Young Australian Brendan Roberts once again dominated proceedings at the weekend, 21st - 23rd July at Oulton Park. Roberts took his fifth race win of the season in the ultra competitive National Superstock Championship. The 21-year-old not only took the race win but in doing so he also broke the lap record and set Pole Position for the race, his first this season.
It was a perfect weekend for the likeable Aussie as he extended his lead in the Championship to 71-points from his nearest rival Ian Hutchinson. He took his third race win on the trot in glorious weather conditions in front of a bumper crowd who had turned out for the event at the picturesque 2.7-mile circuit.
Roberts was unable to take advantage of his pole position in the race and ended up in third place into the first corner behind Ian Hutchinson and Tristan Palmer. Running in hot at Shell corner saw him drop another place to Marshall Neill. As the pack settled into a rhythm it was not long before Roberts was manoeuvring himself through the pack and was soon back at the front by lap three.
As the 15-lap race progressed Roberts began to pull a healthy gap between him and second place man Hutchinson. By lap ten this was a 2.3-second lead, an incident at Island Bend forced the safety car out on circuit and it was soon set to be a three-lap dash to the chequered flag. As the car pulled in Roberts once again got his head down and managed to gain an outstanding 1.9 second advantage on his first flying lap, then on the penultimate lap his relentless pace saw him set a new lap record as he confidently took his fifth win of the season.
An elated Roberts commented " What an awesome feeling, I knew I didn’t need to take risks out there today but it all seemed so easy. When the safety car came out I got a little nervous as I had relaxed just enough and I wasn’t sure if my tyres would handle the pace needed to keep the pack behind me, but when it was time I was focused on what I had to do and concentrated on making no mistakes, and to top it off with a new lap record right at the end was mega! "
Roberts will next be out on track at the World Superbike Round at Brands Hatch, 4th - 6th August, competing in the European Superstock Championship.
National Superstock Race Result:1, Brendan Roberts
2, Ian Hutchinson
3, Luke Quigley
4, Hudson Kennaugh
5, Adrian Coates
6, Marshall Neill
Overall Championship Standings:1, Brendan Roberts 171
2, Ian Hutchinson 100
3, Aaron Zanotti 95
4, John Laverty 90
5, Luke Quigley 81
Related Linkswww.brendan-roberts.com
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