No silver lining for Beech

MOTORCYCLES: THERE was disappointment for Ashley Beech in the penultimate round of the National Superstock 1000 Championship at Silverstone.

Returning from a four-week break the Moorside ace was forced to retire with mechanical problems.

The iconic Silverstone venue is a mixture of hard-to-master fast straights and tricky corners and Veech’s team had worked hard to create a solid base setting for their race bike. But when a fuel pump failed during practice there began a hunt to find a replacement before final qualifying.

Deprived of valuable track time, the team had no time to test and with intermittent power loss, Beech could manage only a disappointing 16th place on the grid.

After making a strong start, a loss of power by half-distance found him dropping down the field. Though attempts were made to correct the problem, the bike was eventualy retired.

The season finale comes up at Brands Hatch in two weeks.