MORE POINTS FOR BEN WILSON AT
SILVERSTONE
Boston racer Ben
Wilson scored his best result of the season with a fine seventh place in the
opening race at Silverstone in the penultimate round of the 2006 Bennetts
British Superbike championship on Sunday. He followed that with tenth in leg two
which earned him sufficient points to move up to 13th in the
championship standings with just two races remaining.
Ben aged 24 has
improved with every race this year steadily notching up the points and has a
string of top ten finishes under his belt.
Qualifying saw
Ben hold eighth place for the majority of the session but although he looked on
course for a second or third row start he was thwarted at the last hurdle as he
encountered a couple of slower riders on his flying lap and had to settle for a
fourth row grid position in 13th place.
“I was hoping
for a third row start but it just didn’t happen,” said Ben. “I did my
qualifying on a pre-qualifying tyre so I have to be pretty pleased with that. My
times were consistent and we have found a good race set up so hopefully we will
be looking at top ten finishes this weekend.”
As the first
20-lap affair got underway Ben was away to a good start moving up to 10th
on the opening lap making steady progress through to seventh where he set about
chasing down Tommy Hill some five seconds ahead. With each passing lap the gap
reduced but there was insufficient time to get on terms and Ben crossed the
finish line just two seconds behind for his best result of the season in seventh
place.
Race two looked to be going the same way as Ben again powered the Suzuki through
to 10th on the first lap. When Tommy Hill crashed on lap two he was
promoted to ninth, moving up to eighth after hunting down Dean Thomas on lap
eight.
With a clear
track ahead of him Ben concentrated on maintaining his position but Thomas was
not letting him get away and eventually re-took his position. By this time James
Haydon had joined the party and the three riders went into the last lap covered
by just half a second.
But Ben missed a
gear and Haydon was quick to pounce leaving Ben to complete the race in 10th
place for a further six championship points – sufficient to move him up to 13th
in the standings just one point ahead of his nearest rival.
“I got another
good start,” said Ben. “I felt comfy ahead of Thomas but then he went past
again. I knew I had the measure of him so stayed with him intending to take him
on the last lap. But as we went into the first corner I missed a gear and Haydon
went past so that was that.
“I am pleased
with my weekend’s work and have achieved my goal of moving up a place in the
championship so I need to make that stick in the last round at Brands on October
1. Its double points there in each of the two races so there are 100 points up
for grabs. If I can maintain my current form I could improve my final points
tally and move nearer to the top ten.”
Report by Helen Pask
Picture courtesy of Turn One
Photography
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