Sam Burman sent out a message to her rivals over the Easter weekend with three top ten finishes in the second round of the Thundersport GP3 series, at the demanding and technical circuit of Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire.
Riding her immaculately prepared Bartonfield Ltd, Honda RS125 GP machine, Burman managed to secure 12th position on wet weather tyres, during damp conditions, in the first of two qualifying sessions.
The following qualifying period was dry with just a hint of moisture in the air, so in went the slick tyres, and Burman managed a lap time of 1 minute, 45.987 seconds which was only good enough for 18th position on the grid. The team knew they had problems, and worked together to make changes and try and improve things for the 10 lap superpole race later in the day.
Starting from 18th on the grid, Burman made one of her better starts and was soon to be picking off riders, almost at will, latterly having a battle with Andy Reid, and consistently lapping in the 1 minute 41’s, before finishing in a well deserved 7th position. The team’s hard work had paid off, and all were thrilled with the massive improvement.
In the first of Bank Holiday Monday’s two Championship races, Burman again starting from 18th place on the grid, made another great start, and began coming through the field in impressive style, being particularly strong through turns one and two, making passes on several riders there during the race.
With her lap times tumbling further, she eventually climbed into third position, only to be re-taken by Arnie Shelton before the chequered flag. However a determined ride to fourth place left Burman in buoyant mood and with another very welcome handful of points.
With confidence and adrenalin both running high, Burman made another fine launch in her final race of the day. As in the previous races, she made her way through the field and had a battle with Arnie Shelton for a few laps, pulling each other up to the group ahead.
As they closed in, Shelton passed one rider who soon afterwards fell in front of Burman, who taking avoiding action lost some of her momentum and a couple of places. With the best of her tyre used up in catching the group, and battling with Shelton, Burman would have to settle for 7th position at the chequered flag, but to her credit, during the course of the race she had posted her best ever lap of Cadwell Park, a time of 1 minute 40.340 seconds, at an average speed of 77.963mph.
“We had some great racing over the weekend and to turn the weekend around from a poor start was an awesome feeling, thanks to my team for the hard work on Sunday morning and their excitement on Sunday afternoon," said Sam.
"I was gutted to lose out on third place on Monday morning but I had given it my all. Also I'm pleased to see progress and improving lap times. I feel riding the 250cc is really bringing my riding on which is what we hoped for.”
Sam Burman is back in action over the weekend 25-26 April at Pembrey, competing in the NGRRC Championships onboard the Bartonfield Ltd, Honda RS125, and the Penrith Motorcycles Yamaha TZ250.
