A challenging weekend for Oxford Products Racing Ducati at Cadwell Park
Ian ‘Hammy’ Darbyshire reports back from Cadwell Park, which hosted Round 8 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship over the Bank Holiday Weekend.
Historically last year wasn’t much of a ‘party in the Park’ for us with three lots of seventh place finishes so we were certainly hoping for better results this time round. Even though it was over a Bank Holiday and normal track action moved forward a day, we were also treated to the traditional Friday night Superbike test, with a two and half hour open pitlane.
It can’t go without saying that we had our boss back. As most know Wilf has been incredibly unwell and will still be recovering for some time, but he wanted to get back to support what he has built up over the last 15 seasons. We used the test to try new stuff with the new package we run in the bike. We made the most of the open pit lane and struck off 42 laps trying a few different things. We finished 2.220s off but satisfised we’d tried the right things. Then the fun began…
Saturday was a day of chasing our tales on both bikes with the rain and track conditions not being consistent at all throughout the day. We had a heavy down pour but a quick drying track as in general the temperatures were still warm. Both boys struggled to concentrate on a single set up or at least a set up that worked within a certain window. Christian didn’t have too much pressure to set up his weekend. Ben however didn’t go out in the first session meaning we had to go out in the second session to put a time in to put us in good stead for the rest of the weekend. Saturday saw Christian twelfth overall and Ben first.
Superbike
Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #21)
“I really didn’t envisage this weekend being so tough. From the first test I just didn’t feel a connection with the bike or get it to do with it what I wanted to do. On Sunday we had a difficult FP3 and that continued to a very difficult qualifying. Leading straight into Race One I was just involved in so many things. I was caught in a collision off the line. I also had another bike stop in front of me which I had to take evasive action to avoid which messed up turn one. Also, we had a few glitches with the bike, and then also got hit with a time penalty. Overall, though, more concerningly was the overall lack of pace we had.
I woke up Monday with a fresh mind and keen to turn it around but unfortunately that wasn’t the case which is incredibly disappointing. I do however want to forget about the last two rounds and move forward.
The last three rounds we know we’ve been quick from the first visits earlier this season so we know we can go well. Yes, we’ve dropped down to fourth in the championship, but the biggest concern is losing a lot of points to Kyle and Tommy. Both riders had a strong weekend. It’s tough to know where the difficulty lies this weekend between me and the bike but that’s when the team needs to come back together and go again. As always, a huge thank you to the fans, my personal sponsors, the team and their sponsors also.”
Supersport
Ben Currie (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #1)
“That was a tough, tough weekend. The last couple of rounds have obviously been super tough for us as a whole team for both Christian and me on both sides of the garage. But I'm in really good spirits.
We fought hard at Cadwell to try and get a bike that can challenge the front two, which were on phenomenal pace all weekend. With the slight lack of track time prior to qualifying and races due to bad weather, it did make it for a tricky time for me and the team.
The second place in Saturday's race was a little bit of a gift because Jack unfortunately crashed out from second place, which actually gave us our biggest lead of the championship so far with 17 points going into Sunday.
Unfortunately, I completely messed up Sunday's race and yeah, it wasn't part of the plan, let's just say that. Where I didn't have the pace to sort of challenge all weekend, I decided that I was going to try and settle for a good podium if I could. But once I set off for the race, the racer in me came out and I felt like I could challenge, so I wanted to stick in there as long as I could. I finally had a bike underneath me that I was capable to do the job, that's just how it is with the lack of track time that we had.
The team were unbelievable to give me a bike there all of a sudden that could challenge with, and I got a little bit excited and then maybe just dropped concentration for a split second. I ran slightly wide, minimally wide, and lost the front end of the bottom of the mountain. That was that for Sunday's race. I lost a huge chunk of points again, which is massively unfortunate, but with six points back in the championship lead we are more than in this fight.
With three rounds to go, there's three of us separated by six points, which is absolutely crazy for this part of the season. It’s going to make for a really exciting finish to the championship and I'm sure people are going to absolutely love it, and to be honest I can't wait to be a part of it.
So, I'm confident the last three rounds should be good for us. And the added bit of confidence that I gained at Sunday's race to turn things around was good, so I'm really looking forward to the end of this season. Let’s keep pushing.”