Ben Wilson enjoyed his best finish of the season so far as he collected 20 Motorpoint British Supersport Championship points at Cadwell Park over the weekend.
Kirton ace Wilson scored a seventh and then a fifth at round eight of the championship, which moves him back into the top 10 in the rider standings.
Qualifying went well for Wilson at his “home” track and he held pole position for most of the session before he was beaten back to eighth in the final stages when the pace hotted up.
Starting Saturday’s sprint race from a third row grid position, he was hampered as he tried to execute one of his quick starts and ended up in seventh place on the first lap.
By lap two the leading seven riders had begun to pull out a gap from the following pack and Wilson was poised to make a move forward when the red flag put paid to his aspirations.
A new race was declared over ten laps – and although he got away to a better start this time, he remained in seventh position throughout the race and crossed the finish line to collect nine championship points for seventh place.
In Sunday’s feature race Wilson set off from the third row and once again settled into seventh spot.
But on lap two Andy Reid crashed at the top of the mountain right in front of him, meaning he had to make a quick swerve to avoid hitting him.
This made Wilson lose momentum and, although he moved up to sixth, he had lost touch with the leading group.
He continued to maintain sixth until lap eight when his Gearlink Kawasaki team mate Glenn Irwin fell back.
Wilson took the advantage and moved up to fifth place and set about reeling in James Rispoli, who was circulating some way ahead.
It was, however, a little too late. Although he reduced the gap down to just over a second, Wilson was unable to make a pass and crossed the finish line in fifth place – his best result of the current campaign.
Wilson said: “It’s been a difficult season so far for me and I am not getting the results I would have liked.
“I want to be running at the front of the field, but it’s just not happening this year for one reason or another.
“But Cadwell is my home track and I needed to put on a good show for all my family, friends and fans this weekend.
“I managed to pick up 20 championship points though and score my best result of the season so have made some progress.”
Wilson now moves up to ninth in the rider standings on 103 points and is optimistic he can move further forward next time out.
The next round is at Oulton Park on September 4-6 and with it being one of his more favoured circuits, he will be anxious to do well and bring some more points home to move further up the rider standings.
