Unlucky End To A Positive Weekend

It was a weekend of contrasting fortunes for Jordan Weaving in round four of the Pirelli Moto British National Superstock 1000 championship at Donington Park, the 20-year-old made positive strides from first practice right through to the two part 100 mile race on Sunday evening. However, it was to ultimately end with a tinge of disappointment as Weaving’s attempt to take a second successive top ten finish in as many meetings was cut short in a racing incident involving himself and Australian rider, Brayden Elliott, with just three laps remaining. Overall, Weaving once again made a positive impression as the onlooking World Superbike fans and teams witnessed first hand the flourishing talents of the Briggs Equipment Kawasaki ZX-10RR rider. In Friday's first practice session, Weaving was consistently on the back wheels of the top ten riders in the class as the sun shone brightly late into evening. Almost 24 hours later the riders were back out onto the track in qualifying and Weaving was in determined mood, pushing harder and harder as he improved his laptime from Friday by over a second, putting him 12th on the grid for Sunday's races. On Sunday the sun stayed out and shone over the grid as the lights went out to get the first of two 17-lap races underway. Weaving found himself ensconced in a battle for the top ten throughout with Luke Hedger, Chrissy Rouse and Tom Tunstall with consistent laps being put in by the quartet of riders. As the chequered flag came out to signal the end of part one after almost 50 miles of intense racing later, Weaving finished just outside the top ten but maintained a consistent pace throughout. After a short break for refueling and tyre changes, the riders were back out for part two and there was no let up in excitement. Right from the off, Weaving stalked Lewis Rollo ahead of him and it appeared that the number 8 bike of Rollo was holding him up. Undeterred, Weaving patiently waited for the right moment before making a fantastic pass going into Redgate corner at the start of lap 10. But three laps later just as he looked to make further headway into the leading pack, Weaving’s race was cut short. Weaving and Brayden Elliott clashed going into Redgate corner leaving both riders in the gravel and putting paid to any hopes of a notable finish for either rider. However, despite that disappointment, Weaving saw the positives gained as valuable experience and is able to take that into round five of the Championship in a few weeks time.“It was a hard weekend," Weaving said. "We had the pace and showed we could run in the top ten and despite how the weekend ended, were relatively happy. I didn’t know what to expect with it being my first 100 mile race but the team were great and now we have more knowledge going into the next 100 mile race at Brands," “Race one was about trying to get a measure of things, looking how to best conserve the tyres in certain areas and pushing harder in other points to get a good finish to set us up and pick up points ahead of the second race. I was trying to stay loose on the bike, be as flowing out there on track as I could. It’s a circuit where some riders suffer with arm pump so I was conscious of making sure we were fit across both races and we managed that very well. Picking up a strong finish in the first race was pleasing and then going into the second part of the race, I felt so much stronger because of it. The experience of the first race left me feeling energised for the second part. “I got off to a strong start and maintained a pace with the front group, and as things settled down there was a tough battle for a place just inside the top ten and it was a great race but then, Coming to the end of the straight into turn one, I felt a huge push from behind me, I didn’t know what happened and I went flying through the air. I remember the dust settling and saw another rider on the floor, only then I realised I’d been knocked off the bike. "It was disappointing because I was really enjoying the race but it’s part of racing; there was no intent there. We’ve got a little wait until Knockhill now but I’m already looking forward to getting up there and another opportunity to pick up some Championship points.”