Oulton Park Report
Earlier, there was a terrific performance from team debutant Fraser Rogers in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race, as he put the Team ILR Ninja ZX-10R in the Top 20 from 40 starters in what was his first ever experience of riding a 1000cc machine. Unlike in previous rounds, there was only one Motostar race at Oulton so it really was all to play for. Vasco has been displaying terrific form in the latter part of the season and he ran a calculated race sitting behind his two rivals and biding his time with a plan of attack for the final lap. However a slight mistake in front almost put him off the track and ruin his race completely, thankfully he stayed on to once again finish high in the points and maintain his Top 10 placing in the championship. Thomas had been running in 12th when he came to grief at Lodge without serious injury. When Fraser Rogers signed up to compete for Team ILR in the remaining three rounds of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship, Oulton Park was very much being seen as a test round for the young rider to get him accustomed to the larger capacity machine. However, completely at home in his new team and comfortable with his new bike from the start, Fraser's lap times were nothing short of impressive. Improving on his Free Practice time by over two seconds in Q1, he continued to lap consistently culminating in a 17th quickest ideal lap of 1.39:036 in the race itself where he was also strong through the speed traps to bring his first race for the team to a satisfactory conclusion. Team ILR were pleased to have Fraser's friend and current Moto3 World Championship leader Danny Kent with them over the course of the weekend. The Motostar Championship now heads to the continent in two weeks time where van der Valk will be in action on his 'home' circuit of Assen alongside Thomas, whilst Rogers' next outing will be in one month's time at Silverstone. In the meantime, the team have travelled to Scarborough and the Steve Henshaw International Gold Cup meeting. Ian Lougher: " Oulton Park is always an enjoyable circuit to attend as part of the BSB Championships, most riders love it and it always seems to be very popular for the rest of the team too. Things got off to a good start on Friday with both Vasco and Joe going faster than they went in the previous Oulton meeting back in May. Come the end of Qualifying both had a good set up on our Team ILR Honda's, and sitting in 7th and 9th fastest. Race day- Vasco was involved in a great battle with Boerboom and Rendell for 5th, but although he finished just behind them after getting shoved wide by the two more experienced lads at Hizzy's on the last lap, the 15 year old admitted he was learning race craft in bucket loads from them, but from now on the gloves are off. Joe had a disappointing end to the weekend, ending up in the gravel after high siding at the last corner on lap 4. We were looking forward to getting back into the Superstock 1000 class, and also working with Fraser Rogers. It was always looked upon for Fraser to use Oulton as more or less a test session, as having had no previous experience at all on a 1000cc machine, and the rest of the field having already completed three quarters of the season on one, it was going to be tough for anybody. So I was very surprised and pleased to see his rapid progression on our Team ZX-10R. He seems to suit the Kawasaki perfectly and loved every minute of it, complementing the Maxton suspension and our settings previously used by Filip Backlund, going on to qualify 28th and finish in the race a very respectable 20th, with competitive lap times that a seasoned campaigner would be proud of. So for the next outing we look forward to Silverstone and a circuit that should suit Fraser even more........watch this space!!!!" Fraser Rogers: "First things first, I want to thank Ian Lougher and the rest of Team ILR - the weekend went really well, I was happy with the progress made throughout the weekend. With each lap I felt more and more comfortable on the bike and improved in time every session. The race was a lot of fun, coming through to 18th on Lap 1 from 28th on the grid especially. Made a few little mistakes which cost me a couple of positions but the bike was perfect and I am leaving Oulton Park full of confidence for Silverstone! I want to say a huge thanks to my sponsors Swindon Karting Arena & Simon Whatley @ SRS, without them this wouldn't have been possible. Cant wait to get back out!" Vasco van der Valk: "Great qualifying for the race! The morning session was wet and I was 8th but I didn't push because we knew the second session would be dry. I qualified 7th but within 0,2s of 4th, so it was very close. I fought hard in the race with Ed Rendell and Jorel and finished 7th. Thanks to my magnificent team, and the extra help of a certain other Moto3 racer!!" Joe Thomas: "What a weekend. I had loads of confidence and qualified really well but sad I didn't finish the race. But again, I have a lot of confidence going into Assen!! Thanks to all my sponsors and the team!" Back AARON CLARKE SCORES WELL AT CADWELL
