Usher In The Points At Oulton Park

Beverly racer Dominic Usher rode to a fine seventh place in round three of the National Superstock 1000 championship at Oulton Park on Monday to claim a further nine championship points that bring his total to 17 and place him eighth in the rider standings.

First qualifying didn’t quite go to plan as it was raining hard which didn’t suit the BMW. But final qualifying the next day was run in dry conditions and Dominic ended the session in 13th place to start his race from the fifth row.

He said: “I am not that keen on wet weather racing and the bike seemed to have the same idea. It just didn’t gel with the wet conditions so I was pleased when the rain stopped and I was able to get some fast laps in.”

As the race got underway on Monday Dominic retained 11th place for the first three laps before making his way forward to ninth on lap four of 15. He made up another place on the next lap and began to reel in Tom Tunstall who was circulating some distance ahead.

He moved past Tunstall on lap 11 and held station until the red flag heralded an early end to the race with Dominic being awarded seventh place – his best result of the current campaign.

Dominic said: “Finishing in seventh place from a starting position of 13th I feel I am getting somewhere now. I made a few changes after qualifying and the bike ran really well during the race. I feel we are making good progress and learning more with each outing. The BMW is a different animal to my previous bike and it is taking a bit of getting used to, but once I master it I am sure I can run at the front.”

The British Superbike championship and its support classes take a break now to make way for the NW200 and Isle of Man road races and the riders will be back in action at Snetterton for round four over the weekend of June 10-21.