After the lengthy road racing break, we leapt back into action at Snetterton for round 3.

All of our weather apps were absolutely correct in the week before we departed with the only differentiator being the highest temperature which is not a bad place to be.

The mood in the camp was really positive. We left Donington Park some 4 weeks earlier with some really good data and some things we wanted to try.

Both Joe and Oliver were well rested and raring to go.

Free Practice One & Two :

These sessions were purely used as bike time. Given that both riders had not ridden for a little while and it was our first time Snetterton on the Ducati’s, there was no pressure for pace.

Joe – Free Practice One – P6 (Lap time 1.52.28)

Oliver – Free Practice One – P13 (Lap time 1.53.37)

Joe – Free Practice Two – P6 (Lap time 1.51.70)

Oliver – Free Practice Two – P13 (Lap time 1.52.50)

Qualifying :

Based on the previous days free practice times both Joe and Oliver were automatically entered into Q2 negating the need to participate in Q1.

Q2 proved to be incredibly challenging with an unusual amount of disruption due to two red flags. Rather frustratingly, the laps where both Joe and Oliver were cancelled / incomplete owing to the red flags.

Joe qualified 12th

Oliver qualified 13th (started 16th due to a minor penalty)

Sprint Race – 10 laps

In the glorious evening sunshine we took to the grid straight after the Superbikes. The post qualifying debriefing had gone well, both lads managed to get some rest, they had cleared their heads and they were ready to race !!

Joe got away from the line really well and managed to wrestle his way into his groove early on. He held a strong pace and climbed the leader board really well. 

Once he had passed a rider he was managing to increase his pace to find the next. Unfortunately on the very last lap of 10 whilst exiting the chicane before the ‘Bomb Hole’

he found a neutral in the gearbox which resulted in a low speed fall.

Oliver made a very good start and kept his nose clean for the first few laps. Given how qualifying went for most of the competitors it was lively out there to say the least.

Once the field had spread out a little Oliver began to find his rhythm and his pace increased. Steadily but confidently climbing through the field he crossed the line in his best placing of the year so far in 9th (+7 places). A job well done!

Feature Race – 14 laps

Lap times from the Sprint race determine the grid for the Feature race. Joe started from 6th and Oliver was elevated to 12th.

As the lights went out Joe got away and tucked himself into the middle of the pack to tackle the turn one melee. Frustratingly, Honda racing’s Jack Kennedy had to take evasive action in front of Joe which meant that Jack tucked the front resulting in a fall. As he was leaving the track in the fall he collected Joe forcing them both off. Thankfully both riders were ok if not for a few new bruises.

Oliver was not far behind the incident which meant that he got forced wide into turn one as he tried to avoid all the riders getting around Jack and Joe’s crash. Luckily Oliver did get through but he had lost a significant amount of places. At the end of lap one Oliver was back in 18th.

Undeterred and unfazed Oliver knew he had work to do so he got down to business. As each lap passed he was taking more and more riders. He eventually found some space on track so he could focus on his riding. There was a slight gap (-2.8secs) in front of him to catch Eduardo Columbi on the TAS racing Ducati. Once he had caught Eduardo, he sat with him for a couple of laps to work out his passing opportunity. With a few fallers at the front Oliver and Eduardo were battling for 13th. 

Keen to make the move, Oliver asked too much of his rear tyre at the apex of Agostini’s which brought the back end of the bike around too quickly and he was down. 

Needless to say the whole team were devastated, a very rare double DNF. One that was not within our control and the other made from determination and effort. What was promised to yield so much gave us nothing and it hurt.

It took a real effort from everybody and a rider funded ice cream to bring the smiles back to the awning. By the time we had packed down bounce back plans were already underway. We go again…

Championship Standings :

Joe Talbot – 8th (42 points)

Oliver Barr – 16th (13 points)

Knockhill test :

After a very quick 24hrs in the workshop the bikes were prepped and ready to make the trip to Scotland for the official BSB test at Knockhill. A useful two days in mixed conditions gave the skelelton crew the chance to try some wet settings. 

Next round :

Knockhill – July 4th, 5th & 6th.

Thank you very much indeed for your continued help and support. All the boys and girls at Binch racing are very very grateful for everything you do for us.