Tim Hastings Racing #50

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Round 7 - Oulton Park (18/19/20 July)

Another excellent weekend and a superb race performance at Oulton Park saw Tim Hastings move into third spot in the 125GP Championship and extend his lead at the top of the Cup competition.

The season's second visit to the picturesque Cheshire circuit started well, with two solid free practice sessions on Friday. Although a lack of grip meant that times were slightly down on the May visit, Tim ended both practise sessions in 4th place.

Saturday's first qualifying started in the wet but by the second half of the session the rain had stopped and the circuit started to dry. Pushing hard with some 10 minutes remaining, Tim ran on at Druids and took to the gravel before coming to a gentle halt against the tyre wall. Annoyed with himself for the error, Tim re-joined the track and with time for only two more flying laps, he set provisional pole by 0.9 seconds - only to see James Lodge take a further 0.8 seconds off on his final lap. With the chequered flag out and Tim on his final lap, he pushed hard to reduce the deficit, but crossed the line in provisional 2nd, 0.116 seconds adrift.

Second qualifying remained dry and produced a thrilling contest. Tim's KRP team mate, Martin Glossop, set the pace for most of the session. With six minutes remaining in the session, Tim pitted for some adjustments to the front suspension before elevating himself from 4th to 2nd, just 0.2 seconds off pole. He crossed the line with ten seconds to spare before the end of the session but pushed even harder for a final hot lap and grabbed a superb pole position by 0.123 seconds!

Sunday's race once again saw the 125s produce one of the most memorable battles of the day. Tim made a good start and took the holeshot but being perhaps a little hesitant on the opening lap, dropped to 4th. Within four laps he was back up to 2nd before taking the lead on lap six. Dropping back to 2nd on the next circuit, he retook first place on lap eight and held on to the top spot until lap twelve.

By that time the podium was down to three riders, as Tim, team mate Martin Glossop and Matt Hoyle had moved four seconds clear of the battle for 4th. Tim again took the lead at the start of the final lap before Matt Hoyle regained the place into turn one, closely followed by Tim and Martin. Tim lined up a final corner pass into Lodge, but Matt was wise to the move and defended well, going on to take the win by 0.05 seconds. Matt, Martin and Tim fully deserved the crowd's appreciation of what had been an outstanding and hard fought demonstration of 125 racing at its best.

Tim's 20 points move him up to third place in the Championship and his 6th consecutive Cup podium sees him take a 9 point lead to his home track of Knockhill on the 8th-10th August.

Thanks once again go to Mark Keen and the whole KRP team for all their hard work and for providing Tim with an excellent bike throughout the weekend. Thanks also to main sponsors: Green Machines, Digby Brown Solicitors, Pro-Scot, Phoenix Honda, Nevis Marketing & Arkose Design.

Read the race reports from previous rounds.