Christian curses bad luck on track
AS the MCE British Superbikes Championship moved to the fastest circuit in the UK, Thruxton in Hampshire, Stockport rider Christian Iddon was looking for a strong points haul to bring him back into contention for the showdown positions.
Sadly that wasn’t to be the case as misfortune struck once again.
Throughout free practice it was clear both Iddon and his Halsall Bennetts Suzuki were working well together, and on combined session results ended in a strong third place.
The team had also been working hard, not just on outright pace, but also on rear tyre life as Thruxton’s notoriously abrasive surface was always going to be a factor come Sunday’s two feature races.
Iddon eased through Qualifying One, but such is the closeness of British Superbike this season, his team-mate Josh Waters was desperately unlucky to miss out on Q2 and finished in 21st position despite only being 0.5 seconds off the best time.
During the Q2 the pace intensified further and Iddon went under the existing lap record to make it through to Q3 for only the second time this year.
By his own admission, however Christian didn’t make the most of his final run during the top 10 shootout, leaving himself seventh on the grid for race one.
Crowds flooded in for a scorching day of weather and action at the Hampshire circuit on Sunday morning and Iddon was fighting in sixth during the first race when the rider ahead blew his engine.
Former World Superbike racer, Iddon, was forced to take urgent action and with a visor covered in oil, he had to lay the Halsall Bennetts Suzuki down at Church – the fastest corner in the country.
Thankfully Iddon was perfectly fine but it gave the team a lot of work to make the re-start.
The crew did a fantastic job and got Iddon out just in time to make the restart from the back of the grid.
After a great first lap, he moved from last to 17th but it soon became clear the bike had sustained a little more damage than first anticipated and was forced to retire.
“In the incident from race one I was completely blinded by the oil mist,” explained Iddon.
“And that is the fastest corner in the country. I’m thankful to have walked away from the incident”.
Race two was once again looking strong and Iddon got himself into a good position, in contention for a podium place, as the race began to draw to a close.
He had conserved his tyres and the bike had performed impeccably until once again misfortune struck. A fallen rider ahead caused Iddon to take avoiding action yet again but the following rider was unable to react in time and struck the Suzuki, bending his Yoshimura exhaust so badly that he could only limp home to finish in 20th position and outside the points.
“I genuinely don’t know what to say as we have once again been struck by misfortune through no fault of our own,” he said.
“I have never known a season like this one and it now looks as though our chances of a showdown slot are very slim but. We have to keep our heads high and there are lots of positives from the weekend.
“The team has been incredible once again this weekend and we have shown strong pace in each and every session so it’s a case of keeping our heads down and continuing to work hard as we have done all season.
“Now we have five rounds left to finish the season off strongly and I am fully focussed on doing just that”
Iddon will next be in action in the MCE British Superbikes Championship in three weeks’ time as the Series heads to Cadwell Park, in Lincolnshire, on August 23.