Beech hit by brake anguish

Ashley Beech

MOTORCYCLING
A WEEK after recording his best result so far in the 2014 National Superstock Championship of 19th, Moorside’s Ashley Beech headed to Oulton Park for round seven with high hopes.

After suffering misfortune all season, Team JD Racing had a huge lift of confidence when Beech was handed the Pirelli Merit Award for his stunning ride at Thruxton, where he overtook 12 riders during the 14-lap race.

His reward was a new set of Pirelli tyres, which was a tremendous fillip for a team running on such a tight budget.

However, aspirations of another good finish were dashed because of a problem with his brakes.

As this was their second visit to the circuit in the heart of Cheshire, JD Racing already had a base set-up for their Kawasaki ZX-10R race bike.

After the first qualifying session only minor adjustments were required to the front suspension, which was causing the rear tyre to lose grip and slow the exit speed out of corners.

Beech was holding 18th place in qualifying when he came into the pits for new tyres and with less than five minutes of the session remaining, he returned to the track and put in his best lap time of the weekend.

It clinched him 12th place in qualifying, with a start from row four on the grid.

The race was due to be held on Sunday but, with high winds and torrential rain forecast, the organisers decided to hold the Superstock event on Saturday afternoon to avoid disruption to the TV schedule of the feature British Superbike races.

Beech made a good start, but after just two laps he became aware of a problem with his front brakes and he started to drop down the field.

He passed the other riders along the straights, but he lost out on the braking points into corners.

By lap eight of the 14-lap race the problem was so bad he was forced to retire for safety reasons.

Despite his best qualifying of the season it seems the run of bad luck continues for Beech and his team.

The next round is at Cadwell Park on Bank Holiday Monday, August 25.