Round 8 Oulton Park 15th July - National Superstocks
It was a case of deja vu for the Buildbase Ducati Team and its fellow Metzeler National Superstock adversaries at Oulton Park on Sunday. Following the abandoned race at Knockhill all the teams were looking forward to getting the Championship back on track, but Mother Nature was to intervene once again.
With heavy rain forecast for Sunday, it was crucial to get a good wet set-up during Friday’s very wet free practice. The two crews set John Laverty’s and Brendan Roberts’s bikes up differently to establish which one would work better in the wet and with Brendan finishing 1st and John 8th the Team knew exactly what was needed if the forecast proved to be accurate.
Saturday’s qualifying was in glorious sunshine and the Buildbase Ducati boys did a fantastic job of putting the 1098s on the 1st and 2nd rows with Roberts in 3rd place and Laverty in 5th. All was set for a showdown on Sunday, but as the morning panned out, the ominous Cheshire black clouds moved in and the heavens opened up with a vengeance.
Our race was scheduled to be run at 17.05 and with 20 minutes to go the rain eased off and we were looking forward to what might have been the best conditions of the day, but the rain gods had other ideas for us! With just seconds to go before the start, Brendan’s bike developed the one and only technical glitch of the year and simply would not start. The rules dictate that should this happen the rider can switch to his spare bike, but must start from the back of the grid.
So with Laverty now in 5th place and Roberts in 39th the lights went out and the race was on. By the end of the 1st lap Roberts had amazingly overtaken 28 riders and was now in 10th place. Meanwhile at the front, Laverty had worked his way up to 3rd behind Kirkham and Brogan and was gunning for his second podium of the year. Incredibly, Brendan was still searing his way through the field and by the end of lap four he was up to 4th and lapping two seconds quicker than the rest of the field and gaining on the leaders fast!
Just when the Team was beginning to believe that we might have two Buildbase Ducatis on the podium the race was red-flagged due to the deluge of rain and standing water on the track. The organisers delayed the re-start for 20 minutes, but after a track inspection and consultation with the riders, declared the race abandoned on the grounds of safety. So with John Laverty looking for a win at Knockhill and Brendan Roberts looking for a win at Oulton Park both being thwarted by the weather, the Team drove home to dry out and look forward to its mid-season break.
With the Buildbase Ducati 1098s clearly now on the pace and with two very capable and competitive riders, Buildbase Ducati is preparing to battle hard at the remaining four rounds where we will be competing in six races; the next race is at Croft on the 12th August. Â
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