The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Ben Wilson managed an eighth-placed finish at Oulton Park at a wet and wild round two of the Pirelli National Superstock Championship.
Throughout the weekend the weather threw everything at the riders – from hail to heavy rain and high winds – making qualifying difficult.
Kirton ace Wilson was seventh in Q1 but, with no change in the weather, he held off going out in final qualifying until a few minutes before the flag.
He just completed one flying lap, but was unable to go any faster and remained in seventh place to start Monday’s 15-lap race from the third row.
Another heavy shower wetted the track prior to the race and, with a small dry line forming, tyre choice was to be the deciding factor on who won and who fell.
Wilson chose a full wet on the front and a dry on the back – but as the track dried quicker than expected it turned out to be the wrong choice.
Riding the EHA Racing Aprilia, Wilson got a good start but was boxed in at the first corner and pushed back to ninth. He remained ninth until lap eight when he passed Jesse Traylor but was then caught and passed by Frazer Rogers with two laps remaining.
Unable to retake his position Wilson took the chequered flag in eighth place to pick up a further eight championship points and moving to seventh in the rider standings.
WET AND WILD: Ben Wilson (15) at Oulton. Photos by ADRIAN SMITH
Wilson said: “I chose the wrong tyre for the race and consequently paid the price as I could not keep pace with the leaders.
“The weather was terrible all weekend – but if it had only been either fully wet or dry things would have been different.
“I have at least finished the race and picked up some points, which is better than a lot of others who fell by the wayside or were forced to retire when the tyre disintegrated.”
- Aaron Clarke enjoyed perhaps the best weekend of his career in the Superstock 600 championship at Oulton Park over the weekend.
Having qualified sixth, the Kirton racer started his race on Monday from the second row.
But by the time the riders took up their grid positions the track was fully wet from yet another heavy rain shower. The race was delayed for over half an hour and reduced from 14 laps to just nine.
He was a little cautious when the race got under way and dropped back to 15th before taking back 14th to claim his first points finish.
Clarke said: “I have only been racing for four years and six months of that I was out injured. I am really happy to have scored my first points in the series, the first of many I hope.”
- Ben Stafford shrugged off engine problems to claim two top ten finishes in the Dickies British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park.
The Saracen’s Head young gun was forced to use the stock engine for qualifying and both races, but was at least aided by wet conditions.
He was running fourth in qualifying before a crash saw him fall down to 18th.
From there, he roared to tenth place in race one and ninth in race two, which earned the Team Silicone Racing rider 13 points.
