Positive Weekend For Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki At Oulton Park
Filip Backlund was back in the points this weekend in Cheshire, after improving on his times each session. Shaun Winfield had another encouraging meeting, but sadly crashed out in the final race of the weekend.
In a mixed set of free practice sessions, which saw the September weather play its part on both Friday and Saturday morning, Shaun and Filip worked well with the team to find the best setup ahead of Saturday afternoons qualifying session.
An earlier than normal qualifying session saw Filip battle into Q2, courtesy of a last lap dash relegating Chris Walker. He then improved in time in the second session to line him up 18th on the grid for the afternoons first race. Shaun found himself knocked out at the first time of asking, not for the lack of trying and would line up in 25th.
Race one saw both riders get good starts, and after the first few laps Filip found himself battling hard and working his way through the field. After he chased down Martin Jessop he just couldnt get the better of him on the final lap, taking the flag in 13th. Shaun also got a great start and begun to chase the group ahead, and after battling hard with Jed Matcher, the 22 year old took the flag in 18th.
Race two on Sunday afternoon saw both Shaun and Filip drop down the grid to 26th and 20th, but when the lights went out they got good starts. By the end of the second lap Filip was in 21st, and he then started to pick his way through the pack, and on the final lap he made his way into 16th place, only three seconds away from the points, also posting his best lap of the weekend in the process.
Shaun started to push from the first lap, and by the end of lap two he was in 25th place. He started to work his way through the pack, but he just couldnt break into the top 20, taking the flag in 21st.
Race three saw both riders start from the same grid slots of 21st and 26th. Filip got a great start and started to push towards the group ahead, after a safety car he started to push again and made his upto 18th place, where he would take the flag in that position.
Shaun also got a great start and made up six places to be in 20th position after making some good moves. But then as he started to catch Honda rider Julian Da Costa after posting his fastest lap off the weekend, he entered turn one and after the rear tyre landed back on the ground, it gripped and threw Shaun over the bars, causing him to crash.
After the weekend Team Manager Steve Randle: Firstly my thoughts go to Shaun, and I hope hes ok because it was a bad crash but Im sure hell bounce back. Filip has worked so hard, hes battled setup issues all weekend long and hes done great in the races.
We cant wait for Assen now, its a great round to go to and Im sure well be on top form in two weeks time.
Swedens Filip Backlund added: This weekend has been frustrating, we dont know what it is but we are struggling at the moment. For sure we are happier this weekend than the last time out because we are closer to the top boys, but we still need to find about a second a lap, which is a massive gap.
At the moment we are struggling a little bit, we need to go away and have a really good think about what we want from the final three rounds. Im looking forward to going to Assen, its a good track and theres always a great crowd. Its a circuit I like a lot, but we need to go home and put our thinking caps on and focus on what we want to improve because we need to be higher up than what we are at the minute. But I must thank my team because they have worked so hard this weekend.
After the race Shaun Winfield was taken to the medical centre for a check up and x-ray.
The team now has a two-week break before heading to Round 10 of the Championship at the cathedral of speed, Assen, in the Netherlands.
8th September 2015