Ben Currie on the box at Knockhill
Sunday’s Supersport race was initially red flagged after a crash on the opening lap, with the restarted race around Knockhill's 1.3 mile long circuit reduced from 26 to 20 laps.
Sunday’s Supersport race was initially red flagged after a crash on the opening lap, with the restarted race around Knockhill's 1.3 mile long circuit reduced from 26 to 20 laps.
Ben Currie got a brilliant start on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati Panigale V2 and was soon up to third from his fifth-place grid slot after passing Luke Stapleford and Jamie Perrin.
But drama struck on Lap 3 when race leader Tom Booth-Amos hit the curb at the Arnold Clark Chicane and crashed out moving Ben into second place.
Ben was holding the position, but Luke Stapleford made a pass half-way through the race, going on to chase down the eventual race winner Rhys Irwin. The duo made a gap at the front with Ben finishing his race in third, 3.4s down the road but also 3.5s clear of fourth place finisher Tom Toparis.
Ben’s podium finish sees him move up into second in the Supersport championship, just nine points behind Luke Stapleford.
Ben Currie (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #61)
“I thought I could have been in for the chance of a victory there, and to fight for it at least in the last lap. But about middle race distance it just started getting physically quite hard for me to hang onto the guys at the front.
I feel like the package was pretty much there this weekend, but maybe I’m just not quite getting the maximum out of it. But it’s still early days on the project so I'm just trying to understand things a little bit more.
The team’s done an awesome job to give me a Ducati this weekend that worked around this little nadgery circuit. I was a bit apprehensive coming here this weekend, figured it might be a bit tough against the Suzukis and Kawasakis. But we’re on the box here and we can go home smiling. And we've got some really strong tracks coming up.
I just want to say a huge thanks to all my team, the guys, John F Hunt, Ambipar, everybody that sponsors me on my helmet and leathers, everyone that supports me behind the scenes. Thanks very much and roll on Snetterton!”
Strong finishes for Christian Iddon and Ben Currie at Knockhill after closing their opening races in fifth and fourth respectively
Christian and Ben both get their weekends off to a strong start in Scotland
Superbike
Christian was showing good pace through his Free Practice sessions at Knockhill but that wasn’t fairly reflected in qualifying and he lined up on the Superbike grid on the Oxford Products Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R this afternoon in twelfth.
He made up a position on his opening lap, and by Lap 3 had climbed a couple more places to ninth. Half-way through the 20-lap BikeSocial Sprint race Christian was up to seventh, albeit gifted one of those places after Charlie Nesbitt crashed out unhurt.
Ryan Vickers took that position from Christian a few laps later but as the race came to its conclusion Christian had already got that place back. He went on to pass Leon Haslam into Taylors on the penultimate lap, going on to match his previous and best performance of the season to date in fifth.
Christian’s best lap time of 47.652 will see him line up for the first of his two 30-lap races at 1:35pm tomorrow on the third row of the grid in eighth.
Supersport
Ben Currie got his weekend off to a fantastic start at Knockhill after topping the free practice combined classifications in first place. A front row start looked to be on the cards, but Ben ended up qualifying in fifth place for the opening Sprint race on Saturday.
Ben held his position for the first half of the 20-lap race, with the top five riders creating a gap ahead of the rest of the field, eventually splitting into two groups themselves.
Lap 11 saw Ben pass Jamie Perrin to move up into fourth, and he went on to take the chequered flag on the Panigale V2 in that same position with a healthy 2.5s gap.
Ben lines up for tomorrow’s Supersport 26-lap race in fifth once again, with his race scheduled to start at 3:45pm.
Iain Hopcroft – Team Manager
“Both riders worked well through practises. During Christian’s practises we were second and fourth for a while, but qualifying didn't come to fruition or reflect the hard work he had put in. But everybody was so close, the top 18 were split by something like 0.75s so very little movement or error made a big difference in the starting grid position. But Christian seemed to make that up with very good pace throughout the race.
Christian starts P8 tomorrow putting us a notch up on the grid and that will give us a chance of getting away with the guys at the front and staying with them because our pace was the same as those front guys, we just weren’t right there. in today’s race.
With Ben we’ve got some things to work on. We’ve tried some different setups over the weekend so far, electronically and suspension wise. We will do some more adjustments in preperation for tomorrow's race to give him the advantage in the place that he’s lacking, and then we have another go!”
