Saracen’s Head teenager Ben Stafford enjoyed his best finish in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship at Thruxton on Sunday.
The South Holland pace ace, who was only competing in his third race at the series, took an incredible ninth place at round six.
Having stepped up from the European supermoto scene at the end of last year, Stafford’s progress with the Silicone engineering team is stratospheric.
Thruxton is widely recognised as one of the fastest circuits in Britain – and it soon became clear that the Hampshire track is not for the faint hearted, with the throttle staying pretty wide open for the majority of each lap.
Free practice was spent learning the track and setting the gearing to achieve the best match – and when Friday’s qualifying one arrived, Stafford settled well on a dry track and managed a very respectable 24th on the grid out of some 48 riders.
Qualifying two was scheduled for lunchtime on Saturday, but due to torrential rain, all of the sessions were delayed.
The session eventually got under way at 4.40pm, with lap times dropping and positions switching all the time.
At the end of the session, Stafford had knocked 0.8 seconds off his previous time and eventually settled for 20th on the grid, which is his best position to date.
Race day came on Sunday – and Stafford came out fighting. It soon became apparent that all his hard work and determination to succeed were paying off.
After lap one he was up to 18th, before crossing the line in 14th at the end of his next circuit of the track.
This pattern continued for the duration of the race and Stafford eventually passed his team-mate on lap ten.
The two Silicone team members slugged it out, with neither wanting to give up and both wanting the spoils.
Eventually, after 14 breathless laps, Stafford crossed the line in a fantastic ninth position.
That marks a fantastic result for Stafford after such a short time in this series. The Superstock field boasts a wealth of experienced riders and is fiercely competitive, with an incredible 1.5 seconds separating first to 24th place.
Pacedays Yamaha’s Kyle Ryde claimed top spot after coming out on top of a four-man battle.
Nick Anderson fought off Tarran Mackenzie on the drag to the flag to take second, his first podium of the year.
Tsingtao Kawasaki’s Ben Godfrey came through in fourth ahead of Dan Stamper.
Trik Moto’s Mason Law held on to a lonely sixth place, just ahead of the mammoth battle for the final points places. Malachi Mitchell-Thomas came out on top in seventh ahead of Joe Collier, who was just in front of Stafford. Aleix Aulestia completed the top ten.
Stafford and the team will travel to Oulton Park this weeked for round seven, where he will be hoping for more of the same. He is thankful to Silicone, his sponsors and friends and family for their support.
