Manxman Gavin Hunt found himself out of luck at Silverstone on Sunday with the Northern Escalator Racing rider forced to retire on the penultimate lap of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship race, just when another top ten position looked on the cards.
With points scored in each of the previous four rounds, the Douglas rider was confident of extending that run and signalled his intentions for the weekend in Friday’s opening qualifying session when he placed a strong tenth. However, a few set-up changes for Saturday’s second session didn’t work as he had hoped and he slipped back to 12th although he was still on the fourth row and well within reach of the leading group of riders.
A good start to the 12-lap race saw Gavin consolidate his position and although two small groups had got away at the head of the field, the 27-year old was part of a strong group battling it out for sixth place. Holding onto 11th place, Gavin was confident of utilising his strong pace at the end of the race to move forward into the top ten but, after a short period behind the safety car, when racing resumed his machine slowed suddenly and he was cruelly forced to retire on the penultimate lap.
Gavin Hunt: “It’s obviously disappointing to have been forced out right at the end of the race especially as some more good points looked to be heading my way again. The bike had been mega all weekend but after the safety car pulled in the engine lost all its power and just wouldn’t pull. It started to sound a bit sick so I had no option other than to pull in and we think the fuel pump was the cause.”
“Up until that point, I couldn’t fault the weekend at all and was really happy with my pace and how I was riding. We made a few set-up changes for Q2 which didn’t work out but I’d been in the top 12 all weekend and was confident of finishing inside the top ten once more. I was only two thousandths of a second slower than my team-mate in qualifying and the race was going to plan so it was a real shame it ended how it did. On the plus side, we’ve got a good base setting for when we return to Silverstone next month and the team’s working superbly well so I’m extremely hopeful we’ll have a strong final three rounds.”
Gavin is back out in action this weekend with round 10 of the series taking place at Donington Park.
Picture by Jon Jessop Photography.
