The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Red-hot Aaron Clarke moved up to fourth in the National Superstock 600 rider standings with a super second place at Brands Hatch over the weekend.
Kirton racer Clarke was on top form all weekend and completed his qualifying in a very close second place – less than a second behind series leader Ryan Vickers – to start Sunday’s 14-lap race from the middle of the front row.
As the lights went out the draperRACING star shot away to a good start, tucking in just behind Vickers.
He was shadowing the leader for the first couple of laps, with just 0.4secs separating the pair, but made a couple of small errors and lost ground.
However, he had a clear second place with the next rider some six seconds behind – so Clarke, on his Yamaha R6, kept his head and continued in second place throughout the remainder of the laps.
On the final lap he was riding faster than the leader, but was too far back to make any impression on his race lead and crossed the finish line in second place to claim a further 20 championship points and his second podium of the campaign.
ON THE CHARGE: Aaron Clarke’s impressive ride at Brands Hatch. Photos by ADRIAN SMITH
That brings Clarke’s total for the season to a healthy 79 and places him fourth in the rider standings, just five points away from the top three.
Clarke said: “I was trying my utmost to stick with Vickers in the early laps but then made a couple of mistakes and he got away.
“It is easier to follow someone at close quarters as you have something to aim for, but he was a bit too quick for me today.
“I did however improve on my personal best lap time around Brands Hatch and recorded my second podium finish of the season.
“It’s Thruxton up next and I have struggled there in the past – but with the changes made to the bike this weekend I am feeling confident I can be in the mix for the win.”
Team-mate Tommy Philp was forced to pull out of the British Supersport sprint race on Saturday as he was suffering from severe pain in his shoulder that he dislocated at Cadwell Park last week.
Consequently, he had to withdraw from Sunday’s feature race to allow the injury a chance to heal ahead of the next round in two weeks’ time at Thruxton (August 3-5).
