Talented Saracen’s Head speedster Ben Stafford left Thruxton in a disappointed mood after failing to break into the top ten of either Dickies British Supersport race over the weekend.
Having seen his Silicone Engineering bike destroyed in a crash at Snetterton in the previous round, it had to be rebuilt from a new chassis.
And, with Stafford having already been committed to travel to the Isle Of Man to mechanic for Dean Harrison in the southern 100 road race last week, it made life difficult for him ahead of round six.
With just two days to complete the task, the bike arrived at the circuit late on Thursday evening and both rider and mechanic (Stafford’s dad Andy) worked late into the night to complete the task ready for Friday’s sessions of free practice (FP).
Stafford had been suffering handling issues for two meetings, but when FP1 came it was apparent that the rebuild had eradicated the issue and the team set about getting a set up for the weekend.
Indeed, steady progress throughout both sessions left the team ready for qualifying on the next day in a reasonable position.
Qualifying went almost to plan and Stafford sat in 11th place for the majority of the session, only slipping to 13th in the last minutes of the frenzy.
The Saturday afternoon sprint race was again a battle from 13th on the grid and Stafford settled in to the 2.4 mile laps and never looked like moving forward. He eventually crossed the line in 14th place.
Sunday’s feature race was again fast and furious and, although Stafford made some progress in the middle stages, he suffered the consequences and eventually crossed the line in 18th place.
Stafford was bitterly disappointed with the results over the weekend and has a very difficult job balancing the work/riding ratio as the team do all of the road events, plus trying to get him ready for the fiercely competitive Supersport races.
With a week and a half until the next round at Brands Hatch, Stafford is now regrouping his thoughts and fitness regime to focus on the next chapter. As ever, he thanks Silicone Engineering and all of his personal sponsors for their support.
