WATCH: Girard getting ever closer to outright Vazon Sprint record
ADAM GIRARD moved even closer to the all-time Vazon Sprint record on Saturday.
Personal bests are hard to come by when one has been performing at such a high level for many years, but the superbike star achieved exactly that with a 9.43sec. run along the coast-road speedfest.
That marked a 0.05sec. improvement on his own Motorcycles unlimited record from 2018, though he still has to find 0.06sec. to match Colin Le Maitre’s outright mark set in a Gould GR37 single-seater – now 20 years old.
‘It was good. It’s nice to have gone that little bit quicker and get the [class] record,’ Girard said.
‘I will keep trying and one day, it will happen.’
Competitors were fortunate enough to have a tailwind boosting them, though it was a relatively chilly summer’s day and the sun only really shone for one short window, in which Girard set his record.
He also faced clutch issues with his BMW S1000 RR. Having switched to that bike three years ago, but still keeping his previous Honda Fireblade handy, he sees benefits to both bikes.
‘It definitely handles better round the corner, it’s just that I prefer the clutch on the Honda.’
As Girard strives for those critical hundredths, three others also bettered their class records by varying margins on Saturday.
Scooter specialist Jez Mann managed to get under his previous class record in all five of his runs on his Lambretta, peaking with a best of 12.64sec.
Competing in the busy Modified Limited Production Cars 1,401 to 2,000cc class, Honda driver Craig Robert beat one of the oldest records in the books.
His 13.01 early in the afternoon was enough to lower a mark set by Brin Harrison 19 years ago, but he then knocked that down to 12.90 on the following run.
In the Sports Libra Saloon Rally Cars unlimited, popular driver John Dunne had Trevor Le Page’s 13.51 to target.
He hit the mark twice on consecutive runs, albeit by the finest margin possible – both were 13.50s.
Among the front-runners, former European hill-climb competitor Darren Warwick made an appearance in the popular ‘Run What You Brung’ class and powered his Aprilia RSV4 to some of the quickest times going.
He was comfortably the second-quickest competitor overall, starting with a 10.51 and going faster on his remaining five timed runs, his best being a terrific 10.20.
Motorsport stalwart Anthony Poynder made a welcome appearance – being on the comeback trail from a nasty crash at Le Val des Terres last year – and went third-quickest overall with a 10.51 on his own Fireblade, or CBR1000RR.
