The fast and flowing Cheshire circuit is popular with the riders, particularly current Supersport record owner, Paul Young. If pleasing his large throng of English fans and local sponsors wasn't enough; this weekend had an added family touch. Melbourne businessman and long time supporter Brenton Golding, owner of famous scooter emporium ScooterMarket as well as Paul's sister Simone were on hand to see what all the fuss was about, having both made the long journey from Australia to cheer him on… He didn’t disappoint!

Points and silverware for bravery may well have been handed out prior to proceedings, with Dienza's Dean Thomas back from painful injuries suffered three days earlier, again preparing for battle.  ‘The shoulder was still sore on Wednesday and it wasn’t until Thursday that I decided to let Enzo, my team manager know that I’d have a go. If I didn’t have to ride until Sunday Id be okay’, laughed the gritty New South Welshman.

Glen Richards was also there chasing more impressive results after a Cadwell weekend that saw him fail to finish one race due to a broken valve in his Hawk Kawasaki.

As well as the usual Aussies fighting tooth and nail in the British series, two others prepared to join the fray.   Nigel Arnold, defecting from the World Supersport paddock, raced in Superstock, while Bathurst star Jay Taylor was at Oulton to check out the Supersport action as he plans to be amongst it at Mallory in two weeks time.

Damian Cudlin and Jason Boyle swapped roles for Oulton. Roles that saw one ride and the other sit out the Cadwell race. This time it was the Taree teenager who missed out due to his machine being unready.

QUALIFYING

MonsterMob man Steve Hislop was out of the blocks quickest and eager to demoralise the opposition, setting times well under the lap record.

It was the usual suspects that followed, but for the Hawk Kawasaki of Richards. Glen had decided to come in for a qualifying tyre late in the first session, and it had paid off with 6th fastest. The second session was a slower exercise in tyre testing, but a blinding lap during Superpole landed the popular Aussie one spot off the front row.  ‘I’m really happy with that’, he proclaimed, later adding ‘It’s going to be two races out there tomorrow. The three Dukes and maybe John Reynolds with hopefully me leading the next pack.’

Thomas aimed to be in the top eight and things started well. He was another to benefit from the luxury of having sticky qualifying rubber and clocked the 5th fastest time after the two lengthy sessions. However Superpole saw him succumb to the old adage ‘trying too hard makes you go slower’, and his over exuberance left him and the Phones4U team 13th on the grid for Sunday. ‘I could see the front row and just tried too hard. It felt fast, but when I saw the time I nearly died. We’ve a good race set-up though, I’m just having difficulty hanging on through the twisty stuff and when I need to stand on the pegs to stop it sliding I can’t’ he grimaced.'

Paul Young picked up where he left off from Cadwell and with a bike fastest in early speed traps, he just needed a pair of similarly great tyres to help him do the job. A crash during one session, a result of running faulty qualifying tyres, didn’t dampen the spirits and by the end of the day he’d managed to slam the privately entered Suzuki onto the second row in front of title contender Sean Emmett.  ‘I’m happy to have moved up a row but I thought I’d stuffed that lap up’ he commented after his Superpole dash. ‘I had to back off over the hill after a scary moment, but the rest of the lap was perfect.'

Nigel Arnold, riding for Team Discovery Racing, began the weekend carefully. ‘Ive just had a chat to Youngy, and I have a few ideas on gearing now’ he said happily after the morning session. As the day progressed, it was evident that his time in World Championship racing had done him favours as he went on to post the 10th fastest time. ‘Im the only one running Michelin tyres, so there are no settings to compare. I hope I’m leading the second bunch as I understand the top three have been clearing off all year.’

The Europcar Yamaha of Jason Boyle was looking a little worse for wear by the end of Saturday. An argument with the gravel trap at the tricky Lodge corner ended with the gravel winning and subsequently ending Jason’s chance to move up the pecking order, although early showings had been promising.  ‘I was being held up early in the session by slower riders so I backed off to give myself some room. I started to push again and the lap felt fast, but unfortunately I needed to finish it to get a good time’, mused the battered plumber from Sydney who had the unenviable task of rebuilding an R6.

New Zealander Simon Crafar qualified 9th in the Supers with a time 3 seconds quicker than he and the same bike had produced earlier in the year. There was definitely something in the air at Oulton and with most riders qualifying well beneath previous bests, Sunday was shaping up to be a cracker.

