Saracen’s Head speedster Ben Stafford managed a morale-boosting top ten finish at round four of the Dickies British Supersport Championship at Knockhill over the weekend.
Silicone Engineering racer Stafford, who has been struggling with performance issues since the start of the season, has had to run a stock engine for two of the previous three rounds.
However, he found a good set-up for free practice at the Scottish circuit and managed to put in some decent lap times.
Qualifying, however, was a different story for Stafford as he struggled to get into the rhythm and failed to string together the three sectors to produce a fast lap. At the end of the session he found himself in an unfortunate 18th place on the grid.
Saturday’s race one was contested in tough conditions, with heavy rain before the race forcing a change in settings. After a decent start, Stafford – and the rest of the field for that matter – struggled for visibility on the dirty track.
With the slippery conditions almost impossible, the South Holland ace did well to cross the line in 14th place.
Overnight changes to the bike for Sunday’s second race were also in vain as, just before the race, the heavens opened and atrocious weather set in again. This time Stafford got his usual great start and set about getting through the pack.
He eventually crossed the line in tenth position ahead of a host of more experienced racers, producing a good and solid performance in the conditions and gaining valuable points.
The next meeting is at Snetterton on July 9 and 10.
