Beech blighted by power failure

TEAM JD Racing ace Ashley Beech suffered an early retirement at Oulton Park.

ASHLEY Beech retired two laps into the latest round of the National Superstock 1000 Championship at Oulton Park.

The Moorside rider pulled into the pits when his Kawasaki ZX-10R bike suffered a loss of power.

Beech had a big accident at Brands Hatch two weeks earlier when he was struck by a rival at more than 100mph at Paddock Hill Bend, leaving him with a bruised hand and a badly-damaged machine that had to be rebuilt for round two at the tight and twisty 2.7 mile Cheshire circuit.

The weekend started with a 25-minute qualifying session and after two laps Beech was in the pits for a visual check for any minor rebuild problems.

Beech returned to the track but felt the bike lacked power, later confirmed on a rolling road. A broken fuel pump was replaced but the following day’s warm-up session on race day showed there was little improvement in power output.

Final adjustments were made to the fuel injection system, but by the end of the first lap there was still a power problem and the disappointed rider retired.

The next round is at Snetterton on June 15.