With torrential rain and a quickly drying track making for exceptionally challenging conditions, Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki star Chris ‘Stalker’ Walker was able to close up on title rival Tommy Bridewell and move back into a Showdown position.Following his crash in yesterday’s opening MCE British Superbike Championship race, Chris ‘Stalker’ Walker was keen to make amends in today’s two races. With torrential overnight rain soaking the 2.6 mile Oulton Park circuit and putting the days schedule in doubt, thankfully a dry window meant the opening race got underway on a damp but quickly drying track.
Fitting slick tyres to his Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki, Chris started the race from ninth position on the grid. Quickly working his way through the pack, Stalker took fourth place on lap four where he remained until the very last corner, where he was pipped to the line. His fifth place however saw him move back into a Showdown position, at the expense of injured team mate James Ellison.
Despite torrential rain soaking the circuit shortly after the conclusion of race one, a dry line had appeared in time for the start of the second encounter. Starting from tenth place on the grid, Stalker was able to secure a strong start to be running in a six rider battle for third place. With spots of rain around the course it made passing difficult however Chris was eventually able to finish seventh and importantly ahead of Showdown rival Tommy Bridewell.
James Ellison, who returned home from his Hyperbaric Chamber treatment on the Isle of Man this morning, took over the team’s official Twitter page this morning for a unique Q&A session with fans. He and the team will now assess his situation and decide on a possible return date.
Chris Walker, “Although it’s not been the best of weekends, I’m back in the top six and clawed a few points back on Tommy so to be honest I can’t be too down heartened. I’m still a bit gutted about yesterday’s race as I felt I could have secured a few more points and further strengthened my Championship standings. The bike has worked fantastic all weekend and the team have been mega, so a big thanks to them.
It was tough out there today and we had to rush our settings on the line a little ahead of both races but the guys were able to give me a bike I could push from the start which allowed me to get through from the third and fourth rows. My aim is to always be top five and although I wasn’t able to do that in the final race we’re back in a Showdown position, which is great, albeit at the expense of James, so we can only build on that at Cadwell.”
Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki Team Principal Mark Smith-Halvorsen said, “It’s certainly been a hard weekend for the team and we had three challenging races, two in particularly awkward conditions. It was gutting to see Chris crash out of the opening race and it hurt his Championship standings, but he was able to bounce back today and close up some important points on Tommy Bridewell. Although we lost out a few to Dan Linfoot, we’re still up there and Chris rode two great races – full credit to the team too for giving him a bike that he could battle at the front with.
We move onto Cadwell hopeful that James may be strong enough to join us and confident that we’ll be able to continue our development and secure both GBmoto Kawasaki boys in the Showdown.”
