The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
It was a case of double debut delight for Saracen’s Head racer Ben Stafford over the weekend as he starred on his first-ever visit to Dutch circuit Assen.
The Silicone Engineering race ace bagged two impressive victories as he found himself on the podium for the first time at this standard of competition.
Stafford’s maiden trip to the popular circuit saw him compete in the Dutch stock 600 series, as the Pirelli Superstock 600 series do not use this event. The team decided to make best use of the time and entered him into the Supersport race on his stock machine to get the valuable track time he needs.
Stafford set about getting to grips with the new track and at the end of the sessions he found himself in second (P2) on the grid in the Dutch series and 17th in the Supersport class.
Race day came and first was the prestigious Supersport race where all of the bikes would have an advantage due to the specifications and the tuning allowed on these machines. The group is split into two groups – Supersport (fully tuned) and EVO (tuning allowed).
Stafford produced one of his trademark rapid starts and made his way through the field to finish a creditable 10th on track.
However, he was the first EVO bike to finish, so collecting his first-ever BSB podium place on the top step.
DEBUT DELIGHT: Ben Stafford shone at Assen.
Later in the day Stafford set off from P2 on the grid in the Dutch race. He stormed ahead of the pack on lap one and led the race to the finish line – finishing some five seconds in front of the next rider to take his second win of the day.
Stafford crashed out of Sunday’s second Supersport race on lap three, but it failed to ruin his wonderful weekend.
Stafford’s dad Andy, who has travelled far and wide with his son over the years as both mechanic and proud father, said: “Ben never ceases to impress me with his commitment and ability to turn up at a track he has never ridden and add to his already impressive tally of achievements.
“I was particularly impressed and incredibly proud of him and just how far he has come this year and he definitely has more to come.
“Once again the credit really does need to go to Ben and the Silicone team – especially Ben’s mechanic Jonny Bagnall for turning out a great bike again, which ran superbly all weekend.
“Ben would also like to say a huge thank you to Silicone and all of his sponsors as without these guys, all of this would not be possible.”
Stafford’s next outing is at the famous Silverstone circuit from October 2-4.
