Top ten spot for Moorside motor racer thanks to consistent form

ASHLEY BEECH’S consistent form lies behind his top-10 place in the National Superstock 1000 Championship.

Ashely Beech in action

The 28-year-old Moorside motorcycle ace scored points in both races in round four of the championship at Donington Park.

He again put in a strong performance in front of a large crowd and the television cameras in his event that was a support race for the British round of the World Superbike Series.

Beech has scored points in all four rounds, though not everything has gone according to plan since the last round at Oulton Park.

The engine of his BMW S1000RR race bike blew up when testing at Donington Park two weeks ago and since then a new engine had been hastily ordered, fitted and tested.

Beech completed the practice session on the 2.5mile circuit second quickest.

An electrical fault during the first lap of qualifying forced Beech to immediately return to the pits for his team to rectify the issue.

He resumed qualifying having missed the first 10 minutes of the scheduled 30, but wasted no time getting back up to speed and with less than five minutes to go he came into the pits for a new set of tyres and returning to the track he recorded his fastest lap of the
weekend finishing third quickest earning him a start from the front row of the grid.

New for the 2017 season, the organisers have introduced a two part race consisting of 18 laps each with a 10-minute break between to allow riders and teams to change tyres and refuel ready for the second part.

Grid positions for part two are determined by lap times in the first half, but a rider must complete part one to be eligible for the second start.

As the lights went out for the start of the first half, Beech blasted off the line but dropped one place going into the first corner at Redgate.

Holding onto this position, Beech was running well until his brakes started to fade on lap six of 18 and he dropped back a further two places to sixth.

However, he managed to move up to fifth until James Rispoli crashed ahead of him promoting Beech to fourth place as he crossed the line.

Beech started race two in fourth position. He had another good start but, with brake issues, he dropped back to ninth place until with three laps to go he pulled the pin and fought his way back up to cross the line seventh.

“I’m disappointed not to have finished on the podium, but two more points scoring finishes is good for the Championship”, he said.

Beech will be back in action at the Knockhill circuit in Scotland for round five of the championship over the weekend of June 10/11.

You can follow Beech and the team’s progress at www.jonesdorlingracing.co.uk, on Twitter @JDR_Racing or on Facebook JonesDorlingRacing