Karl Harris qualified his Rob Mac Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 on the front spot of the second row for round 7 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park, and looked all set for another strong race finish as he went in search of that elusive podium finish.
The weekend had began on a high for the Rob Mac Racing team with Karl dominating the free practice sessions on Friday. Running a blistering pace at the head of the field, Karl demonstrated the full extent of the capabilities of the pairing of ‘The Bomber” and the Iveco Yamaha YZF-R1.
Race 1 was declared wet before the grid lined up despite the dry track conditions. A result of the changeable weather conditions that plagued the proceedings all weekend, they looked set to besiege drama on the race. With the majority of the riders opting for a full Pirelli slick choice it was truly a race against time.
Karl got away with the leading pack, chasing down Leon Haslam ahead of him in forth position. As the gap behind him grew in the opening laps, Harris continued to pressure for the positions ahead. Championship leader Byrne was playing catch up from a poor start having chipped away at the gap to the leaders, by lap nine the gap was closing and Byrne was less than a second behind. As Harris went to make a move on Haslam into Shell Oils on the next lap he ran a little high up the cambered corner, Byrne made his move underneath him, the pair clashed leaving Harris falling uninjured to the tarmac. Although the incident caught the eye of the Race Director, the investigation that followed resulted in ‘a racing incident’ as a final verdict.
With it all to prove in Race 2 Karl was reliant on another good start to get away with the leaders, however it was not to be. Caught up in the riders around him as they thundered into turn one, Karl had his work cut out having crossed the line in 11th on the first time of passing. A gallant effort saw Karl put his head down to move up the order, picking off places lap by lap, elevating himself into 7th position by lap five. Michael Laverty occupied the track ahead but with over a second gap Karl had more work to do. With the gap narrowed to a few tenths disaster struck as Karl began to rapidly lose grip in the rear of his Yamaha.
As the following riders took the opportunity to catch the now struggling Harris, it was very apparent that his race was over, eventually losing out some of the valuable places that he’d worked so hard to make up to finish in a bitterly disappointing 9th.
The team now move on to Round 8 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Knockhill in Scotland on 8-10th August.
Karl Harris:“I’m almost speechless. What a dramatic turn around to my weekend. Yet again I seem to be faced with some of the worst luck out there. Race 1 saw Shakey put in a very ambitious move, which resulted in me falling off, luckily I was unhurt but never the less, I didn’t get to prove my worth. I was making progress in Race 2 but struggling with a bit of grip, by mid race I had nothing and my race was over.”
Rob McElena, Team Principal: “We are bitterly disappointed. From being the fastest on Friday our weekend has turned itself on it’s head. We really thought it was our weekend. Race 1 was just our luck this season, and the less said about that the better. Karl had no grip in Race 2 and we are left with our hopes shattered again. We had a really positive test at Knockhill earlier in the year so lets hope that Lady Luck follows us up to Scotland for the next round.”
Race 1 Results:1) Sykes (Suzuki)
2) J.Ellison (Honda)
3) Byrne (Ducati)
4) Haslam (Honda)
5) Andrews (Yamaha)
DNF -Karl Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha)Race 2 Results:1) Sykes (Suzuki)
2) Crutchlow (Honda)
3) Byrne (Ducati)
4) Haslam (Honda)
5) J.Ellison (Honda)
9) Karl Harris (Rob Mac Racing Yamaha) Championship Standings:1) Byrne - 312
2) Crutchlow - 213
3) Sykes - 176
4) Haslam - 174
5) Camier - 160
14) Karl Harris - 44
