The comeback! Bennetts British Superbikes returned to Oulton Park for the first time since Round 2 earlier in the season. TAG Honda were also delighted to reintroduce the Superbike to the grid as Fraser Rogers continues his recovery from injury, placing the bike in a competitive position for all three races. Following a one-race weekend at Cadwell Park, the Pirelli National Superstock riders Matt Truelove and Shaun Winfield were ready to get back to business as two races commenced at the Cheshire based circuit.
The weekend got underway with a frustrating qualifier for Fraser very narrowly missing out on his place in the SpeedyHire Fast 15, setting his grid position in 17th for the first race. Whilst the sun was shining, the equally-bright yellow of the Superstock machines took to the 2.7 mile circuit for race one, attacking at the front from lights out. Matt Truelove returning in P7 from a P11 grid position and Shaun Winfield closing the sharp-end in P10.
BSB Race One saw Fraser Rogers pilot the machine for the first full 18 laps since his training incident in late June. Despite a thrilling first race, Rogers just couldn’t get ahead and took a long-lap penalty after running off whilst battling for a point-scoring position. However, both rider and team took the major positives out of Fraser’s returning performance and were ready for Sunday’s threatening weather conditions; would the Rain Man strike again?
Sprint Race Sunday took a hit on the timetable due to the heavy rain and standing water on the track, reducing the laps from 12 to 10. No rider particularly likes the rain, but to some it sets about a different, more tactical ride; a ride Fraser Rogers knows and loves. Rogers delighted fans with a fantastic race passing the then current BSB Champion Kyle Ryde to P8, making up 12 positions from the grid – only to settle for a P10 result after a late lunge on the last lap from the factory Honda of Andrew Irwin.
On a roll, the Superstock lads took to the stage where the rain had ceased but the track remained very wet, totally different conditions to the previous race on Saturday: the stuff nightmares are made of! After a great start off the line, Truelove and Winfield slotted in quickly when two competitor machines had already run off at turn one, closely followed by a high-side from the fellow Honda rider of Jamie Perrin, causing Beech to take evasive action leaving Winfield with no where to go and crashed out along with Perrin on lap one. Truelove kept composure throughout, making very clean and progressive overtakes including one on Davey Todd, the leading Superstock Champion. All eyes were on Truelove as he led the race for over 2 laps with over a second lead ahead of Luke Mossey when a slight touch of the white line at Knickerbrook ended his race, devastatingly crashing out of the lead.
The final dance went to Fraser Rogers, starting from P12 on the grid Fraser took advantage of some early opportunities on full inters whilst other championship competitors opted for a mix of wets and slicks. Making great progress, Rogers unfortunately took a tumble from 6th place on the debris and mud left on the track from a previous crash of Lewis Rollo, which immediately prompted a red flag. Allowed to rejoin, Rogers petitioned to get his bike back to the TAG Honda garage quickly to allow for the crash damage to be assessed and restart the now declared 5 lap sprint. Unfortunately, it was just not meant to be. Despite getting the bike out on to the grid for the restart, technical complications were felt by the rider and it was decided by race control that the bike be taken off the grid, disappointingly resulting in a DNF for Rogers.
Round 10 is upon us at the Teams’ home circuit of Donington Park, with three very keen racers ready to put some points back on the board. We go again from 27th-29th September 2024.
