The first round of the Hel Performance British Motostar Championship got underway last weekend. 2017 Championship winning team Wilson Racing had five riders competing in the British Moto3 standard class series.
Free practice
The weekend started with mixed conditions for the two free practice sessions on Friday. In the first session, the riders were faced with a wet but drying track. Scott Ogden was the fastest of the team riders finishing second quickest.
In the afternoon session the track had completely dried. Max Cook, who won the standard class title with Wilson Racing last season, was making a wildcard entry having gone on to the Red Bull Rookies this season. He ended the session in second this time.
Qualifying
On Saturday morning the sun shone for qualifying. This meant track conditions had changed significantly with the temperature of the circuit that much higher.
With 38 riders from both the GP and standard classes qualifying at the same time on a short 1.2-mile track, traffic and an element of luck do play their
part.
2017 Champion Max Cook was the fastest Wilson Racing riders qualifying fourth. Scott Ogden continued his good weekend just two places further back in sixth. Jake Clark was ninth, Charlie Atkins fourteenth and Jack Hart in seventeenth place. The field was tight with just 0.6 seconds between Ogden and Atkins but eight positions.
Race One
The first race was 15 laps which Max Cook managed to finish second and collect Wilson Racing’s first podium of 2018. Scott Ogden also had a good
race finishing seventh. After a poor qualifying session Charlie Atkins battled from 14th to finish the race in ninth place. All the Wilson Racing riders finished in points scoring positions. Jake Clark was 14th and Jack Hart came across the line in fifteenth.
Race Two
There were 20 laps in the second race of the weekend with Max Cook again showing his ability missing out on the win by just 0.053 seconds. Scott Ogden improved on his race one crossing the line in sixth place. Charlie Atkins was 12th, Jack Hart 14th. Jake Clark suffered a mechanical issue on the penultimate lap and was unable to finish.
Gary Wilson said, ”It was great to have our 2017 Champion back amongst us for the weekend and he scored two great podiums for the team. Scott
Ogden made an impressive start to the season and is sixth overall. I’m delighted that all the team’s riders left having scored points in the first round.”
The next race is at Oulton Park on the weekend of the 5-7 May
(Featured image photo: Hairy Beast Pix)