James East / Mackrory Racing – Round 3 Oulton Park British Supersport
The picturesque Cheshire circuit of Oulton Park is the Venue for round 3 of the British Supersport Championship.
James really enjoys racing at the circuit, it’s perfect for bikes. With the circuit’s flowing nature, undulations and hill tops Oulton Park makes for spectacular racing for spectators and enjoyment from the riders.
Free Practice – James struggles with some arm pump first session, but collects some valuable data and puts in a time of 1:43.100 Good enough to put him 3rd in the cup standings and 18th overall.
Free Practice – Changes to the bikes ride height made the bike a huge amount better. James goes 1.3 seconds faster than he has ever been around Oulton Park on a time of 1:41.344 to Put him in 14th place and 3rd in the cup once more.
Qualifying – After a fast pace in Free Practice and temperatures up from the previous day, James’s goal was to drop some time and stay in the top 15 for a good start, his 2nd flying lap is a 1:41:655 just 3 tenths my a crash on lap 4 puts a stop to his efforts.
James – “The crash is still a mystery to me which is the worst situation for any crash. Upon putting the bike in the exit the engine note dropped and span around from the rear. It’s one of those things you have to deal with every now and move on from. “
James would drop to 22nd on the grid from his lap time from lap 2.
Race 1. (Qualifying Race)
James gets a steady start, holding position to stay away from a crowded pack. Easty picked off a couple of people after the first corners were out of the way, but when he arrived at Hislops Chicane two riders touched and went wide and cut back on to the line, James touched the brake and went down, and with new rules stating riders cannot rejoin, was forced to retire.
East – “I am gutted, it was simply a split second decision to tap the brake and adjust the line to miss the other riders and the front tucked. I will start from the back row tomorrow but I’m determined to push through to battle for the cup podium. “
Warm Up
Everything goes smoothly in warm up, with the bike in full working performance. Easty’s start position would be a default 31st position.
Race 2
James gets a great start with a 0-100KPH time of 3.4 seconds, James jumps a row in the first corners and with some elbow work and use of the curbs gets a good drive down the avenue to protect his line in to cascades.
Easty keeps out of trouble on lap 1 and starts his charge, by lap 4 has many places up and has caught a group of 5 riders with the leader being 3rd place in the cup championship.
By lap 8 James has sifted through all the riders in front of him and is 3rd place in the cup and P17 on the road. Lap 9 see’s a red flag stop the race and it’s 3rd place for James.
East – “I kept my calm at the start, got off the line well and made as much progress as possible in the laps I had with no mistakes so I am happy with the way I rode.
This meeting has definitely not gone the way I had planned or wanted, but was good to get my 5th podium of the season and spray the champagne for everyone again on Monday.
Snetterton will be different, we’ve done some good testing there, some revisions are being made to the bike, and I’m testing next week to try some new things also so I’m excited, Thank you to the team and all my wonderful sponsors for making it possible to race in supersport this year. “
Thanks go out to:
Homechoice Carpets Leeds
Idaq.com
GHM Services
ToiletSpares.co.uk
R&G Racing
Cougar Leathers
Moto-Master Braking Systems
Racebikebitz By Samco Sport
Walters & Walters Ltd
Paul ‘Noddy’ Brown
