MOTORSPORT: CRAIG Jones was involved in some of the most spectacular racing of the British Supersport season at the weekend.
He finished ninth in a thrilling race at Oulton Park, where two years ago he suffered a horrendous crash.
Series leader Karl Harris romped to yet another convincing victory ahead of second-placed Stuart Easton, but the following pack proceeded to fight tooth and nail for the remaining positions.
Triumph ValMoto rider Jones was in the thick of the action as an eight-bike freight train bashed fairings around the 2.69-mile circuit. The 18-year-old from Greenbank showed total commitment throughout. However, mounted on his second-choice bike, he had to work hard to stay in the fight.
'I broke my number-one bike in a silly crash during morning warm-up,' said Jones.
'That was the one that I'd been riding yesterday. It had a new engine fitted into the chassis that I felt most comfortable on and was absolutely mega. The engine was too dirty to risk running in the race, so I went out on my spare. The difference in handling and acceleration was really noticeable and it took me a few laps of the race to get used to riding that bike again.
'I got boxed in at the start and lost out a bit, but once I got into a rhythm, I could run with the pack. I had to push pretty hard though, and I was losing the front at every corner with my foot flying off the peg as I tried to save it on my knee. It was still fairly forgiving and I was getting away with it, but if I'd pushed any harder, I'd have crashed, so I decided to just settle for the points. I was fighting all the way to match the pack for pace, but if I'd been on my number-one bike, I'd have beaten them.'
Jones is 10th overall.
* DANNY Buxton was given permission to sit-out the weekend's 13th and 14th rounds of the ELF Clio Renaultsport UK Cup in order for him to concentrate on his British Touring Car Championship duties.
But his Peugeot 307, alas, let him down. He lasted 11 laps of the first race and just four of the second at Snetteron.
The Lincolnshire-based Boulevard Racing outfit, which currently leads both the entrants' championship and drivers' championship in the Clio Cup, took the decision to allow the 25-year-old from Hartford to miss the double-header rounds, but confirmed he should be back in his team car at Brands Hatch in a fortnight.
He signed a deal with Vic Lee's Team Halfords at last month's Croft meeting of the TOCA Tour and rather than bring to a close his attempt at winning a second ELF Clio Renaultsport UK Cup title, he opted to contest both championships that weekend.
But while thoroughly enjoying his first ever race meeting as a fully-fledged BTCC driver, Buxton did find stepping out of the touring car straight back into his Boulevard-run Clio Cup a tall order and this weekend's timetable means he would face similar difficulties.
