Oulton Park frustration but Hemingbrough rider remains title contender

Luca Hopkins heads towards Deer Leap at Oulton Park (Image: Alex Humphries)i>

A young rider from Hemingbrough battled through technical issues and tough racing.

Luca Hopkins competed in the 1pMobile National Junior Sportbike Championship at Oulton Park over the weekend as the rider for Team SBR powered by DKS Direct Drilling.

He arrived at the Cheshire circuit sitting second in the championship following four straight runner-up finishes but encountered difficulties after a setup change following Friday’s free practice.

Hopkins, who had been second fastest in free practice — just under a second behind series leader Marley Mackenzie — qualified seventh, a disappointing result after struggling to find confidence on the bike.

Hopkins said: "It was a frustrating weekend because I felt we had the pace to be fighting for podiums in both races.

"We made a change to the bike after Friday that didn't work, so qualifying put us on the back foot. Going back to Friday's setup made a huge difference and the pace was there from the first race onwards.

"Saturday was disappointing because I felt we deserved more than fourth after the way we fought back through the field.

"Then on Sunday we were right back in the battle for the podium before we developed a problem with the front brake.

"By the time I got to Lodge there was hardly any braking left, and unfortunately that dropped us out of contention."

The team reverted to their Friday setup for Saturday’s opening race, which immediately improved the feel of the bike.

Despite a difficult launch that dropped him to sixth, Hopkins began working his way forward, overtaking Ben Jolliffe and later Laken Payne to move into fourth.

He then became embroiled in a fierce battle with Luca Wilkinson, with the pair trading third position multiple times in the closing laps.

Hopkins briefly took the final podium spot at Lodge on the penultimate lap, but Wilkinson reclaimed third at Old Hall on the last circuit.

Hopkins missed out on the podium by just 0.055 seconds.

In Sunday’s second race, Hopkins was promoted to fourth on the grid after Ryan van Nieuwkerk was forced to start from the pit lane due to a technical issue.

He settled into fifth on the opening lap before overtaking Jolliffe at Lodge to move into third.

A mistake by Payne soon after put Hopkins into second, leaving only Mackenzie ahead.

However, his charge was cut short by a developing front brake issue midway through the race, which eventually sent him into the gravel at Lodge corner on lap six.

He dropped to 14th as a result, but managed to recover to finish 11th by overtaking three riders in the closing laps.

Hopkins said: "It's frustrating because we were in a strong position and had opened up a comfortable gap to the riders behind, but that's racing.

"We've already discussed a few changes ahead of Thruxton to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Huge thanks to everyone at Team SBR powered by DKS Direct Drilling, all of my sponsors and everyone who continues to support me.

"We'll regroup, learn from this weekend and come back stronger at Thruxton."

Despite the setbacks, Hopkins remains third in the championship, level on points with Jolliffe but currently behind on countback.

The next round of the championship takes place at Thruxton from August 14 to 16.