Kelso rider Troy is scarcely static during lockdown spell

Pre-teen prodigy Troy Jeffrey has been revving up once again on the minimoto circuit, despite his sport, like many, being hit by the coronavirus crisis.
Troy Jeffrey (picture by Dan Jess)Troy Jeffrey (picture by Dan Jess)
Troy Jeffrey (picture by Dan Jess)

Troy, from Kelso, celebrated his 12th birthday in July by gaining his SACU race licence, passing his test at Brands Hatch with flying colours.

With nothing happening in Scotland, he was at Donington Park the next weekend, with parents Allyson and Ross, for his first race meeting of the season.

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Troy was on board his new Aprillia RS125 in the Thundersport GB series.

His was the only 125 on the grid and it seemed likely he might struggle against the power of the 300 and 400 machines.

However, said Allyson: “He coped well and learnt a lot.”

For more experience, Troy headed to Darley Moor in Derbyshire, where he continued to learn and progress.

Over that weekend, he had two races and managed to qualify on the front row.

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In race one, however, he made a “terrible start”, according to his mum, but made up a few positions and finished sixth.

Troy made a few alterations for race two but, again, suffered a poor start.

He nevertheless worked his way through the pack and managed to get up to second place on the last lap.

Unfortunately, Troy outbraked himself on a fast part of the circuit, going over the grass, but managed to stay on, just missing out on a podium.

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He and the family regarded it, all in all, as another good weekend.

Allyson added Troy was “buzzing to race on home soil” when he heard Knockhill was staging a September meeting.

The Saturday practice day at a very sunny Fife circuit went well, with Troy topping the timing in every session, so he was hopeful of some good results at his first race meeting in Scotland.

Conditions on the Sunday, however, were damp and miserable.

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With not much experience in the wet, morning warm-up was quite steady.

Later, dry lines started to appear on the track, so the tyres were changed to dry weather ones.

Qualifying could not have gone any better, as Troy got through in pole position.

Race one saw him gain a great start but, unluckily, on the first lap, when in the lead, he lost the front at the hairpin on a cold tyre.

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Troy started the second race at the back of the grid, as he had not set a time by failing to complete a full lap in the first.

But he worked his way through the pack to take the lead on the third lap and managed to take the win.

Race three unfurled basically the same way as race two had – he made a good start and some great passes to take the chequered flag and another win.

Unsurprisingly, Troy is looking forward to the last round at Knockhill on October 4.

Last weekend, he was at Oulton Park, where the marshals out on track awarded him the trophy for rider of the day. He also received £75, his first ever financial prize.