BEN WILSON – MALLORY PARK
Boston Superbike
racer Ben Wilson equalled his best result of the season in the first leg of the
sixth round of the 2006 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Mallory Park
on Sunday but then fell foul to a faulty gear box in leg two which forced him to
retire mid race.
Free practise
saw Ben as far up the field as seventh but the superiority of the works teams
shone through as they got to grips with the new chicane and although Ben put in
faster and faster laps he dropped down the order to eventually finish in 14th
place for a fourth row start to Sunday’s double header.
“Mallory
isn’t a long track,” explained Ben. “And there were 30 of us out there in
qualifying and I kept getting held up in traffic so couldn’t get a clear lap
in. But 14th is not too bad a position and I am usually quick away at
the start so we will have to hope I can stay out of trouble at the first
chicane.”
But it wasn’t
the chicane that caused the problems for Ben but a start line incident where he
was hit from behind and punted into Glen Richards who was thrown off his machine
into the grass. Ben emerged unscathed and continued on his way making it through
to 10th position in the opening few laps before dropping back to 13th.
With a couple of
retirements from the leading pack Ben found himself promoted back up to 10th
place which he held for the remainder of the race to equal his best result of
the current campaign and collect a further six championship points and move up
to 14th in the overall points table.
“Poor Glen
(Richards) was furious and told me so in no uncertain terms,” said Ben. “I
explained it wasn’t my fault but he was not a happy bunny. But when he watched
the re-play in race control he saw for himself it was not my mistake and I was
vindicated.
“Glen came to
the motor home and apologised for sounding off which was nice of him. I
understand how he must have felt as he took quite a heavy fall.”
Race two set off
without incident and Ben settled into 15th place. But he soon began
to drop back as he encountered problems with gear selection and was eventually
forced to retire into the pits at the end of lap 12.
“Not my best
results overall,” mused Ben. “But at least I got a 10th in the
first race and have moved up a place in the standings. To be honest after all
the drama I am just relieved the weekend is over and I can focus my attention on
the next round.”
The championship reaches the half way stage at Snetterton on June 18 and is the
scene of Ben’s best ever result last year. He rode through to a well-deserved
ninth place in race one following that with a fantastic sixth in the second leg.
A similar set of results this time would see Ben leap up the standings and be a
huge confidence booster for him.
Report by Helen Pask
Picture courtesy of Turn One
Photography
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