Aaron usually rides in the National Superstock 600 series that runs as a support class to the British Superbike Championship and his class is not on the programme for the round at Assen this weekend. This means that Aaron would not have a race for four weeks and because of the need for continuity he decided to enter the races at Cadwell. He claimed three third places and a second in the 600 class and went on to record two wins and a third place in the Allcomers Open class races. In the final 600 race the 19 year old set his fastest ever lap around the course with a 1m.32.22s which smashed his personal best time by a massive 1.35s. Aaron was delighted with his results and said: "it was a mega weekend at Cadwell Park Derby Phoenix meeting, I had some awesome races and came home with lots of silverware for four third, one second and two first places!! Also I smashed my personal best time by 1.3 seconds as I managed a 1:32.22 which I'm over the moon with as would have put me 12th on the grid for BSB weekend! It was the wrong weekend to do it I know but I'll take it!!" Back Successful Scarborough meeting for Lintin and RC Express Racing
Saturday and Sunday saw vastly different conditions with heavy rain on the former and sunshine on the latter but Ivan was equally comfortable in both the wet and dry and opened his account on Saturday afternoon with a good second in the opening Supersport 600cc race. This was immediately followed by victory on the Kawasaki ER6 650cc machine in the first leg of the Lee Pullan Trophy, a race that saw the rain at its heaviest. Unfortunately, he was forced to retire from the Cock o’ the North Superbike race on the final lap, whilst holding onto a good second, but he completed his day with another second place in the eight lap Senior race. Sunday saw much better weather with the sun shining at the 2.43-mile Yorkshire venue and Ivan’s first outing was in the feature Gold Cup race, which he’d won twelve months previous. His task was made much harder this time around by a lowly grid position and by the time he’d worked his way up to second, race leader Dean Harrison was some distance ahead and he had to settle for the runners-up spot. It was a similar story in the second Supersport 600cc race but, again, he fought his way through the field excellently to claim third place on this occasion. His second win on the weekend came on the ER6 which enabled him to retain the Lee Pullan Trophy and he completed his busy weekend with a good third in the second Superbike race. Ivan Lintin: “I’m happy enough with how the weekend’s gone and I’ve taken some good results across the classes. It was slightly disappointing to be so far back in the Gold Cup race but I went out in qualifying with a slick tyre when an intermediate would have been the better option but I fought through well to take second. Dean was in superb form all weekend but with grid positions and the like I never got the chance to at least try and go with him.” “The Supersport races were again tough and the pace Dean, Lee (Johnston) and myself were going at was pretty much lap record pace all the way through so they were enjoyable races. It was nice to get two more wins in the Lightweight races too especially the second one when James Cowton made me work for it. It was a busy two days and my arms were aching quite a bit by the end of it but it’s been a good meeting for us and good to end the year strongly.” Ben Constable, Team Co-owner: “Dean (Harrison) was on fire this weekend but we can’t complain with how it all went for us. Ivan’s ride in the Gold Cup race was a major highlight for us and coming from tenth on the grid to second was superb especially given the fact Oliver’s Mount is a tough circuit to overtake on. Aside from a small issue on Saturday afternoon in the Cock o’ the North race, we had a trouble free weekend.” “It was a hard weekend though and I think Ivan did something in the region of 60 laps over the course of the two days but he got some great results in all the races and we’re very happy. It’s a bit of an early end to our season but Ivan’s had a mega year and taken his riding and results to the next level so we’re delighted with how our 2015 season has gone.” Back Reeves and Farrance dominate at Oliver’s Mount
Saturday’s opening six lap race was held in wet conditions but a superb start by the duo saw them grab the lead at the first corner and, aided by the fastest lap of the race, they were able to steadily increase their lead over Ian and Carl Bell to eventually take the win by almost five seconds. The second race later in the day saw slightly better conditions and it was a lot closer race this time with the Bells pressurising them all the way. However, Tim and Patrick had the race under control on their DMR Honda and were able to take their second win albeit by the closer margin of 0.443s. Sunday saw a lot better conditions with sunshine at the North Yorkshire venue and the opening race of the day was their hardest of the weekend as the Bells led for much of the race. With overtaking notoriously difficult around the 2.43-mile road course, it looked like second would be the outcome but a brilliant overtaking manoeuvre at Mere Hairpin