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Wilson lays demons to rest
Tuesday, 2.15pm - KIRTON racer Ben Wilson laid his Thruxton demons to rest when he rode to a fine sixth place finish on Sunday in round four of the Fuchs/Silkolene British Supersport championship, writes Robert Pask.
Wilson – who moved into fourth place in the rider standings - has never enjoyed riding at the fast and bumpy Hampshire circuit, but shrugged his shoulders and got on with the job of securing a respectable qualifying position.
From the first free practice session through to final qualifying he grew in confidence and powered the Gearlink Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R through to a fourth row grid position in 14th place, bettering his lap times by over two seconds in the process.
Although he did manage to get a flying start, the race was red flagged before they exited the first corner and the Lincolnshire rider had it all to do again.
At the re-start he was promoted to 13th on the grid and he set off to claim ninth position on the opening lap.
He continued to make good progress, claiming fifth place mid-race but made a mistake at the chicane and lost the tow from fellow Lincolnshire rider Steve Plater, who was circulating just a few yards ahead.
Wilson was caught and passed by James Webb, and then attracted the attention of Paul Young on the Triumph.
But as they entered into the final stages of the race, Wilson fought off his challenge and retained sixth place to cross the finish line a 10th of a second ahead of Young.
"Considering my qualifying position I am happy with where I finished the race," said Wilson.
"It has been a hard weekend for me as Thruxton is not one of my more favoured circuits, but I have beaten my demons and put all that behind me now.
"I tried to stick just behind Plater as he was on the move forward. I knew I had the pace to run with him but I ran into the chicane too fast and ran wide which let him get away from me.
"He ended up in second place and if I had been able to stick with him I could have been looking at another podium."
Wilson added: "The Gearlink Kawasaki boys have been awesome again this weekend.
"They have worked so hard to keep me on the track and I can't thank them enough for their support throughout the weekend."
With the 10 points picked up for sixth place at Thruxton, Wilson moves up to fourth in the rider standings on 39 points and is just 13 points away from a top three position.
A good result in the next round at Snetterton on June 21 could see him edge closer to his target.
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Weather for Boston, Lincolnshire
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 26 mph
Wind direction: East
