BEN
WILSON – BISHOPSCOURT
Kirton
Supersport ace Ben Wilson rounded off his season with three top 10
results at Bishopscourt in Northern Ireland where he was riding for
Gearlink Kawasaki in the JAS Finlay Sunflower Trophy meeting on
Sunday.
Qualifying
was held in the dry on Saturday with Wilson posting the second
fastest lap in the Supersport class ahead of the two Supersport
races held on Sunday. He also contested the JAS Finlay Sunflower
Trophy race where he was the fastest 600cc rider in a field mainly
consisting of Superbikes and qualified in an overall position of 10th
to claim a third row start to the feature race on Sunday.
Although
the weather had been kind to Wilson on Saturday it was a different
story come race day as the rain put paid to any real chance of a top
result. Saturday was the first time the Lincolnshire star had set
eyes on the 1.83-mile circuit in County Down and although he was
quick to learn the tricky little circuit in the dry, it was a
different story in wet conditions with tyre choice being the
deciding factor.
The
first of two Supersport races was held in wet conditions making tyre
choice easy, full wets all round. Wilson rode a steady race to
complete the nine laps in sixth place being the first Kawasaki over
the finish line.
The
feature race of the day was the Sunflower Trophy race that ran over
12 laps. Wilson was at a disadvantage as the majority of the riders
were on more powerful Superbikes but that didn’t deter the
27-year-old rider who rode through to a fine eighth position –
again being the first Kawasaki over the finish line and also the
first Supersport rider home.
The
final Supersport race was marred by intermittent rain and a last
minute tyre change gave Wilson his best result of the weekend. He
ended the nine lap affair in fifth place ahead of former MotoGP
rider Jeremy McWilliams and once again he was the first Kawasaki
over the finish line.
“I
really enjoyed my trip across the Irish sea,” said Wilson. “I
like the circuit at Bishopscourt and the people here made the whole
team very welcome. It’s just a shame the weather wasn’t so kind
to us as it could have been a different story if it had remained
dry. But despite the rain, we managed to finish all three races in a
good position and gave the fans a chance to watch the Gearlink
Kawasaki British Supersport team in action.”
This
weekend wraps up Wilson’s season of racing but, after re-signing
for the team he will be attending the Motorcycle Show at the
Birmingham NEC in late November with Gearlink Kawasaki.
Pic
credit Andrea Campbell
Report by Helen Pask
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