Pirelli National Junior Superstocks

Round two of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park took place this bank holiday weekend. The Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki riders only had the Junior Superstock class this weekend, consisting of Jacob Hatch, Jack Roach, Mikey Hardie and Joe Farragher.

The weather had no idea what it was doing this weekend and the riders were tested in all conditions in most of the sessions.

They had two races this weekend at Oulton Park, Jacob Hatch had a great qualifying session and started on the front row from second. Mikey Hardie was 9^th, Jack Roach was 20^th and Joe Farragher was 22^nd.

The opening race had a small shower beforehand, but most riders went out on dry tyres. Jacob had a great race and was locked in a battle for a podium spot throughout, he managed a fantastic third place. Jack Roach was 10^th, Joe Farragher was 24^th and sadly Mikey Hardie was forced to retire.

For race two on Monday Jacob started from 9^th, Mikey from 13^th, Jack from 15^th and Joe from 28^th. It rained again before their race and was declared a wet race, despite started from 9^th place Jacob got a fantastic start, got his head down and worked his way through the pack to take a fantastic win for the Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki team.

Mikey was unfortunately taken out mid-way through the race through no fault of his own. Joe was 22^nd and Jack finished in 26^th.

Jacob Hatch – “It’s been an awesome weekend for me coming to Oulton I wasn’t massively confident as it’s my least favourite track. To come away with a third and a win is brilliant, some really valuable points in the Championship. Thank you to all the Completely Motorbikes Kawasaki team, my mechanics and all my sponsors, without them it wouldn’t have been possible.”

Mikey Hardie – “The weekend hasn’t been as bad as my results have shown. In race one I was battling for a top 5 and on lap 6 we suffered with a problem meaning I was forced to retire. In race two I had a really good start from 13^th on the grid but unfortunately on lap one I got caught up in another riders crash, which pushed me down to about 17^th. After fighting my way back through the pack another rider collided me and we both crashed out. I was gutted but on the positive side I have shown some really good pace and potential and now I just have to keep training and prepare for Donington in a few weeks.

Jack Roach – “Overall it was a positive weekend the first race was better than the second. I got caught out with the mixed conditions in the second race with the mixed weather conditions and made the wrong tyre choice. I’m looking forward to getting to Donington I’m very excited to get there.”

 Joe Farragher – “it was a really hard weekend; I struggled the whole way through. The second race was better than the first after making lots of progress, but I was struggling in the end with rear grip. We learnt a lot and we’ll go again at Donington.”

The Completely Motorbikes Triumph team had a difficult weekend at round two of the Quattro Plant British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park. Eugene and James McManus will be looking at putting this weekend behind them and moving on quickly to round three at Donington Park.

Eugene ended up qualifying in 15^th place for the opening Sprint race on Sunday. He got a good start and got his head down for the opening laps and was able to make up a few positions to finish in 12^th position at the finish. For race two he was placed 8^th on the grid, he got a good start but sadly got wiped out by another rider on the opening lap as he just had no where to go.

James is still adapting to the ultra-fast and competitive Supersport class after becoming Junior Supersport Champion in 2022. He had a couple of crashes this weekend and it is important now to build his confidence back up and get some results at Donington. Sadly he had two DNFs in the two Supersport races at Oulton Park.

Eugene McManus “Unfortunately this weekend is one to forget about, but I will gather myself up and move on to Donington, we’ll be back fighting strong at the remaining rounds.”

James McManus – “It’s been a really tough weekend, stepping up from Junior Supersport was always going to be a big ask. I’m disappointed but I will move on from this and learn more at the remaining rounds of the season. We will get there; I know we will.”