BEN WILSON – KNOCKHILL RESULTS
Boston Superbike
rider Ben Wilson battled through the pain of an injury he picked up in a
qualifying crash to secure two points-finishes in round eight of the 2006
Bennetts British Superbike championship at Knockhill on Sunday.
Ben consistently
improved his lap times throughout the weekend, shaving over a second from his
time set in the first free practise session on Friday through to race two on
Sunday.
The weekend threw up a few problems for Ben who suffered a crash in the final
free practise session. The bike high sided along the back straight throwing Ben
off. With no time to make repairs to his bike he went out for the 50-minute
qualifying period on his spare. But he encountered more problems when the engine
failed.
Although he was
quick to return to the pits he was faced with using Ollie Bridewell’s spare
bike, as both of his own were unserviceable.
“Ollie’s bike was naturally set up for him to ride so that posed a few
problems for me. But I managed to post a respectable time to qualify for a
fourth row start in 16th position,” said Ben.
With his
preferred bike back up and running for the start of the opening race Ben was
determined to do well and got away to a good start to settle into 10th
place which he held until his team mate Scott Smart managed to overhaul him.
Ben held 11th until lap 26 of 30 when he was reeled in by current
champion Greg Lavilla who had clawed his way back through the field after
running wide.
Ben went on to
claim 12th place and pick up four championship points.
Race two saw Ben
circulating in 13th place for the majority of the race, eventually
moving up to 11th at the chequered flag to pocket a further five
championship points and secure 14th place in the overall standings.
“I injured my
shoulder in that crash,” said Ben. “Until I got well into the first race I
didn’t realise just how sore it was. I got away well but my times dropped off
because of the injury. Then in the second race from the word go they were a
little bit too strong for me to be honest. I would catch up a little but then
they pulled a gap on me again. In the end I decided to protect my position and
make sure of a finish.”
This week Ben will take in a couple of visits to the physiotherapist prior
to the next round at Oulton Park on Sunday.
Report by Helen Pask
Picture courtesy of Turn One
Photography
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