Pearce wins shoot-out to qualify for feature race
Despite crashing out of Round 6 of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship on Sunday, Victor Cox came away from a wet and windy Knockhill with a strong foundation upon which to build for the next round at Snetterton in just under two weeks time.
The 24 year old from Trowbridge has been drafted in as a replacement for the injured Conor Cummins
and is determined to make the most of his opportunity on board the formidable Ninja ZX-10R. After
performing admirably in the earlier rounds on different machinery, free practice at Knockhill on Friday morning was a 'getting to know you period' for Victor and the Kawasaki, however he still managed to finish in 16th place.
The action began in earnest later in the day with the first official practice session and
here Victor finished in 12th place, just 0.73secs behind early pace setter Glen Richards. In Saturday's second session Victor finished in 13th position and again well on the pace to qualify on the fourth row of the grid in 14th.
Sunday morning's warm-up was held in wet conditions and a torrential downpour two laps into the first Superbike race actually caused the race to be red-flagged.
As Victor took his place on the grid for the National Superstock 1000 race, a dry line had emerged on the track, riding strongly and sensibly in the tricky conditions he managed to move up two places to twelfth at the end of the opening lap and
found himself in the middle of a four man dice.
By the conclusion of the next lap Victor had got ahead of Barry Burrell to move into 11th and now had his sights set on James Hillier, Kenny Gilbertson and Howie Mainwaring who were circulating just ahead of him with less than a second covering all four.
However as they arrived at the chicane on the third lap, the conditions almost caught out one of the riders who very nearly high-sided and as Victor took evading action he just clipped the white line and unfortunately parted company with the ZX-10R, thus bringing an end to what was shaping up to be a great performance.
However, Victor has clearly demonstrated throughout the weekend that he is right at home on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.
David Pearce
Metzeler National 600cc Superstock Championship
For the team's other rider David Pearce it was a weekend that showed his obvious talent in the National Superstock 600 class.
On his first visit to Knockhill, David quickly got to grips with the circuit and after qualifying he took his place in the shoot-out race to determine the final grid positions for the feature race. The young rider from the Isle
of Man is developing something of a reputation as a fast starter, a trait from his moto-cross background perhaps, and he quickly raced into a two second lead.
Quickest through Sector Two, he had the bit between his teeth and was looking comfortable out in front when the race was red-flagged. On pole for the re-start, David once again hit the front to lead from start to finish and win by almost half a second from Bruce Winfield to qualify in 27th position for the feature race.
The feature race was a real see-saw affair for David as he slipped to 30th on the third lap but he then began to claw his way back up the standings to eventually finish 24th.
Unfortunately for David the second National Superstock 600 race fell victim to the worsening weather conditions.
Blackhorse Kawasaki team manager Ian Lougher:
"Knockhill certainly threw up its fair share of challenges to say the least, but we all enjoyed the meeting. Victor rode really well throughout the weekend and unfortunately his crash put paid to what could have been a good result for him, more importantly however is that he walked away from the crash perfectly ok. He is a pleasure to work with, fast on the race track but also appreciative and willing to listen to advice. The races to
come can only see him go from strength to strength and we now look forward to Snetterton.
Meanwhile David Pearce continues to impress us all with his ability and determination. To win the shoot-out race was a nice morale booster for the young lad and like Victor he has a great attitude and also a real
enthusiasm for his racing. Very much another rider for the future."
Victor Cox:
"I really enjoyed riding the Blackhorse Kawasaki, the team were great. Every time I rode the Ninja ZX-10R I felt more and more comfortable on it going quicker each time. For the race I felt really good making up positions
but was gutted to have fell off, the conditions were really awkward and they just caught me out coming out of the chicane. The team were great and Richard from Maxtons was great to work with so now I'll be looking
forward to Snetterton on the 18th of this month. Masssive thanks to Ian and all the Blackhorse Kawasaki team."