13-year-old Charlie Atkins was competing in the ninth round of the Hel Performance Motostar British Championship last weekend at Oulton Park. The Cheshire circuit saw Atkins enjoy his best qualifying position of the season and battled hard to finish in fifth position.
Free Practice
During the thirty minute free practice session he reduced his lap times by 3.5 seconds to finish with a best time of 1:51.485 placing him 7th in the standard class.
In the second free practice session there was light rain on part of the circuit making the conditions difficult and the circuit greasy in places. Atkins was unable to improve on his lap time and slipped to ninth fastest in a session that would prove to be of little relevance.
Qualifying
Photo: Johny Wills
The riders competed in Q1 first thing on Saturday morning. After overnight rain the track was wet and qualifying times were much slower than those of free practice yesterday. Undaunted Atkins set about completing 14 laps during the half hour session and finished a remarkable second quickest in the standard class.
Q2 took place on a dry track. After Atkins superb performance in the morning the team realistically knew that with the improved conditions he would qualify lower down the order. However, he still impressed as he secured his best qualifying position of the season. His lap time of 1:49.245 meant he would be on the starting grid in a solid sixth position in the standard class. His lap time was only 0.119 seconds away from fourth spot.
The Race
Hull Daily Mail 21/09/2016
At Oulton Park there was only one race of 12 laps for the Motostar riders, which took place at three o’clock on the Sunday afternoon. At the start Atkins lost a place and found himself racing with Storm Stacey, Liam Delves and Shane Faber, his usual adversaries. By the end of lap three Atkins was running at the head of a group of four riders separated by just over a second. Unflinching he continued to maintain the group behind him and started to open up a small gap over them. His speed meant that he closed a two second gap on the rider in fifth place but in doing so had dragged the group with him, albeit half a second behind Atkins.
Goole Times 16/09/2016
By lap nine the Wilson Racing rider had overtaken Thomas Strudwick for fifth place and continued to lead the pack of racers. On the penultimate lap he had pulled a gap of around a second between him and the sixth placed rider which he maintained to the finish line.
Another very positive result for Charlie Atkins who now lies ninth in the championship on 120 points. The next round is at Donington Park on 16 to 18 September.
Charlie Atkins said after the race,”Apart from the podium I got at the Cadwell Park round, that was probably my best weekend of racing. I had my best qualifying position and then managed to keep a train of riders behind me and close in on the rider in front. It was so much fun, I can’t wait until Donington. I must thank my Uncle Lee who brought me down on Friday whilst my Dad was working. Gary Wilson for again giving me a superb bike to ride and of course my sponsors; Harman Carpets, Metcalf Autos, Repair and Restore Body Shop, DRM Renovations & Building Solutions and MustHaveMediaServices.com”