at the start of the sixth and final lap allowed Tim and Patrick to take their hat-trick. They then completed their dominance of the weekend by taking another start to finish victory to make it four wins from four starts to wrap up a perfect weekend. They also set the fastest lap of the weekend, 1m54.444s, which was their fastest ever lap at the circuit and less than a second outside the lap record. Tim Reeves: "What can I say, it's been a faultless weekend and with four wins from four starts, I'm over the moon. Patrick really enjoys the circuit like I do so we were able to get stuck in from the start and whilst none of the races were easy, we were able to put on a good show. I've got a lot of respect for Ian and it was a pleasure riding on the road with him. We gave each other plenty of room and it was proper racing. Given the conditions, the lap times were very good too and I was able to lap almost a second quicker than what I'd done before." "That's my F2 racing over for the year but I'm already making preparations for 2016 and will be contesting the final three British Championship rounds on Janez Remse's Yamaha powered machine with a view to contesting the entire F1 season on that next year. There's still plenty of racing to be done this year and I want to make the most of it so we go into the winter with a clear plan of attack for 2016. As always, a massive thanks to all my sponsors especially E-Aide Motorsport, Assured Office Solutions, H&S Contractors, Metrail, Remse Racing, Metmachex Engineering, Sure Mobile, LA Marketing, DFDS Seaways and Planet Engineering." Back Harrison dominates Gold Cup with five timer
The Bradford man signed off on a difficult season by treating his legion of fans to a superlative performance, comfortably winning all four superbike races on his YZF-R1M Yamaha as well as a clinching a supersport victory on his R6 machine. In Saturday’s wet qualifying conditions Harrison put his R1M on the front row in second place for the Cock O’ The North and Senior races whilst he would start seventh for the David Jefferies Supersport races. The twenty six year old could have been forgiven for thinking his recent bad luck was set to continue after a first lap collision forced him to retire from the opening supersport race but that was to be the only blip in an otherwise perfect weekend. The Cock O’ The North meeting had to be abandoned back in July but Harrison picked up where he left off in the re-run by claiming the title for the third year in a row. After shadowing Lee Johnston and Daley Mathison in the early laps the Yamaha UK man pushed his way into the lead on lap four and pulled away to win by almost eight seconds. Harrison then led the following Senior race from the start, pulling away from Linton and McGuiness before a red flag brought a premature end to proceedings with the result declared. Sunday’s conditions couldn’t have been more contrasting with blue skies and bright sunshine replacing the sometimes torrential downpours of Saturday. A packed crowd were treated to another dominant display from the Yorkshire man however, who started off by qualifying in second place for the supersport race and on pole for the Gold Cup and Senior races. Harrison had never won the Gold Cup having missed last year’s event due to injury but he put recent upgrades to the electronics package on his R1M Yamaha to good use by scoring a comfortable eight second victory over Ivan Linton and Lee Johnston. A fierce supersport battle loomed next with Saturday’s victor Lee Johnston but it was the Mar-Train man who came out on top adding a ‘six hundred’ win to his tally for the weekend with a five second win. The second Senior race completed the weekend and Harrison’s confidence in his new Maxton rear suspension was obvious as he set the fastest lap of the weekend to blitz the field and record a nine second victory and a total of four wins on the YZF-R1M. Back |
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Vasco van der Valk produced another top performance to finish a strong 7th in the ninth round of the Hel British Motostar Championship at Oulton Park after a race long battle with his friend Jorel Boerboom and Ed Rendell. His team-mate Joe Thomas unfortunately crashed out a third of the way through the race.
Aaron Clarke from Kirton near Boston recorded a brace of wins, a second and four third places in his races at Cadwell Park over the weekend in the Derby Phoenix club round that was held at the Lincolnshire circuit over the weekend. 
Ivan Lintin and the Bristol-based RC Express Racing team wrapped up their 2015 International road racing season in fine style at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough over the weekend with a host of wins and podiums over the course of the two days. 
Tim Reeves and Patrick Farrance enjoyed a superb two days of racing at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough at the weekend with the AOS/Team E-Aide Motorsport pairing winning all four Formula Two Sidecar races. 
Dean Harrison was in scintillating form at Oliver’s Mount this weekend as he saw off a top quality field to come home with the Gold Cup and Cock O’ The North titles.