A sick Christian Iddon takes a brilliant ninth and fifth as the team make great progress at Donington
“Christian was very ill in the race and the last race he did an amazing job to come through from starting row five on the grid to fifth and in sight of the podium, particularly being very ill twice in the race including all over our motorcycle and his leathers. But that's washable, so we’re happy enough, and we’ve made massive progress. I can’t thank the team enough.”
The Oxford Products Ducati Team made massive progress at Donington this weekend, despite luck not going the team’s way. Some technical issues were fixed on the Friday and Christian Iddon had made a brilliant start to yesterday’s race, only to be taken out by another rider.
The lost lap times resulted saw Christian line up 15th place for the first of the two races today. But Christian had more than the poor grid slot to contend with. He fell ill during the night so badly that the team considered pulling him from the races. But he was determined to make it onto the grid and went out and scored a top ten finish coming home in ninth.
A short rest and he was back out again for the final race of the weekend, once again starting from 15th. But this time he went even better, battling with the group of riders out at the front and finishing in fifth, and only five seconds down the road from the winner, and with a podium finish in sight.
Steve ‘Wilf’ Moore
Oxford Products Racing Ducati – Team Owner / Crew Chief
“Bit of a weekend of testing the team, certainly. More technical issues, that I can happily report we finally fixed on Friday. Set us on the back foot a little bit. And then Christian got taken out in the race yesterday, had an accident, a racing incident, whatever you want to call it, but didn't finish the race. Lacked the data we needed for the race today and then unfortunately overnight Christian got very ill.
We’ve been to the medical centre. They've been amazing and helped him out with some drugs and tried to get some fluids into him. But he had one hour sleep last night and was very ill. We almost pulled him from the race today, but he was insisting to ride in Warm Up where we tried the SC0 tyre.
Christian was very ill in the race and the last race he did an amazing job to come through from starting row five on the grid to fifth and in sight of the podium, particularly being very ill twice in the race including all over our motorcycle and his leathers. But that's washable, so we’re happy enough, and we’ve made massive progress. I can’t thank the team enough.”
Ben Currie leaves Donington on a high after taking second in Sunday’s Supersport race
Ben Currie scored his best result of the season at Donington Park this weekend. Although it may have had a low point, there were so many positives to take away, along with some silverware to boot.
Ben Currie scored his best result of the season at Donington Park this weekend. Although it may have had a low point, there were so many positives to take away, along with some silverware to boot.
Ben starting the weekend off in style, topping the first Free Practice session, and was in the top two of every subsequent session. He went on to start his first race on Saturday from the front row of the grid in second place, getting a great start to take the holeshot and race lead.
But hopes of a first victory with the Oxford Products Racing Ducati Panigale V2 were dashed after he crashed out whilst leading the final lap of the race.
However, Ben put Saturday’s result behind him to perform brilliant in Sunday's race. He once again got the holeshot from second on the grid and led for the first third of the race. He held onto second for the remainder, taking the chequered flag in that same position to the delight of the team, marking his best result of the season to date as he continues to improve.
Ben Currie (Oxford Products Racing Ducati #61)
“Absolutely over the moon with the weekend, we worked really well. It's been our best weekend so far. We've been taking steps every weekend now and we're in the top two of every session. Finished off the weekend with solid P2.
Overall, I didn’t have the pace to go with the leader but we’re slowly getting there and working it out as a team. I can feel myself with full of confidence, same with the team. The boys did fantastic, and we can keep this moment rolling into Knockhill.
We got a third at Oulton, a second here, and hopefully now we can take that next step to the top step, and keep the ball rolling for the rest of the year.”
A day to forget at Donington
Luck was certainly not on the team’s side today, with Ben Currie crashing out from the lead on the last lap of the Supersport race. Christian Iddon had made great progress in his last Free Practice session, and his Superbike got off to a brilliant start before ending prematurely after he was taken out by another rider early on.
Luck was certainly not on the team’s side today, with Ben Currie crashing out from the lead on the last lap of the Supersport race. Christian Iddon had made great progress in his last Free Practice session, and his Superbike got off to a brilliant start before ending prematurely after he was taken out by another rider early on.
