Held Racer Report: Zoek Racing, Oulton Park

ZOEK RACING OULTON PARK

It was a disappointing weekend for Sean Neary at his home circuit of Oulton Park when, despite securing a podium finish in the first race, he was forced out with a technical issue in the second 10 lap affair on Monday in round three of the Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup at the Cheshire circuit. His Zoek Racing teammate Craig Currie from Newark fared much better securing two strong points finishes in the two races over the weekend.

Zoek racing's Sean Neary

Starting the first race on Sunday from a second row grid position Neary from nearby Lymm was eighth on lap one and began to make his way forward but a rider crashed on oil at Hizzy’s chicane resulting in a number of riders following suite. Luckily neither Zoek Racing rider was involved and they took their place on the grid for the restart. This time Neary got a good start and moved up into fourth place on lap two and up into third on the fourth and penultimate lap. He held his position to cross the finish line in third place to pick up

16 championship points and a place on the podium.

He said: "Great work by the Zoek Racing Team today with third place. It's been a tough start to the season but nice to get back on the podium.  This was my first race on the Maxton Suspension and can't thank them enough for all the support. Great result for Craig and both bikes in top 10. Roll on tomorrow."

Zoek racing's Sean Neary on the podium

Starting the second race from a front row grid position Neary was shuffled back a place at Old Hall Bend but moved back into third place at the end of the first lap. He fell back into the clutches of Phil Atkinson and Levi Day who both managed to make their move at Shell Oils on lap five. But Day fell back with a problem and Neary passed Atkinson to retake his third place. But on lap six his Ducati suffered a problem which forced him to retire to the pits at the end of the lap, his race over.

Neary leaves Oulton Park in 10th place in the overall rider standings on 29 points which is not where he wanted to be and he said: "The bike began to cause me problems from as early as lap two and that is why I began to drop back.  Although the technical gremlins kicked in I did try to finish the race to get a few points but it just became unmanageable and I had to pull in.

Meanwhile Craig Currie started the first encounter from the fifth row and made good progress up to 11th on the first lap. He was running in 10th place when the red flag brought the action to a halt and at the restart he got a good start and moved straight into eighth place and held station to the chequered flag at the end of the five lap affair to pick up eight championship points.

Craig Currie- a good 8th place in race 1

Starting the second race from the third row Currie again got a flying start, moving up to ninth place on the first lap. But in the final laps he was reeled in by Mark Cheetham and Louis Dawson and crossed the finish line in 12th place to earn a further four championship points bringing his total to 33 and moving him up to eighth in the rider standings after three of eight rounds.

The championship takes an eight week break now to allow for the two major road races, the North West 200 and the Isle of Man TT and they reconvene at Snetterton on July 2.

pic credit Action – Dave Yeoman, podium Bonnie Lane  #10 Sean Neary  #42 Craig Currie

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