Heart-brake as Ben Stafford misses out on sixth

Saracen’s Head star Ben Stafford was within a whisker of a top six finish in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship meet at Snetterton over the weekend.

Running sixth with two laps to go at round four, he out-braked himself and was forced to settle for 12th.

It still marked a successful return to the seat for Stafford, who was back in action after a lengthy break doing his “day job” as mechanic for Kendal-based Silicone Engineering road race team in the 2015 Isle of Man TT.

Friday’s warm-up and free practices were all about learning the challenging and fast circuit – and by the close of the session there were some evident shortfalls.

With some gearing and suspension changes, the bike was set for qualifying one (Q1) and at the close of the 20-minute session Stafford was in 21st spot.

Q2 started off far better and, with the help of his team-mate jostling for positions, the South Holland race ace found himself in a creditable 12th spot on the fourth row of the grid.

Amazingly, his Q2 time was almost two seconds faster than his Q1 effort.

Race day came on Sunday – and after a good start and a run down to the first corner of the three-mile track, Stafford had already gained a couple of positions.

But on the run down to the Montreal, he would lose one of the positions.

Settling into the 12-lap race, Stafford moved through the pack to get to a creditable sixth spot but two laps from the end he out-braked himself and ran wide on to the grass, allowing others to re-take the advantage. Never one to give in, Stafford chased for the remaining two laps and charged back up the field to finally cross the line in a disappointing, but great, 12th place.

Stafford thanks the Silicone team and all of the sponsors for their continued support.