Peter Hickman

Despite problems during qualifying and a crash in race two of three, Louth rider Peter Hickman rode to a fine second place in the Mirror.co.uk British Superbike Cup at Oulton Park to clinch his runner up spot in the series.



It was not all plain sailing for Hicky, who rides for the Northamptonshire based Ultimate Racing team as technical problems and poor weather disrupted his qualifying. But he struggled on to claim a place on row five of the starting grid in 20th position.



“At the start of the weekend we were going really well, but in the second free practice session on Friday I put a new tyre in and off I went,” explained Hicky.



“But after a couple of laps I spat myself out of the seat at Cascades. Luckily I landed back on the bike but the lock stop cut through the ignition wire as I landed back down and we missed most of the session so it’s put us on the back foot really. On Saturday morning it was wet so I didn’t bother to go out because we only have the one bike and didn’t want to risk it. Then in qualifying I just couldn’t pull the time that I needed so I will start from 20th on the grid.”



The season finale at Oulton Park enjoyed three British Superbike races, one on Saturday and a further two on Sunday. In Saturday’s opener Hicky rode a solid race to finish second in the cup and 14th overall to earn sufficient points to take the runner up spot in the Mirrir.co.uk Cup.



But it was a different story on Sunday for Hicky when he crashed at Hizzy’s on lap six of 16, his race and also his season over. The bike was not too badly damaged but the problem could not be rectified in time for Hicky to make the starting grid for the final encounter so he had to reluctantly withdraw.



“A good start to the weekend turned out to be rubbish for me,” said Hicky. "The bike has been handling really well and I was really happy with my first race result, although not that pleased to only finish 14th but I was only five seconds behind the fifth place rider and in a train from there all the way back to me so that was good.



“I sealed second place in the cup which was good but then come race two everything went wrong. I got off the line ok but then had a poor first lap which left me a lot of work to do. Then I went off line and made a mistake at Hizzy’s chicane and had to run on. I touched the grass and down I went and that was that. The bike was ok and so am I, its just unfortunate that the water seal inside the engine has gone. We only discovered this an hour before the final race and we didn’t have enough time to get it sorted so that was that.”



Oulton Park wraps up the season for Ultimate Racing and Peter Hickman. Although he would have preferred to win the Cup, it wasn’t to be and Hicky takes heart in the fact that he completed the season on a shoestring budget in a fine second place.