The biggest winner of the day had to be ‘The Redcar Rocket’. Danny Hart has been looking so good in practice on track this week, but even he seemed surprised with his first place position. He’d had a good run and it had just all come together for him. Lets hope he can hold it all together and come home with the win, because you know what, he bloody deserves it. He has qualified in first position once before, back in 2013 in Fort William, so he knows what it will be like at the top of that hill as the last man down.

There were other big winners today; Mike Jones (fourth) and Laurie Greenland (fifth) made it three Brits in the top five, Adam Brayton made it four in the top seven. Jones’ rear wheel was pretty much destroyed, with three spokes snapping up high in the ‘double stump’ wooded section (where Eddie Masters absolutely nailed himself). Just how he got down from there and finished (at all) with a wheel like that was a miracle! Greenland was ‘stoked’.

One of the few to send the triple jump, he was suffering a bit with arm ache/pump at the bottom… and that is not surprising, as the track has really become beaten up over the last few days, especially on the multiple switchbacks, exposing some nasty looking rocks where it was once smooth. Mix that in with the loose surface and the seemingly innocent is becoming unpredictable.

Back to the men: Commencal too had a great day with a stormer of a run by George Brannigan in second and Remi Thirion in tenth. Brosnan, MacDonald and Fearon filled in the other spots… in fact the top 10 had a very ‘new era’ feel to it. If it stays like this for tomorrow then it really could be a new dawn… but there are some big names lurking outside that top 10 that can do some serious damage come race day.

Junior men, with 74 entrants, was as competitive as ever. Finn Iles took first place and kept a tight grip on his overall lead. He was down at the first two splits, but he was able to pull back the time he had lost early on. And the man who beat him on those early splits? Intense rider, and Frenchman, Sylvain Cougoureux. If he can keep the hammer down on the lower parts of the track then the win could be his. But here is the problem. Iles is consistent, he has challengers but they can’t match him and his performance on a regular basis. Kevin Marry, Matt Walker and Gaetan Vige have shown moments of brilliance this season, but Iles is usually one step ahead.

Race day looms large and we can’t wait.