Luxton finishes second at Oulton

Tom Fisher struggled with rear grip in his two Superstock 1000 races, resulting in a 26th place in the first race before he retired from the second race.

Ward had been on form all weekend and qualified for a front row start to his race.

When the riders took their grid positions the track was sodden and heavy rain falling which made for a slippery and difficult race.

But it was the same for everyone and when the lights went out Ward settled into third place for the first few laps.

But he was joined by his teammate who was keen to get into a podium position himself and the pair battled for position throughout the majority of the 12-lap affair.

The battle attracted the TV cameras which followed their progress, giving the team plenty of coverage.

But in the final few laps Ward’s visor was misting up, causing him to slow and drop back to eventually finish the race in fourth place.

Meanwhile, Luxton began the race from the third row and got away to a cracking start, moving through to fourth place on the first lap.

But he was intent on a podium finish and entered into a battle royal with Ward, which he finally won.

He was quite a way behind the first two riders but when Rory Skinner crashed out of second place he was elevated up a place.

Too far behind the champion elect Ryan Vickers to catch him, he crossed the finish line in a fine second place to pick up 20 championship points.

Luxton is now eighth in the rider standings on 78 points which is a remarkable accomplishment considering he missed the first four rounds of the series.

Fisher was competing in the penultimate round of the Superstock 1000 Championship but things didn’t go his way this weekend.

He was struggling with lack of rear grip in the wet conditions and crashed out of the first free practice session which didn’t help his cause.

He qualified for a ninth row start to the first race on Saturday and although it was run in dry conditions, starting from that far back on the grid was always going to be difficult for him to make much progress.

But he gave it his best shot and completed the race in 26th place.

It was raining again for race two and the big bike again suffered from a lack of grip with the rear tyre, so much so that Fisher decided it was better to retire after a few laps than perhaps crash in the difficult conditions.

The final round of both championships is at Brands Batch on October 14, but before that the team will be competing at the Stars at Darley meeting at Darley Moor on October 6.