Christian Iddon
“We’ve had an issue that’s been nothing to do with the team at all, that’s plagued us since Round One. I actually masked over it at Oulton Park but it’s reared its head again here and destroyed our Friday, and even this Saturday morning. We’ve basically had no laps on the bike. Up until today I'd done six laps in total where the bike hadn’t stopped. As much as I’ve done a lot of laps around Donington Park I’ve got no reference, as it’s been resurfaced, and I still need to get up to speed.
We got the bike working for Free Practice 4 and that ten-minute session was our first real session and to be fair, felt pretty good you know. Considering how little time we got, the session was really good and I felt good. I just went out with a group of riders in FP4 and I thought, I can hang with these boys, it’s alright!
Qualifying went reasonably well. I know I made a few mistakes, so it could have been a little bit more. Row Three is nothing to shout about, but considering the weekend we’d had it was all right.
And I got an alright start in the race. Just hung tight on the first corner and had a good first lap. I think I managed to jump two, and then pass three. I made a mistake myself on the hairpin on the first lap. Just been struggling there in the last point. Really strong on the way in and then struggling in the mid-point. I lost the front on the first lap and had to save it with a bit of throttle and lost the rear and nearly went down, but didn’t.
Bridewell and Glenn passed me on the other Ducatis. But I was content with that. I know they have great pace and it’s always quite good to ride with the bikes that you’re on. So, I thought ‘this is good’, because I need to learn, as I’ve not done the laps yet.
But the next lap at the hairpin another rider came up the inside of me. He said he lost the front. It is what it is. But the result for me is that I’ve again got no data and still not done more than five laps in a row. Tomorrow's races are longer, and we've got no idea how we're going to fare because tyre degradation on this new surface has been a big thing.
It becomes hard for a rider when you’re not fully up to speed because you don’t flow, and then you tend to hurt the tyre and bike a bit more as well. With no lap time in, in puts us further back on the grid and into the lion’s den a little bit more. I'm just upset for all the team and everyone's hard work. We just don't seem to be able to get this season going. But big pats on the back to everyone for putting such a good bike underneath me in such a short time.”
Ben Currie and Oxford Products Racing Ducati score their maiden British Supersport podium at Oulton Park
“The Oxford Products Racing Ducati V2 was just awesome out there. We can take this result and use it for confidence for the rest of the season and try and keep this ball rolling.”
Bank holiday Monday saw a great result for the team after Ben stepped onto the box in the Quattro Group British Supersport feature race.
Starting from fifth on the grid, Ben was down a couple of positions as the opening lap got underway but was soon back into fifth. He passed Luke Jones for fourth on Lap 3, before passing Rhys Irwin for third on the following lap.
Half-way through the 18-lap race Ben was up to second, and by Lap 10 he was leading the race. But a couple of laps later backmarkers came into play, with Ben dropping back to second.
The race was all set for a dramatic conclusion, with Luke Stapleford, Richard Cooper, and Ben in close formation. Ben was unable to make a last-lap lunge into Lodge Corner, but his third-place finish position saw the first Panigale V2 podium for him and the team in British Supersport.
Ben now moves up to third in the championship, just two points from the top of the table.
Ben Currie
Oxford Products Racing Ducati #61 – 3rd
“It’s fantastic to get on the box finally this weekend. We feel like we deserved one this weekend and we got there. It was a huge turnaround from Silverstone. We had the pace all weekend to challenge for the win.
What a race that was. Very, very difficult, hard on the body. Very physical and massive battle with seven guys. Really enjoyable. The Oxford Products Racing Ducati V2 was just awesome out there. We can take this result and use it for confidence for the rest of the season and try and keep this ball rolling. We’re getting closer and closer. Not quite where we want to be exactly, but we are really close, and I am really enjoying the challenge so let’s keep rolling on for Donington Park.
Iain Hopcroft, Team Manager
“We progressed over the weekend. We had a little trip into the gravel on Sunday, but Ben made up very good ground on Monday’s race. Thought we were going to inch a win but ended up third. But extremely happy with him, and both riders, for the weekend. Lots to improve on, lots to learn, and lots of data to chew through for the tech guys. We’re looking forward to Donington Park which is another really good circuit for both Ben and Christian to get their teeth into and they both have very good history there.”