Busy first weekend back for Wilson Racing

Busy first weekend back for Wilson Racing

The first full BSB event back after a long winter break saw some good results coming from the Wilson Racing riders. On Thursday BSB organized a test day for all teams and riders, however with the weather having torrential down pours overnight and that morning, the decision was taken as a team to miss the first 2 sessions of the day. By lunchtime the weather had cleared and the track had started to dry allowing the riders the final 2 sessions of the day on a damp track. This allowed for all of the riders to get a feel for the track again as Sullivan hadn’t ridden the track for 2 years due to missing the first few rounds last year, and it being Bens first time on the NSF250r around the circuit.     Friday saw Wilson Racing back on track for FP1 and FP2 for the first round of the British Talent Cup. After a cool and dry FP1 our riders...
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The end of another great season

The end of another great season

Race report round 9 Donington Park GP A dramatic weekend at Donington Park GP for round 9 of the Honda BTC brings an end to a successful season for the Wilson Racing team. The weekend started on Friday morning with both riders heading out for FP1 and refreshing their memory of the track. FP1 was damp leading to hard conditions as some parts of the track started to dry. The session ended with Harrison coming in 18th with a time of 1:51.475 and Sullivan coming in 14th with a time of 1:50.489. The afternoon should have been FP2 but with torrential wind and rain the organisers made the right decision to call off the afternoon sessions. With the above in mind this meant that the riders would be straight out into qualifying on Saturday morning in yet more damp conditions. Harrison managed to qualify 16th with a time of 1:48.793 and Sullivan qualified 7th with a time of 1:47.914. By Race 1 on the...
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Sombre race weekend at Snetterton 300

Sombre race weekend at Snetterton 300

Race report round 8 Snetterton 300 BTC What a strange weekend it has been for everyone in the BSB paddock this weekend. Delays, Her Majesty’s passing, all kinds of weather and horses loose on the track! Thursday night we received the news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth ll, with this news we waited to hear if the racing would go ahead this weekend and by Friday morning it was a definite go for the weekend with a few changes to our schedule. Friday started off wet and rainy for FP1 with both riders refreshing their memory of the track. Harrison came 11th with a time of 2.44.930 and Sullivan came 3rd with a time of 2.41.008. In the afternoon the weather hadn’t improved much however the rain had stopped meaning the track was still damp, but both boys continued to push hard with Harrison coming in at 20th with a time of 2.18.363 and Sullivan coming in 11th at 2.13.863. Saturday morning...
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Hot weekend at Thruxton

Hot weekend at Thruxton

Race report Thruxton round 7 British Talent Cup. Its been a very hot weekend for the Wilson Racing boys down at Thruxton with lots of high temperatures leading to lots of action packed racing. The weekend started on Friday with FP1 being held early in the morning meaning it wasn't too hot for the riders as they reminded themselves of the track, as when they were here last year it was torrential rain leading to race 2 being called off. After FP1 the boys were happy with finding their way around the track with Harrison coming in 11th with a time of 1.24.792, and Sullivan coming in 15th with a time of 1.25.050. FP2 was held in the afternoon of Friday with temperatures beginning to heat up to where the air temperature was 32 degrees and the track was hot as well at 47 degrees. Both riders were happy with how FP2 went with both riders improving on their times from the morning...
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Vital experience gained at Moto GP

Vital experience gained at Moto GP

Race report Silverstone Moto GP round 6 of the British talent cup It has been an incredible weekend for everyone at Moto GP for the 6th round of the British talent cup, full of highs and lows for the Wilson racing team. It was a busy day Friday for the team as we had FP1, FP2 and qualifying all in the same day. The day started with FP1 and both riders getting a feel for the track again and getting a feel for the crowd that would be watching them on Sunday. FP1 finished with Harrison coming in 14th at 2.24.232 and Sullivan coming in 6th with a time of 2.23.251. After waiting around for a few hours and prepping the bikes for FP2 it was finally time to complete FP2 back to back with qualifying straight after. FP2 went well with Harrison coming in 15th with a time of 2.23.433 and Sullivan coming in 8th with a time of 2.22.721. However Harrison...
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Wilson Racing finish the season with solid points at Donington

