WASTED JOURNEY FOR
BEN AT KNOCKHILL
The weather
disrupted the racing at Knockhill on Sunday leaving Boston rider Ben Wilson
kicking his heels all day only to be told that his race was to be cancelled due
to lack of time because of the weather conditions.
Competing in
the 2007 Metzeler Racetec Superstock championship, Ben qualified in 12th
position after spending much of Friday’s free practise and Saturday’s
qualifying time making adjustments to the Windmill Suzuki to get a good set up
for Sunday’s planned 25-lap race.
“I am a
little disappointed with my qualifying times, especially after finishing second
at Mondello last time out,” said Ben. “But we have spent a lot of time on
the set-up for Knockhill and eventually I posted a fast enough time to secure a
third row start. By the time the final session began the rain was falling and so
although we were unable to improve the grid position we found a good wet set-up
in case it rains tomorrow.”
Sunday
morning saw conditions take a turn for the worse and by the time the Superstock
riders took to the grid it was just a matter of time before the rain returned to
play havoc with the riders.
Tyre choice
was a lottery and even though the race had been declared wet, most of the top
riders – including Ben – opted to go out on dry weather tyres in the vain
hope that the rain would hold off long enough for them to complete their race.
After just
four laps the rain began to fall, and Ben dropped back to 14th as
his tyres proved to be lacking in grip. As time went on the heavens opened and a
deluge of rain fell on the luckless riders.
The officials
had no choice but to bring out the red flag as conditions were deemed too
dangerous to continue. Racing was suspended for over two hours and the
Superstock race put back to last of the day.
Heavy rain
continued to play havoc with the timetable and after hanging around all day it
was finally announced the race would have to be cancelled. It is yet to be
decided if the race will be rescheduled and at which venue but it would be good
for Ben and his supporters if it were to be re-run at his local circuit of
Cadwell Park.
The next
round is set for Oulton Park on July 15 where it is hoped that the weather will
have settled down and racing permitted to go ahead without disruption.
Report by Helen Pask
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