Team Suzuki Press Office – September 5.
A crash for Christian Iddon in the closing stages of the opening race cost the Bennetts Suzuki rider a top-10 finish at Oulton Park and round nine of the MCE British Superbike championship triple-header weekend today.
After qualifying in eighth place, Iddon made a steady start to the first of three races this weekend, holding 10th place early on. However, after making a series of passes, he soon found himself embroiled in a classic British Superbike dogfight for fourth place.
But on lap 14 of 18, he crashed at high speed on the run from the ‘Shell Oils’ hairpin to the first chicane, ending his race and giving his team plenty of work to do for tomorrow's two encounters.
Christian Iddon:
"That was quite a big one that. I was having a good race and was inside the top-10. At one point it was a battle for fourth but I think realistically in the end we were in the mix for fifth-or-sixth, but sadly it wasn't to be. I wanted to get the two guys in front of me, (Luke) Mossey and (Dan) Linfoot, but I ran wide and clipped the grass and it spat me off. The mechanics have got a big job on their hands tonight so I'm sorry to give them so much work to do. I wanted to give the team the best result I could and that's not how I wanted it to go. But we'll try again tomorrow."
Josh Waters also found himself down a few positions off the start from his qualifying position, dropping as low as 23rd. However, he kept his head down and worked his way-up to a point-scoring finish of 14th.
Josh Waters:
"We didn't get the best of starts in the race but I regrouped and tried my best to push-on. It's no secret we're still not where we want to be with our set-up, but it was good to be able to make some passes and come through to finish in the points. Myself and the team are trying our hardest and we'll make some more adjustments and look for an improvement in tomorrow's races."
Martin Halsall - Bennetts Suzuki Team Owner:
"That's not how we wanted it to go today. Christian was having a good race and an entertaining battle with all those guys around him; and we could have had a top-five result. Unfortunately he just pushed that bit too-hard to get the guys back in front of him towards the end of the race and it's cost him a strong finish. But we'll take the positive from the pace he's shown as well as his determination to get a result, make some changes to the set-up, and go again tomorrow.
"Josh's qualifying position left him with a bit of work to do, and the places lost in the opening lap also didn't help, but we're pleased with the way he kept his head down and the effort he put in to keep fighting and get himself back-up and into the points; and hopefully we can push-on with him from there tomorrow."
Race One Result: 1. Shane Byrne 2. James Ellison 3. Danny Buchan 4. Josh Brookes 5. Dan Linfoot. 14. Josh Waters (Bennetts Suzuki). DNF. Christian Iddon (Bennetts Suzuki).
