MOORSIDE motor bike racer Ashley Beech has made a full return to action after injury in the National Superstock 1000 Championship.
The 30-year-old, riding his BMW S1000RR race bike, finished 12th in round eight of the championship at Cadwell Park.
Beech was badly hurt in round one in May at Silverstone where he was hit by another competitor resulting in a double break of his forearm.
After surgery to pin and plate the broken bones, Beech worked on his fitness before racing at Snetterton and Thruxton in July to assess his race fitness.
Despite not finishing either race he was pleased with his progress and felt he was ready for a full return at Cadwell Park.
And what a test it would prove at the undulating course and a real test to his fitness, in particular upper body strength.
In the first of two practice sessions on Friday heavy rain ruined any chance of fast laps and in the afternoon session the weather had not improved so Beech decided not to go out and risk damaging the bike or more importantly cause further injury to himself.
After prolonged heavy rain the previous day, much of the rubber laid down on the track from previous racing had been washed away so there was less grip than ideal but not bad enough to prevent Beech from beating his personal best lap time and qualify in 12th place.
With no improvement to the handling during the 10-minute warm-up session, the team reverted to the original settings for the race and right from the start Beech was involved in a fierce battle but before he could get into a rhythm.
One of the leaders crashed on the third lap and, with debris on the track, the safety car came out allowing all the riders to group up before the safety car went in and racing resumed.
For the remaining laps Beech fought hard to eventually cross the line in 12th position.
“I really enjoyed that race and despite limited development time on my bike it felt awesome and we know there is a lot more to come,” he said.
