Vasco van der Valk produced another top performance to finish a strong 7th in the ninth round of the Hel British Motostar Championship at Oulton Park after a race long battle with his friend Jorel Boerboom and Ed Rendell. His team-mate Joe Thomas unfortunately crashed out a third of the way through the race.

Earlier, there was a terrific performance from team debutant Fraser Rogers in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race, as he put the Team ILR Ninja ZX-10R in the Top 20 from 40 starters in what was his first ever experience of riding a 1000cc machine.

Unlike in previous rounds, there was only one Motostar race at Oulton so it really was all to play for.

Vasco has been displaying terrific form in the latter part of the season and he ran a calculated race sitting behind his two rivals and biding his time with a plan of attack for the final lap. 

However a slight mistake in front almost put him off the track and ruin his race completely, thankfully he stayed on to once again finish high in the points and maintain his Top 10 placing in the championship. 

Thomas had been running in 12th when he came to grief at Lodge without serious injury.

When Fraser Rogers signed up to compete for Team ILR in the remaining three rounds of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship, Oulton Park was very much being seen as a test round for the young rider to get him accustomed to the larger capacity machine.

However, completely at home in his new team and comfortable with his new bike from the start, Fraser's lap times were nothing short of impressive.

Improving on his Free Practice time by over two seconds in Q1, he continued to lap consistently culminating in a 17th quickest ideal lap of 1.39:036 in the race itself where he was also strong through the speed traps to bring his first race for the team to a satisfactory conclusion.

Team ILR were pleased to have Fraser's friend and current Moto3 World Championship leader Danny Kent with them over the course of the weekend.

The Motostar Championship now heads to the continent in two weeks time where van der Valk will be in action on his 'home' circuit of Assen alongside Thomas, whilst Rogers' next outing will be in one month's time at Silverstone.

In the meantime, the team have travelled to Scarborough and the Steve Henshaw International Gold Cup meeting.

Ian Lougher:  

"Oulton Park is always an enjoyable circuit to attend as part of the BSB Championships, most riders love it and it always seems to be very popular for the rest of the team too.

Things got off to a good start on Friday with both Vasco and Joe going faster than they went in the previous Oulton meeting back in May. Come the end of Qualifying both had a good set up on our Team ILR Honda's, and sitting in 7th and 9th fastest.

Race day- Vasco was involved in a great battle with Boerboom and Rendell for 5th, but although he finished just behind them after getting shoved wide by the two more experienced lads at Hizzy's on the last lap, the 15 year old admitted he was learning race craft in bucket loads from them, but from now on the gloves are off. 

Joe had a disappointing end to the weekend, ending up in the gravel after high siding at the last corner on lap 4.

We were looking forward to getting back into the Superstock 1000 class, and also working with Fraser Rogers.  It was always looked upon for Fraser to use Oulton as more or less a test session, as having had no previous experience at all on a 1000cc machine, and the rest of the field having already completed three quarters of the season on one, it was going to be tough for anybody.

So I was very surprised and pleased to see his rapid progression on our Team ZX-10R. 

He seems to suit the Kawasaki perfectly and loved every minute of it, complementing the Maxton suspension and our settings previously used by Filip Backlund, going on to qualify 28th and finish in the race a very respectable 20th, with competitive lap times that a seasoned campaigner would be proud of.

So for the next outing we look forward to Silverstone and a circuit that should suit Fraser even more........watch this space!!!!"     

Fraser Rogers on the grid at Oulton Park with his friends James of Swindon Karting Arena (sponsor)
and Mick, and Team ILR owner/manager Ian Lougher.
Photo: Team ILR

Fraser Rogers:  

"First things first, I want to thank Ian Lougher and the rest of Team ILR - the weekend went really well, I was happy with the progress made throughout the weekend. With each lap I felt more and more comfortable on the bike and improved in time every session.

The race was a lot of fun, coming through to 18th on Lap 1 from 28th on the grid especially. Made a few little mistakes which cost me a couple of positions but the bike was perfect and I am leaving Oulton Park full of confidence for Silverstone!

I want to say a huge thanks to my sponsors Swindon Karting Arena & Simon Whatley @ SRS, without them this wouldn't have been possible. Cant wait to get back out!"

Vasco van der Valk:

"Great qualifying for the race!

The morning session was wet and I was 8th but I didn't push because we knew the second session would be dry.
I qualified 7th but within 0,2s of 4th, so it was very close.

I fought hard in the race with Ed Rendell and Jorel and finished 7th.

Thanks to my magnificent team, and the extra help of a certain other Moto3 racer!!"

Joe Thomas:

"What a weekend. I had loads of confidence and qualified really well but sad I didn't finish the race.

But again, I have a lot of confidence going into Assen!!

Thanks to all my sponsors and the team!"