Wilson Racing finish the season with solid points at Donington

Barnsley’s Wilson Racing ended the British Talent Cup season at Donington Park this weekend with a 7th place finish and DNF for James Cook, a 16th and 13th for Luca Hopkins and for Ryan Hitchcock who had been out injured since Thruxton at the end of July a 22nd and 14th place finish. Free Practice and Qualifying There was a wet start to the weekend at Donington Park. The first free practice session was a damp affair. Late on in the session rain began to fall. James Cook finished 21st quickest, Luca Hopkins was 23rd and Ryan Hitchcock 34th as the Wilson Racing team felt their way around the track. The second free practice session was dry and the youngsters were able to significantly improve their lap times and confidence. James Cook posted the fourth fastest lap time with Ryan Hitchcock finishing 21st. Luca Hopkins was 24th. From Friday’s free practice the British Talent Cup riders started Saturday morning early with their qualifying...
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Top ten finish at Silverstone

Top ten finish at Silverstone

James Cook crashed out in race one at Luffield having just taken the lead before finishing tenth in race two. Luca Hopkins came across the line in 14th in the first race and then went on to pick up another championship point for fifteenth in the second race. Cook is 7th in the championship standings on 135 points and rookie Hopkins is in 21st place with 21 points. Free Practice and Qualifying FP1 was wet and with the forecast suggested the rest of the weekend would be dry the Wilson Racing riders decided to stay in the garage for the first 30-minute session. In FP2 Hopkins and Cook were keen to get some track time but just three laps into the session the rain began to fall again proving that the British weather is unpredictable as ever. The track was also wet for qualifying and with little track time the number 34 of Cook and the 41 of Hopkins did well to post...
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Successful Snetterton

Successful Snetterton

Wilson Racing came away from Snetterton with three points-scoring finishes. Cook bounced back from the two DNFs at Silverstone with a sixth and fifth position finishes. Luca Hopkins ended his first race in the pits after a racing incident but returned to the points finishing 14th in race two. Free Practice Team owner, Gary Wilson, spent most of the week between Silverstone and Snetterton rebuilding James Cook’s bike that took serious damage after he was knocked off by another rider in the last round. In fact, the team were still at work on the Moto3 machine on Thursday evening. When Friday free practice one got underway Cook managed 14th in FP1 and improved to finish 10th in FP2 as he regained some of his confidence with his Honda NSF 250. Luca Hopkins was looking forward to his weekend at Snetterton. It was the first time the rookie had raced at a track he had ridden before, as the British Talent Cup riders had...
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Hopkins in the points as luck abandons Cook at Silverstone

Hopkins in the points as luck abandons Cook at Silverstone

Wilson Racing rookie, Luca Hopkins made a positive finish to the British Talent Cup MotoGP weekend at Silverstone with a 13th place in race two. James Cook showed podium pace throughout the two races but failed to finish both after being brought down but through no fault of his own. Free Practice and Qualifying The number 43 of James Cook put together a solid start to the weekend after qualifying in tenth position on Friday afternoon. Luca Hopkins also made fine progress on day one. Having been 29th at the end of free practice one he went on to end the day qualifying seven places higher in 22nd. Race One The British Talent Cup riders had to wait until 16:30 for their next track action on the Saturday. With huge anticipation the thirty plus riders lined up on the grid at the long 5.9 kilometre Silverstone circuit. Lights out and the longest laps of the BTC calendar began. Cook was quickly up from tenth to...
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Double podium at Donington National

Double podium at Donington National

The was double podium delight as James Cook took two 3rd place finishes from the three races at Donington Park National Circuit in the British Talent Cup. A DNF in race three was the only small blot on the copybook from an otherwise outstanding performance. Rookie Luca Hopkins narrowly missed out on adding to his championship points tally with two 16th and a 17th place finish. Free practice Wilson Racing was reduced to two team members this round as the unfortunate Ryan Hitchcock had not recovered sufficiently from a broken left wrist suffered at the last round at Thruxton. James Cook was quickly up to speed in the two free practice sessions on Friday. He was inside the top five during free practice one before reducing his lap time by a further half-a-second in free practice two to finish the day third fastest overall. The number 41 of Luca Hopkins had an eventful Friday. In the first free practice he suffered a small crash...
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