Barnsley based Moto3 racing team Wilson Racing completed another fantastic racing weekend, this time at Oulton Park.
14-year old Scott Ogden managed to finish second in race two moving him up to third overall in the championship. Charlie Atkins scored a fourth place, Jack Hart raced to a seventh and Jake Clark secured two top ten finishes in a really positive weekend.
Competing in the Hel Performance British Motostar standard class Championship all the riders compete on NSF250R Honda Moto3 machinery.
Free practice
The weekend started with good weather which just improved as it went on. In the first free practice session on Saturday Scott Ogden was the third quickest standard class rider. Charlie Atkins was running in a refreshed engine so was not pushing too hard and all the team riders were within the first dozen. In the second session the track had got warmer and times improved. Ogden was fourth quickest just ahead of his teammate Atkins. Jake Hart was ninth and Jake Clark 15th.
Qualifying
Qualifying took place on Sunday morning. The good weather continued as 39 riders from the GP and standard class took to the track. Ogden again rode well and lined up on the grid fourth in the standard class. Atkins qualified eighth just ahead of Jake Clark who was ninth. Jack Hart was expecting to start from 12th.
Race One
There was drama on the grid for race one. Hart’s bike stalled on the grid and he had to start from pit lane.
Rookie Scott Ogden got away well and kept in touch with the front group initially. However, he couldn’t maintain the pace but rode home to a brilliant fourth place. Charlie Atkins crossed the line in 7th. Initially battling with Scott Swann he broke away to finish six seconds clear. Jake Clark made the top ten as he was involved in a battle that involved the riders down to 12th. Positions changed regularly and despite being pushed out wide he fought back for ninth. Jack Hart’s race was compromised by starting from pit lane that left him last and more than 30 seconds behind the rider in front. The Scottish lad never gave up though and managed to catch and pass two riders by the end of the ten lap race.
Race Two
In race two things got even better for the local team. Scott Ogden made a great start to the race running second and third by the end of the first lap. Ogden managed to keep the pressure on the race leader before slipping back to third in a closely fought battle at the front. Less than a second separated the three but when the rider ahead of Ogden fell, his chances of the victory were gone as he took avoiding action. He had to settle for second which itself was a superb result.
Charlie Atkins also made a great start to race two. He was right behind Ogden in third position early on and went on to finish the race in a comfortable fourth place, his best result of the year.
Jack Hart made up for his disappointment in race one with a brilliant ride. He began race two in 12th position but rode superbly and with some real consistency to bring it across the line in seventh.
Jake Clark rode also put in a solid performance as he collected another ninth place finish meaning all the riders scored points again this weekend.
Gary Wilson said,” It was another great weekend with all the lads performing really well. Scott got his first podium and Atkins his best result so far this year. Jack responded to the disappointment of race one fantastically and Jake Clark scored to top tens. I couldn’t ask for much more.”
The next round is at Knockhill in Scotland on the weekend of 6 to 8 July.