Oulton Park: Highs and Lows for Hawk
Highs and Lows for Hawk
Oulton Park – Round 4
Hawk Kawasaki discovered the highs and lows of racing this weekend at Oulton Park after two of the four riders had to sit out their races due to injury. Superbike rider Peter Hickman was forced to sit out after a 140 mph crash at Cascades during Sunday’s qualifying, which saw the 20-year-old from Willoughby damage his right wrist. Adding to that youngster Jak Wright, who rides for the Hawk Junior Team, missed his race in the Supersport Cup after a nasty crash at Shell Hairpin saw him break his collarbone.
Despite this the two remaining riders Scott Smart and young David Hallett scored some encouraging results in their respective races. Smart gained a strong 11th in race one and finished just outside the points in 16th in the second leg of the two 17-lap Bennetts British Superbike races. Smart who made the return to Hawk Racing this year is adapting well to being back on the Kawasaki ZX10.
Smart commented “I’m pretty happy with my first race result and we are heading in the right direction, I struggled in the second race with tyre choice and also the changing weather conditions didn’t help matters. We made a lot of progress with the Kawasaki through the weekend and I’m quite looking forward to Snetterton in a few weeks time to see how we fair there.”
It was Dave Hallett who had a stunning ride gaining his first points in the ultra competitive Metzeler Superstock Cup race. Finishing in a great 10th position the youngster from Folkestone gained his first Championship points of the series at a circuit he had never ridden at before. The 21-year-old who has made the step up from the mini-twin series had qualified in 28th position on the grid, which he turned into a remarkable result at the end of the race.
With varying conditions throughout the day the Superstock Cup race was started and restarted on a number of occasions due to heavy rain showers. The safety car was despatched early on in the race which bunched the riders together, choosing to run a wet front and dry rear tyre proved the ideal combination and it was not long before he was carving his way through the pack and settled into 14th place. A small mistake at the Chicane saw him run on and rejoin the track, loosing two places in the process.
He soon regained his form and once again started to pick off the riders in front of him and gain his best result of the season so far. Commenting he said “It’s been a great weekend and I’m really happy to be able to get a top ten at only my fourth race on a 1000! The entire Hawk team have worked really hard all year and glad I’ve finally been able to return that with a strong result. Obviously the jump for me has been pretty big but I’m really enjoying the whole experience. It’s fairly difficult, as before this year I have only race at four of the circuits which are used on the BSB calendar, so most tracks are all new to me, obviously Oulton seemed to suite me pretty well and hopefully I will be able to get some more points at Snetterton.”
Quarter Term Report
Stuart Hicken, Team Owner, commented “It’s been a tough start to the season, but I am confident with the riders and the staff we have in place at the moment the results will improve tremendously. Just looking at Scott who has come from two poor seasons his confidence is building lap by lap and it certainly won’t be long before we are back at the sharp end.
Peters’ early season form is where we expected him to be after a couple of heavy falls he has lost his way a little, but with full team backing and Peter digging deep he should be back in the points at Snetterton.
The junior team of Jak and David are doing all that is required in learning the circuits and their new bikes, Jak unfortunately got bit by Oulton Park, but he will return raring to go. David had what only can be described as a brilliant ride at Oulton Park, having never seen the most difficult circuit on the calendar he rode with maturity and confidence all weekend.
I see that all our sponsors and guests are enjoying the new corporate vehicle, and I’m well informed that all guests really enjoy the personal rider talks organised by Ian Paddison.
We are looking forward to the rest of the season now.”
The next race is at Snetterton on the 20th May. A full timetable can be viewed here: -
http://www.mcrcb-events.co.uk/gallery/SNETTERTON%20FINAL.pdf
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Carly Rathmell
Freelance Sports PR
For an urgent response please email me.
07790 247836
www.carlyrathmell.com