SUPERSTOCK RACE

The first race of the day was for the Superstock boys and perhaps only Dean Thomas, being the bravest man around, might have backed anyone other than Dave Jefferies to win.  Nigel got away well and was holding station in 10th when the race was red flagged due to an incident on the back of the circuit. Soon after the restart, the leading three of Jefferies, Crockford and Burns had built a gap on the rest and with Nige back in 12th he wasn’t about to upset the bookies. He eventually crashed the big Suzuki while the race was won by no other than burly Dave Jefferies.  ‘We tried too much with the bike and went backwards. In the race, the bike found neutral as I tipped in and you know what happens then’, he said whilst animating a trip through the hay bales with his hands.

SUPERBIKE - RACE 1

No prizes for guessing that the early running in both races would be a Ducati affair. The two Renegade bikes and the flying Haggis, Steve Hislop of MonsterMob Ducati had it all their own way in Race one, with the Scotsman taking the victory and extending his title lead over Yamahas Sean Emmett. John Reynolds and his Rizla Suzuki had run with the leaders to begin with, but an excursion saw him rejoin further down to win the scrap with Thomas and Emmett for minor places. Dean eventually rounded out the top 10 ahead of the Grafters Recruitment/ Pirelli of Paul Young with Emmett 9th.

'I can follow and stay with them but when I am forced to steer under or past anyone, I'm just not strong enough,’ said a frustrated and sore Dean post race.

Glen Richards continued to quell the rumours that Kawasakis once brilliant 750RR is ready for the cannery by finishing 6th, merely half a second adrift of Plater in 4th. ‘That was hard’ puffed Richards. ‘When I'm up and going the bike is fast, its just the initial jump out of the corners where I struggle.'

The normally laid back Crafar managed to remount and finish 17th after crashing, but was understandably unpleased when approached afterwards. He had been pushing for a top 4 place prior to the mishap.

SUPERSPORT RACE

Fingers were crossed that all would be well with the Europcar liveried R6 of Jason Boyle come the commencement of the Supersport battle.
An arrangement to abide by local church guidelines means that racing at Oulton begins after lunch and no engines are permitted prior to then. The suspense was over when Jason lined up on the grid after completing the assigned sighting lap.

All eyes were on the enthralling battle between championship leader Stuart Easton on the MonsterMob 748 and last round victor Michael Laverty riding the Millar Honda. Jason further back in the field did not look comfortable. He finished out of the points and it was later revealed that severe arm pump had nearly caused him to let go of the bike at over 200kmh. ‘I got a bad start and then just struggled to hold onto the bike’ he complained as he produced his swollen arms for my perusal.

Easton held off the late advances of Laverty completing a good day thus far for the MonsterMob team and propelling himself closer to his first British title.

It was up to Hislop now to make it a double and a clean sweep for him and the team.

SUPERBIKE - RACE 2

The heat was sweltering at the start of the second Superbike event and I wasted valuable tanning time to stand amongst the brolly dollies and paparazzi on pit lane. I didn’t mind though, as I was lucky enough to witness the most compelling race of the year so far, and to see Youngy produce his best result this season.

During the opening laps Paul slid his way into 7th and was out after the leading bunch. With a fire breathing pack behind him, he must have been wondering what was to happen next. Predictably, those with better tyres went by, but Young was not done yet.

Meanwhile Richards was 5th and storming to what might have been his best finish of the year had he caught Crafar. A broken exhaust ended his day and he was naturally annoyed, ‘Im trying to stay calm, but its hard when I was catching Simon and he ended up on the box’.

‘On the box’ was indeed where Crafar stood by the end, along with John Reynolds and team mate Plater, who had inherited the win after the early leaders had one by one succumbed to bike problems. First Rutter, then Byrne on the second of the Renegade Testastrettas and then Hislop.

Dean Thomas and the Phones4U Ducati also benefited through attrition and took a safe 8th ahead of the hard riding Young, who was entertaining the growing crowd at Lodge corner that had gathered to awe at his sideways antics.

Youngy was happy but laid back as always when appraising his best result of the campaign. ‘It shows that we are getting some better tyres now and that we can bounce back from a crash with great results like that’.

Mallory Park is the next round and not only is it home to both Glen Richards and Paul Young, but six Australians having won five Australian and two British championships between them will be in action. It's shaping up to be the round of the year.