have given the team a good start in the quest for Speedway Service Ltd's fantastic series prize of a new 250 JRM engine and 500 class prize voucher.

Again the bikes were faultless, one tooth added to the rear sprocket of the 250 after race 2, and normal between race maintenance only.