Barnsley’s Wilson Racing team took part in round one of the Hel Performance Motostar British standard class Championship at Donington Park last weekend.
With all the riders in the class racing similar Moto3 machines the category is very competitive. Free practice started well for Max Cook as he ended the day at the top of the timesheets with a lap time of 1:42.483. Charlie Atkins posted the seventh quickest time and Tom Alexander improved his lap time over the two sessions by more than 1.5 seconds.
Qualification proved to be one of highs and lows for the team. Max Cook continued his superb form registering the fastest time in the standard class. In fact his lap time was good enough to place him in the middle of row two in the combined GP and standard class starting grid.
Charlie Atkins on the other hand only managed four laps before a small mistake saw him fall at the Melbourne Hairpin. He qualified 12th in the class which meant he would start right back on row 11 of the combined GP and standard class grid.
Tom Alexander, still recovery from a leg injury sustained in 2016, qualified at the back of the grid.
As the ten lap race one got underway on Saturday afternoon Max Cook got a good start and slowly began to build a lead at the front of his class. He crossed the line to take victory in the opening race of the season.
Charlie Atkin’s continued to suffer bad fortune. Having made up seven places in the first lap another rider fell and in doing so took out the number 56 rider in the process, on just the second lap. The incident again occurred at the Melbourne Hairpin.
Tom Alexander battled hard from the back of the grid and managed to make up several places throughout the race. He eventually crossed the line in tenth position in the standard class in his first race in the Motostar British Championship.
The riders had to wait until late afternoon to compete in race two. Cook found himself second at the end of the first lap, but battled throughout with another rider for the lead. On the penultimate lap Cook went to the front and didn’t look back taking his second win of the weekend and a maximum 50 points.
Charlie Atkins collected his first 8 points of the season coming home unscathed in 8th place and Tom Alexander finished 12th to pick up his second points finish meaning he collected 10 points over the weekend.
The next round takes place at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on 15-17 April.
Gary Wilson the team owner said, “I am really pleased with how the weekend went
Barnsley Chronicle 07/04/2017
at Donington Park. Max was fantastic and won both races, so you can’t ask any more than that! Charlie came back well from being taken out in race one to score his first points and Tom is learning a new bike and track and improved throughout the weekend. I’m delighted with the attitude of all three of them.”