Race day provided perfect conditions for the Hel Performance Motostar British Championship race. Charlie Nesbitt started on pole position and took the win in a hard fought race, where he was under pressure from two or three other riders during the 12 laps. His victory now puts him very close to the championship title.
Free practice
It all started on the Friday when Nesbitt made another positive start to his race weekend finishing first again in free practice. However, it was very tight at the top with just four hundredths of a second separating the front three. His time was 1:46.210
Things got a bit tougher for Nesbitt in the second free practice session finishing down in fifth place and 1.765 seconds from the fastest rider. He was unable to match his leading time from this morning as it began to rain towards the end of the session.
However, the important work was to begin on Saturday morning with Q1 and then Q2 in the afternoon.
Qualifying
Q1 had been forecast to be wet and although it didn’t rain during the session it had rained overnight and the track was wet. As a result lap times were much slower than yesterday. Nesbitt completed 16 laps during the session finishing just over half a second from the front in fourth position. However there was little point in pushing hard because the weather for Q2 was expected to be much better.
Q2 did indeed see much better weather with a completely dry track. Nesbitt was involved in a great battle with two other riders battling for the top spot. As the prize of pole position switched between the three riders it was Nesbitt who came out on top at the end of the thirty minute qualifying session.
The Race
The weather on Sunday afternoon was perfect for the 12 lap race. Nesbitt lined up on pole position and took the hole shot. The initial laps gave us some exciting and close racing with Spanish rider Dani Saez taking the lead as they started the second lap. Nesbitt soon returned to the front as the riders went through Island Bend and into Shell Oils Corner. Nesbitt held the lead but was unable to break away as first Ed Rendell challenged the Swindon rider and then Josh Owens. The e3 motorpsort / Redline KTM rider briefly lost the lead to Owens on the final lap as he went inside going into the hairpin, but Nesbitt squeezed back through as they rode through Hislops Chicane. Nesbitt kept calm and rode on to take the victory, his 13th of the season.
The next round is at Donington Park on 16 – 18 September. There are 150 points still available in the championship and with Nesbitt being 140 points ahead of his nearest rival he has an excellent opportunity to wrap up the title in the next round.
At the end of the weekend Charlie Nesbitt said, “Josh [Owens] gave me a proper battle it that race. I love battling, that’s the whole point of racing. Thanks to my team, Nick Carpenter for a superb bike and all my sponsors.”