Two top ten results.
Ben Wilson netted a brace of top ten finishes in round eight of the 2005
Bennetts British Superbike championship at Snetterton on Sunday to move into
15th place in the overall standings. New recruit Scott Smart
finished 14th in both races while Tristan Palmer was 13th
and 20th.
Ben was confident he would break into the top ten at Snetterton and was away
to a good start from row four of the grid in Sunday’s opener. He battled
throughout the 25-laps with Karl Harris and Steve Plater but was unable to
move ahead and had to settle for ninth at the chequered flag.
Race two saw Ben spring away to a fine start moving straight into ninth
position for the opening laps. He gradually moved forward passing Dean Thomas
for fifth before becoming engaged in a fast and furious battle with Plater,
Tommy Hill and Gary Mason. Plater moved ahead on lap 18 but then ran wide
allowing Ben to reclaim his position. But when the four began to move through
the back markers Plater got a smooth passage while Ben was held up. It was
enough to give the fellow Lincolnshire rider the edge and he made it over the
finish line just a tenth of a second ahead.
“I really enjoyed both of those races,” said Ben. “The
second was a bit scary as I was mixed in with the backmarkers and hit a kerb
at Russell’s. This set of results is encouraging and now I have proved I am
capable of riding at the same pace as the seasoned campaigners there will be
no stopping me.”
Scott Smart was not so lucky, a blown gasket in final qualifying left him down
on the fourth row and he was unable to make much impact in the opening race.
He started off well, moving up to hold 10th spot but the Vivaldi
Kawasaki developed engine problems that caused Scott to fall back and complete
the race in 14th place.
“The engine began to overheat in the early stages and then went sick so
I struggled to bring it home in the points,” said Scott.
Race two was a disaster for Scott as both he and fellow Vivaldi rider Tristan
Palmer were caught up in someone else’s mishap at the first corner. A
midfield rider suddenly sat up and Tristan had to take avoiding action. That
left Scott nowhere to go and they both ran across the grass to rejoin at the
back of the field.
Scott knuckled down and clawed his way through the backmarkers to complete his
race in 14th place once again but he was bitterly disappointed and
said: “It just didn’t work for me today. That first lap incident left
me dead last and by the time I had caught up the leaders were long gone. It is
so disappointing after all the work we have put in to further develop the
bike.”
