Kawasaki British Superbike team MSS Colchester Kawasaki had a disappointing weekend at Oulton Park as driving rain made racing conditions treacherous. However despite most riders struggling against the weather, Superbike rider Gary Mason demonstrated his skill with an inspired race to finish in the top five from a poor qualifying position while Danny Buchan left still leading the National Superstock Championship despite a fall.

Lining up on the fourth row, MSS Colchester Kawasaki Superbike rider Gary got an excellent start and made up nine places in the first lap as he quickly mastered the tricky conditions. Despite coming under intense pressure from Michael Laverty and the intervention of a safety car, Gary held his nerve and not only set the fourth fastest lap of the race, he finished a very creditable fifth place overall. Alex Lowes didn’t fare as well, finishing in thirteenth after qualifying seventh, while both Superstock riders crashed out of their race. However after Tristan Palmer’s disqualification from the results after his bike failed a post-race technical inspection, Danny retained the Superstock Championship lead.

As the weather conditions deteriorated even further, Race Direction took the decision to abandon the event. Race two of the Superbike series will now be run as part of a triple header at the Cadwell Park round on August 27-29th.

Gary Mason (5th in race one, race two abandoned. Championship position: 8th) “Qualifying could have gone better, I thought I was on for a front row but things didn’t work out as I had some issues with the qualifying tyres. But in the race I got my head down and after a great start I was brave into turn one and made up a load of places. The bike was working well in the wet and I was trying to get a podium but it was just so slippy out there it was unreal. Fifth was a good result and now I’m only one point off 7th position in the championship, which is fantastic as the Showdown is in my sights.”

Alex Lowes (13th in race one, race two abandoned. Championship position: 16th) “This hasn’t been a great weekend. Qualifying went well but I just couldn’t run as fast as I wanted in the race as I couldn’t get any feel from the bike and I didn’t want to risk a crash. We changed a few things ready for race two but as it was cancelled we didn’t get the chance to test them. I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch and hopefully by the time we get to the re-scheduled Oulton race at Cadwell Park I will be more familiar with the Ninja ZX-10R and I can give my home fans something to cheer.”

National Superstock 1000 riders Danny Buchan and team mate Howie Mainwaring both became victims of the horrific weather conditions at Oulton Park with Howie falling while challenging for the lead on lap two and Danny crashing at the same corner, Old Hall, on lap five while sitting in third. Riding with an already broken collarbone sustained the weekend before, Danny re-damaged the injury in the accident which caused the abandonment of the race on lap five and a result declared. However after both GBmoto Hondas failed post-race technical inspection, Danny retained the Superstock Championship lead from Tristan Palmer.

Danny Buchan (DNF in race. Championship position: 1st) “Originally I was looking to score a few points at Oulton and be happy with that but after Friday’s practice my collarbone felt strong and I had my sights set on a podium finish. I got a great start and made up five or six places in the first lap and by the end of the second I was in third and looking at making a move for second, but then I hit a big puddle going into Old Hall and lost the front. I feel a bit secondhand and it’s a shame to lose my 100% podium record but at least I’m leaving Oulton still leading the Championship by two points.”

Howie Mainwaring (DNF in race. Championship position: 7th) “I was looking forward to the race today but the weather made conditions awful. I qualified well and got a good start but lost the front going into the first corner on a patch of water and tweaked my back a bit when I hit the air fence. It’s nothing serious, and I’ll be fine for Brands Hatch, but I’m annoyed as I thought I could have got a good result here at Oulton as I love the place. If it had been dry I’m sure I could have been on the podium, qualifying showed we had the pace, but the weather was just horrible on race day.”

Team owner Nick Morgan said,

“The only real positive we can take from Oulton is Gary’s performance, it hasn’t been the best weekend and we are lucky to still be leading the Superstock championship. Gary rode a sterling race, very, very good. He got a mega start from fourteenth on the grid, looked in control and rode fantastically. He keeps improving as a rider and I can’t fault his performances this year. Obviously it’s disappointing to see both our Superstock riders crash and Alex didn’t perform as well as he can but that’s just how the weekend has gone. The weather has been horrific but racing is about racing bikes and they make wet tyres for days such as this so you can’t really complain about the conditions, that’s just how it is.”