Ray back to his best
Young Suzuki star looks to have sealed Showdown spot
Peter Hickman moved himself into a vital top six position despite still suffering from the effects of the kidney infection that hospitalised him at Thruxton two weeks ago.
The Smiths BMW rider rode to two heroic podiums at the Hampshire track but was in hospital again before winning two races at the Ulster Grand Prix and while he’d recovered further for Cadwell, he was visibly still lacking in energy.
That lack of energy was less than ideal for Hickman at one of the most physically demanding circuits on the Bennetts BSB calendar, but he still managed to finish seventh and fourth in Sunday’s two races to overtake Danny Buchan in the battle for the sixth and final Showdown spot with just three races remaining before the cut-off.
“I had a feeling this weekend would be tough as, compared to Thruxton, there’s nowhere to rest around here,” Hickman told MCN. “While I’m better than I was there, I’ve still got no energy whatsoever and that’s not great when there is literally nowhere to rest around this challenging track. “The safety car in race one helped me. It gave me enough of a rest in the middle of the race which helped me make it to the end without being too exhausted. Race two, on the other hand, was a lot harder and it took everything out of me.
“I don’t think we’ve been as strong here as we would have been if I had been fully fit, but we’ve moved into the top six now and have a small advantage going into Silverstone where I should be stronger, so overall I’m happy with the results.
Hickman now sits in sixth, seven points clear of Buchan, but with three races being held at the Silverstone round the final Showdown spot is still all to play for with Tyco BMW’s Christian Iddon also in with a shout of that final Showdown spot. He’s eighth, just seven points behind Buchan.