Continuing her busy racing schedule, Sam Burman was back in action over the last weekend, riding the Penrith Motorcycles Yamaha TZ250, and her Bartonfield Ltd Honda RS125 in the ACU National 250cc Championship, and the Refined Recruitment 125GP Championship respectively. Over the two days she recorded impressive results on both machines, collecting two points scoring finishes on the Yamaha, and a hat-trick of third places on the Honda.
 
Conditions were damp during Saturday morning’s free practice session for the ACU National 250cc Championship competitors. Burman running wet weather tyres for the first time on the Yamaha TZ250, settled in nicely, to end up towards the front of the 26 competitors, however, not all were running with the treaded tyres. She continued her strong start to the weekend on the Bartonfield Ltd Honda RS125 during free practice for the Refined Recruitment 125GP Championship, this time running slick tyres in much improved conditions.
 
Qualifying for the ACU National 250cc Championship went very well indeed for Burman. Riding confidently in the 25 minute session she was posting consistent quick lap times, when the red flag temporarily halted proceedings due to an accident with ten minutes remaining. Once back out on track, Burman would further improve her times, to finish in a highly impressive eighth position, easily her best on the Penrith Motorcycles Yamaha TZ250 to date, giving her a position on the second row of the grid for the following day’s two races.
 
Concluding the first day would be the first of three Refined Recruitment 125GP Championship races. Postponed from earlier in the day due to the windy conditions, Burman, placed on the front row of the grid, had an exciting race in the leading group, having some close battles on her way to third place in the five lap sprint.
 
The following day would see Burman line up on the second row of the grid for the first of two ACU National 250cc Championship races. Unfortunately, as the 10 lap race started, she struggled to get the bike off the line, and was running in 20th place at the end of the first lap. However, in typical determined style, she gradually began picking off riders and managed to pull up into 13th position. Another rider just managed to get passed near the end, but Burman had earned a points scoring 14th position, and in doing so posted a very respectable fastest lap time of 1 minute, 2.83 seconds.
 
Burman made a reasonable start in the second of the Refined Recruitment 125GP Championship races, losing a few places in the opening exchanges but making her way back through to finish in third position, despite having her rhythm upset slightly threading her way through some back markers.
 
Next up would be the 14 lap, ACU National 250cc Championship race, with Burman once again starting from eighth position on the grid, and once again making a disappointing start. Struggling to get off the line, she would be running at the back of the field, but as expected, once into her stride she started  to pick riders off, sometimes hunting people down and bridging large gaps, before putting a pass on the rider ahead. She would continue this for much of the race, bringing the bike home in 15th position, and earning another championship point for her efforts.
 
Burman’s concluding race of the meeting was the third and final Refined Recruitment 125GP Championship race. She made a fantastic start on her Bartonfield Ltd Honda RS125 and was in the lead as the riders entered turn one. However, her rivals were soon to be back on her case, and three of them came through soon after. Re-taking one of them she would have a comfortable ride to yet another third place finish and with the significant points haul now finds herself lying in 3rd position in the standings.
 
Content with their performance overall, Burman and the team are already in discussion regarding making changes to the carburetion settings of the Yamaha TZ250, which will hopefully help with her starts and improve her technique. She really enjoys riding the machine and is looking to make her way further up the results as the season progresses.
 
“It’s been another promising weekend, I’m so pleased with how things are going with the 250cc, I just need to get it off the line but we’re confident about trying new things for the next round at Snetterton," said Sam.

"With the 125cc we are back at Pembrey for the Thundersport GB meeting soon, and although I know the lap times will have to improve to be competitive in the tougher field, I feel confident we can make that jump and felt happy on the bike this weekend.”