A mix of weather conditions this weekend led to mixed results for the Wilson Racing riders as they competed in the final round of the 2023 British Talent Cup! With Race 1 being dry it would lead to some strong results with Harrison finishing in 7th, Ben in 13th, Samual in 24th, and an unfortunate DNF for Sully as he got tangled up in an incident it was all to play for in Race 2. Race 2 and the weather had changed, from sunny and dry on Saturday to heavy rain just before the session it would prove a difficult race for some of the Wilson Racing riders. Harrison crossed the line in 24th after having fogging issues with his visor, Ben had a DNF as he highsided up the hill coming out of Starkey’s but luckily walked away after only being winded, Samuel took home a 22nd, and Sully crossed the line in 2nd to allow him to claim 2nd in the championship!
Free practice and qualifying.
Friday morning and the riders headed out onto the 2.4873-mile circuit for their first free practice of the weekend. It was Samuel’s first time taking to Donington Park on one of the Honda NSF250r machines and so he would ease into the weekend getting a feel for how the bike handled compared to his Kawasaki. After the first session of the day was slightly damp and had come to an end it would be time to regroup ready for FP2 later that afternoon. Friday afternoon and time for FP2, the weather had improved and the track had dried out allowing for the first dry session of the weekend. After this session the riders would cross the line and Harrison would finish in 14th, Ben in 22nd, Sully in 4th and Samuel in 30th.
Saturday morning and it was time for qualifying. With the weather holding out it was set to be a dry qualifying session. With the weather staying dry the riders could push harder each lap to keep bringing their times down and gaining the best start position possible for race one. As the chequered flag flew the riders crossed the line with Harrison finishing 13th, Ben 17th, Sully 4th, and Samuel 29th.
Race 1.
With the championship on the line Sully knew he had to pull of something special in race 1 in order to be in with a championship chance heading into race 2. As the bikes lined up on the grid anticipation grew as everyone knew what was at stake. Lights out and away they went with all riders getting a good start and Sully leading for the first few laps until running wide at Melbourne Loop on lap 10 and dropping back to 4th, unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be for Sully as he got caught up in Harrison Dessoy’s crash at Goddard’s on lap 11 leading to a DNF for him and no possibility of a championship win. However further back down the positions Harrison was battling for 6th and ended up crossing the line in 7th, Ben fought hard and managed to finish in 13th, and Samuel finished in 24th for his first ever race on a moto 3.
Race 2.
Sunday afternoon and it was time for race 2 and the final race of the season for the Wilson Racing riders in the British Talent cup. Lining up on the grid Harrison would be starting 11th, Ben 15th, Sully 9th, and Samuel 27th. As the riders prepared to head out for their last race of the year the weather would take a dramatic change with heavy downpours leading to the riders all heading out on wets, which would turn out to be the correct decision as the rain only got heavier as the race progressed on. On the grid and ready to go it was lights out for the last time this season. As all the riders got off to a good start Harrison would quickly start to struggle with his visor fogging causing him to drop down the groups. Sully would quickly get into a rhythm at the front however with lots of other riders also wanting to take a final podium the race would be tough, which allowed Ronnie Harris to pull away from the first group battling for a place on the podium. Further back and Ben was having a great race managing to gain some great positions and having his best wet race all year, until lap 11 when he would unfortunately highside going up the hill out of Starkey’s leading to an uninjured and just winded DNF to finish his season. Towards the back and Samuel was also having a great race with Charlie Barnes. Finally, after 14 long wet laps the chequered flag was out and Harrison crossed the line on 24th, Samuel in 22nd, and Sully in 2nd allowing him to take home the runner up trophy in the championship.
As always it was another great weekend racing, and Wilson Racing would like to congratulate Sully on being selected to compete in the RedBull Rookies Cup next season and wish him the best of luck on his pastures new. Once again, we would like to thank all of the sponsors who help the team out and allow us to keep helping and improving the young riders to allow them to reach their dreams.