Park points for Andrews

3:45pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

A TOUGH weekend at Oulton Park eventually produced British Superbike Championship points in race two for Simon Andrews.

Once again the qualifying was variable due to the weather with the Evesham racer finally qualifying in tenth position.

Race one was stopped just after the first bend with several riders falling due to rain. This allowed the team time to change to full wet tyres but, unfortunately for Andrews, the first race was over before he had completed the first lap.

Having moved up to sixth place off the start, he was accelerating hard with the leading pack when the rear wheel lost traction sending the R1 into a low slide and out of the race.

The second race saw a clutch problem fail to allow Andrews the luxury of settling into a rhythm with the leading group.

"From the start the bike needed nursing around the track because the power that the R1 produces requires a smooth delivery," he admitted.

Overtaken "I had just overtaken Karl Harris and my tyre choice was starting to work really well. However, the problem continued and I was seriously considering pulling into the pits when the race was red-flagged.

"I had no idea what had happened at the front but could see the medics out at Lodge so I was lucky to complete the race."

Race two was full of thrills and spills with a rare disqualification being handed out to Factory rider Leon Haslam.

This moved Andrews up one place to seventh in the second race which brought him up to tenth overall and once again top Yamaha.

Keep updated with his daily blog on race weekends at www.si-andrews.com.