Top teenage talent Ben Stafford stormed to an impressive ninth position at the opening round of the Pirelli National 600 Superstock Championship at Donington Park on Monday.
This Easter weekend was the start of the 12-round series for Saracen’s Head ace Stafford, who is again racing for Silicone Engineering Racing.
Saturday served as part one of qualifying (Q1), before part two on Sunday and Monday’s race. Qualifying had its ups and downs for Stafford last season – but this year, with a new structure to the team set-up, he definitely means business and set about getting closer to the front runners.
At the end of Q1 on a cool day Stafford found himself in 11th position and very happy with his progress.
Then came Q2, with conditions slightly better. Stafford bettered his previous times, but this was the case for most of the other riders and at the end the session he had a grid position of 13th for the race.
Weather conditions were favourable on race day, with sunshine being the order of the day. The team made changes to Stafford’s bike in the morning to try to take advantage of the track, only to find that he appeared to be slower.
With a massive crowd in attendance, Stafford was eager to get going – and being sat alongside the likes of Tarran Mackenzie on the grid only fuelled his determination.
The race proved to be 14 laps of mayhem, with Stafford eventually crossing the line in a very creditable ninth position. He also set a new PB time for the 2.5 mile track during the race.
Stafford thanks mechanic Jonny Bagnal and his team at Silicone for providing him with a great bike.
Round two is at Brands Hatch on the weekend of April 17-19.
