A warm and sunny Oulton Park welcomed the return of the British Superbike fraterntity for Round 7 of a very exciting 2011 season. This is the second time the paddock has been to the Cheshire circuit this year. (see more)
The round started well, but has yet to finish, as, had been predicted, rain stopped play. The clouds opened early on the Sunday morning, and rain continued to fall consistently all day long. By 5pm, with skies darkening, the organisers had to call it off. And rightly so.
The rest of the round had its usual ups and downs. John Laverty had a horrific crash on the main straight. Karl Harris, recently having joined Splitlath Aprilia, had his fair share of crashes. Ben Wilson must have had the race of his career in the Supersport Sprint Race on Saturday, starting in 26th position and finishing in 2nd. John 'Hopper' Hopkins crashed from the lead in Race 1, braking for Lodge Corner. Tommy Hill fought for the lead, followed by Josh Brookes, and in an amazing final corner overtake maneouvre, Michael Rutter took the final place on the podium from Shane Byrne. Scott Smart took to the top step in the EVO class.
The Superstock1000 race only lasted four laps after many crashes on a rain soaked track caused the race to be red-flagged in order to safely remove Danny Buchan from the safety barrier at the end of the main straight. Any further racing was a distant hope.
The final three races to be called off will be run during future rounds. (see less)