Reilly Holds On To Lead
Wimbledon's Kelvin Reilly claimed a hard fought fifth place in round 6 of the
KTM RC8 SuperCup at Thruxton. Reilly had looked on for a better finish until
tyre problems left the InMoto Corse rider fighting for every last point. The
result means Reilly still leads the way in the championship standings.
In Qualifying Reilly was left to rue a tactical mistake which cost him a place
on the front row of the grid. After leading the way for the first half of
session, all looked well. As Reilly rejoined the track, following a short pit
stop, he found himself in amongst traffic. Reilly pushed on, to try and clear
the slower riders, but in doing so his lap times suffered. In the end Reilly
just ran out of time to get a clear lap in, and paid the price qualifying only
5th.
Reilly made a steady start to the race, dropping to 6th position on the opening
lap. By the end of lap 2, Reilly had gained two places, before slipping back a
place on lap 3. After fighting for position, Reilly had lost some time on the
leaders. Once settled into fifth, Reilly started to string some quick laps
together, gradually reeling in the front group. As the race went on however,
Reilly began to suffer badly with his rear tyre. With soaring track
temperatures, the tyres were struggling to cope, and Reilly was tearing his to
shreds. As the tyre got worse, Reilly lost grip which only perpetuated the
problem.
Reilly now leads the championship by 31 points going into round 7 at Snetterton
in three weeks time.
Reilly commented after the race:
"I was happy with fifth in the end. After finding my rhythm I was pushing hard
to catch the leading group, but the tyre just started to get worse and worse. By
the end it was sliding about everywhere, and I had to give it everything just to
hold onto what I had."/span>
Sam Farrington
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