BEN WILSON ENDS
SEASON ON A HIGH NOTE
Boston rider Ben Wilson promised a
good end to his second season in the premier class and true to his word rode
through difficult weather conditions to claim seventh and 10th in the
final round of the 2006 Bennetts British Superbike championship.
Ben struggled with set up in the
opening free practice session but soon overcame his problems to post his best
qualifying result of the season with a fine ninth place to claim a third row
start to the set of two incident packed races.
“I realised the rain was on its
way,” said Ben. “So I got my fast lap in earlier than usual. I was running
in eighth place for a long time but was pushed back a place by Karl Harris who
beat me on the final lap before the rain set in.”
As race one got underway Ben shot
off the line to his usual flying start rounding Paddock Hill in fifth place
dropping back to eighth as the pace hotted up. But it was all for nothing as the
red flag was brought out when the rain began to fall.
On a wet but fast drying surface
tyre choice was a lottery and Ben, along with the majority of riders opted for
cut slicks. This time however Ben didn’t get such a good start and found
himself down in 14th place for the first few laps. But he soon
recovered and began to move forward until he reached seventh place on lap 12.
Ben had been chipping away at the
rider ahead and passed him on the start and finish straight as they began lap 13
but the red flag came out a few seconds later bringing the race to an abrupt end
denying Ben of his best finish of the season. The result was declared on
positions at the end of the previous lap when Ben was still in seventh place.
“That red flag was untimely for
me,” said Ben. “I had passed Smart and was pulling away but they always take
the result from positions on the previous lap so I lost out.”
Race two began in torrential rain
and the riders gingerly made their way around the slippery Brands Hatch circuit.
Ben remained in 11th place for the majority of the race moving up to
10th as once again the red flag brought the race to an early close.
“I am pretty pleased with my
results today. I have been struggling all weekend in the wet so 10th isn't
a bad result from the second race. I have progressed well this year and moved
from 17th to 12th in the rider standings and only four
points away from 11th so I have to be pleased with that.
“I would just like to say thank
you to my team, family, friends and fans that have supported me this year.”
Report by Helen Pask
Picture courtesy of Turn One
Photography
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