BSB Oulton Park GP125 #50

[twister]

Race report and pic

Round 2 - Oulton Park

An eventful second round of the Relentless 125 GP British Championship on Bank Holiday Monday saw Fakirk’s Tim Hastings take a solid sixth place finish at Oulton Park - but it was very much a case of what might have been for the KRP rider after a strong qualifying had put him on the front row of the grid.

After the disappointment of Brands Hatch when Tim crashed out of a podium position, a strong finish was essential to get his 2009 campaign underway, and Saturday’s two free practice sessions went well as Tim finished 5th then 4th on the timesheets. He then upped the pace for Sunday’s first qualifying and took provisional pole position ahead of team mate Martin Glossop, however the positions were to be reversed at the end of the second session when Tim was baulked by a slower rider in the first sector of his final flying lap. Despite setting fastest sector times in both sectors two and three, Tim couldn’t quite make up the deficit and had to settle for 2nd on the grid - just under 0.4 sec off pole.

Confident of his race pace and having achieved a great result at Oulton last season, Tim had high hopes for the race, but for once his start let him down and at the lights the bike struggled off the line as most of the field streamed past. Finding himself down as low as 24th on the opening lap Tim then produced a tremendous series of fastest laps and made his way up to 6th spot by lap four. Attempting a pass on James Lodge, Tim then overshot the Hislop chicane on lap five and lost time - dropping back to seventh before once again getting back on the pace and moving up to 6th.

With Martin Glossop comfortably heading for the win, Tim quickly closed the gap on the four riders battling for the remaining podium places, but his charge came to an end when he caught up with a backmarker - again at Hislop’s - on the final lap and had to take to the grass to avoid a collision. With his amazing recovery at an end, Tim settled for a 6th place finish and 10 points which puts him 10th in the Championship after two rounds. 25 points and joint lead in the Cup competition are little consolation after what must go down as a missed opportunity, but Tim is back to full fitness and confident of his race pace for the next round at Donington Park on 24th May.

In Tim’s own words; "I'm gutted and pleased both at the same time. Gutted for messing up my start after working so hard to get onto the front row and happy that after my Brands DNF, I've now got some points on the board in the main championship. I am pleased also to have taken the win in the ACU Academy Cup as I am the defending Cup champion and I'm determined to be the first rider to win back to back Cup championships!
My pace was good, so I was able to catch the lead group after just a few laps, so 6th was not such a bad result. I have had the pace to run at the front at both Brands and Oulton, now I just need a bit of luck to go my way and I know I can win races and that is my aim."

Team Twister would like to thank Shark, TCX, Knox, NGK and Evadne for all their support, Mark Keen and all at KRP who provided a superb machine all weekend, and especially everybody who is supporting the team's "Twister.....Powered by Fans" fundraising drive.



Warren Scott

7 May 2009

More at www.timhastingsracing.co.uk


https://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b39/twis50ter/127_2757.jpg
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2006 EMRA & MMC F125 Champion
2008 ACU Academy Cup Champion
2009 ACU Academy Cup Champion

[Roo]

He's riding really well this year, just needs some luck.
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Poking death in the eye with a pointy stick then running away