A weekend of mixed weather conditions led to some interesting and wild racing at Oulton Park last weekend for the penultimate round of the season for the Wilson Racing riders. With points scored by both Harrison and Ollie, Iwan and Ben fell just short of scoring any of the lucrative points this round but as ever they are all rearing and ready to go for Donington Park in only a weeks’ time. This is Ollies first weekend running with the team however it won’t be his last as you will see him back out flying the Wilson Racing banner at Donington Park!
Friday and it was time for FP1 and FP2. The weather managed to stay dry however temperatures weren’t to increase above 15 degrees all day which would lead to cooler free practice sessions for all. As the riders went out, they were all reminding themselves of the track as well as for Ollie it was a session to get used to the bike and to fine tune anything that he needed to allow him to run some great races this weekend. As FP1 ended Harrison would finish in 5th, Ben in 16th, Iwan 17th and Ollie in10th. After it was all hands-on deck to get ready for FP2. When it was time all the riders once again headed out onto the circuit to put in their best possible times and aim to finish the session quicker then they were in the morning. Harrison finished the session in 8th, Ben 16th, Iwan 17th and Ollie 20th.
Saturday morning and the riders all headed out aiming to improve once again and to set their best times of the weekend in qualifying. As qualifying got underway Harrison managed to get some great times put into place, however with only 6 minutes until the session finished, he pulled into the pits and had to retire from the session due to a technical issue. This meant his front row time slowly dwindled away and out of his grasp leaving him finishing the session in 6th on the second row. As the chequered flag came out Ben finished in 16th, Iwan 17th and Ollie in 14th, giving them all a good shot at being in with a chance of scoring points in race 1.
Later that afternoon and it would finally be time for Race 1! With the riders lining up on the grid it was time for lights out. Harrison didn’t get the best of starts initially dropping a few places meaning by lap 2 he was sitting back down in 8th, with Ben dropping back to 20th, Iwan to 21st and Ollie back to 17th it was clear to see no one had the best of lap ones. However, as the race progressed on all the riders would continue to improve and would slowly work their way back up through the leader board. By lap 3 the leading group had started to break away and Harrison dropped back with Ronnie Harris having to battle to get back with the leading group. By half race distance Harrison had managed to gain some ground to rejoin the front group with Ben still sitting in 20th, Iwan in 22nd, and Ollie gaining back some positions back up to 14th. The final lap of the race and Ollie was in a battle with Charlie Barnes and Jack Burrows to see who would be taking home the final points of the race, whilst Harrison was still running strong upfront, however the leading group had now split into 2 meaning Harrison would be looking for a top 5 finish now other then a top 3. As the flag came out, the riders all managed to cross the line with Harrison finishing in 5th, Ben 18th just outside the points, Iwan in 22nd and Ollie gaining the final point in 15th.
Race 2, and after a delayed start time due to the severe weather it would finally be time for a race start, however the race was reduced to 10 laps and a quick start procedure put into place meaning there would be no time to sit on the grid and the race would begin as soon as everyone was lined up and ready to go. As the lights went out for the final time of the weekend the race got under way, however disaster would strike Ollie on the first lap after only a few laps, and he took a heavy fall coming out of the turn leading to his bike flying one way and him another way. Luckily, he was able to get up and walk away from the incident and no other riders were involved. By lap 2 and the leading group had once again broken away leaving Harrison in the second group battling to get back into the top 10 after dropping down to 11th. As the race continued it became clear that Harrison would be unable to rejoin the leading group, and he was left to continue trying to finish the race with a top 10. Further back and Iwan and Ben were trying to gain enough positions to allow them some points, but unfortunately for Ben it wasn’t meant to be in this race with him pulling into the pits on lap 7 after his tape handle that would allow him to remove the tape from his radiator snapped when he tired to pull it off leaving his bike getting hotter and hotter until he had to retire from the race due to the bike overheating. The final lap and as Harrison came around the last corner Alexander Rowan managed to get up the insider of him as he ran wide leaving Harrison to finish 11th whilst Iwan managed to finish just outside the points in 17th.
Overall, it was a mixed weekend with points scored by 2 riders, but we will come back strong for Donington Park next week and we have got some exciting news for then so make sure to watch this space. We would also like to congratulate Harrison on being selected to join the Red Bull Rookies selection event in a few weeks’ time and would like to wish him well there. As always, we would like to thank all of our sponsors who without racing wouldn’t be possible!