Oulton Park – BSB Pirelli Superstock 1000 – G&S Racing & Sam Coventry, Sponsored by Di-Spark World-Class Machining
It was a challenging weekend for the G&S Racing Kawasaki team, Sam Coventry and Di-Spark, as the weather served up all manner of conditions to cope with. Sam Coventry qualified in 21st position.
Come race day, the rain has made it’s mark before the race start, and although the rain had stopped just before the start of the race, the track was still damp. The first decision for Sam and the team was tyre choice – a difficult call given the conditions and the forecast for further precipitation. Most teams and riders went with a dry setup, but as the race got underway the rain began to fall again and the race was red flagged to give the riders a chance to switch to wet weather tyres.
By the time they had reformed to the grid the rain had stopped again, adding to complications. Sam Coventry, Sponsored by Di-Spark, made a gamble with a wet front tyre and dry rear tyre. Sam made the most of the dry surface reaching an impressive 10th place before his rear tyre began to slip due to the wet track and further rain. Sam began to lose places and so pitted on lap five on safety grounds, retiring from the race. Only 22 riders finished out of 39 due to crashes and incidents relating to tyre choice.
Team Manager Mark Fisher – The weather conspired against us today. We were not alone as half the field in both classes chose the wrong tyre. It’s a shame as Sammy was going so well and looked as if he would break into the top 10. The team has worked so hard this weekend so we are all upset but that’s the way it is.
The next round will be at Donington Park on May 28 where both classes will be on track as part of the support to the World Superbike championship event.
