More points on board for bike star Skinner
Perth’s Rory Skinner recorded two more points-scoring finishes at the latest round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.
The 19-year-old rookie’s performance at Thruxton in Hampshire continued a productive start to his season.
With Thruxton left out of his 2020 pandemic-affected calendar, Rory’s only previous experience at Britain’s fastest circuit came in 2019 in the supersport series.
Despite taking action to avoid a crash in front of him on the first corner of the Saturday Sprint event, the former Perth High student finished 14th in a race that ended two laps early due to another rider’s accident.
He went on to slash his lap times further in Sunday’s first 20 lap race, battling in the group fighting for sixth and ending the race 11th after being nudged wide at the last corner.
The day’s final race saw Rory miss out on the points for the first time in his four round superbike career due to an incorrect tyre choice. With dark clouds looming, Rory and his team chose full wet weather tyres in the front and rear.
He made a fantastic start but, with the grippy track surface drying, his heavily treaded rear wet tyres wore out and gave an advantage to riders on the lightly treaded ‘intermediate’ rear tyre.
He slipped back and retired to the pits four laps from the end.
“I’m quite happy with how the weekend went,” reflected Rory. “I’ve only been to Thruxton once before and could have done without the rain on Friday, but it’s not been a bad learning curve. I felt that I was learning in every session.
“Even in that second race I was understanding more about what the bike was doing and getting to know the tip in points and braking markers, so whether it was fully wet or fully dry I was really looking forward to the last race.
“In the end I made the wrong call on the tyres for the conditions. Normally whenever there is spray coming up from the back tyre you go for the wets, and there was a big black cloud that made us think there was a good chance of heavy rain.
“It never came and I lost the feeling from the wet tyres on the drying track.
“There are a lot of positives from the weekend though. I remain seventh in the championship and I’m looking forward to the next round at Donington Park, which is a track I know well and where I’ve tested on the superbike.”
Round five of the championship takes place at Donington Park next weekend.
Summer League, Wednesday, July 28 - Division 1 - Tony Lessells 69 (9) 60, Gary Sherrit 69 (7) 62, Darren Brown 69 (7) 62, Michael O’Donnell 75 (12) 63. Division 2 - Graham Rylance 81 (15) 66, Dave Fleming 83 (17) 66, Tom Riddell 89 (23) 66, Mark Hall 80 (14) 66.
Summer League, Thursday, July 29 - Division 1 - Gordon Ritchie 67 (5) 62, Bobby Cruickshanks 69 (3) 66, Michael Gow 71 (5) 66, Ian Wilson 77 (10) 67. Division 2 - John Reid 82 (21) 61, Neil Campbell 81 (19) 62, Alistair Suttie 81 (18) 63, Bill Smeaton 84 (20) 64.
McGill Stableford, Saturday, July 31 - Terry O’Connor 40pts, Graham Deuchars 39pts, Paul Russell 39pts, John Anton 39pts, Ewan Sime 39pts, Dave McFarlane 39pts, Chris Barr 39pts. Summer League, Sunday, August 1 - Division 1 - Neil McVean 68 (4) 64, Bryan Kettle 72 (6) 66, Colin Morrison 78 (11) 67, John Anton 67 (0) 67. Division 2 - Neil Adams 77 (13) 64, David Bauchope 84 (19) 65, Graeme McGregor 85 (19) 66, Ronald Smith 82 (15) 67.
Summer League, Wednesday, July 28 - Division 1 - M Cox (10) 73, M Anderson (5) 73, G Farquhar (7) 76. Division 2 - C Jolly (15) 66, F Mills (13) 73, M McCullagh (14) 73. Division 3 - N Combe (18) 70, D Milne (17) 71, B Murray (26) 72. Medal, Saturday, July 31 - Division 1 - D Yurdakol (2) 68, W Sinclair (7) 68, L Shand (9) 69. Division 2 - J Lyneborg (14) 68, R Grimmond (14) 68, G Stronach (13) 72. Division 3 - G Forbes (25) 65, B Stanners (22) 73, D Still (22) 75.
Four intrepid St Fillans Golf Club members teed-up for a special charity challenge.
Jim Morrissey, Colin McKee, Raymond McKenna and Willie Stewart played a 72-hole ‘golf marathon’on Sunday.
The event, which saw the quartet tee-off at 5am, was held to raise funds to support the efforts of the charity Prostate Cancer UK.
The St Fillans regulars usually play most Sunday mornings at the picturesque nine-hole course but the 12-hour test of endurance was a tougher challenge than usual.
Club manager Gordon Hibbert said:“Sadly, the illness has affected a few of the club’s members and the efforts of the players are greatly appreciated by all at the club.
“Donations have been received from friends of the players and also club members and, at the moment, the funds raised total over £1750.”