Quigley Scores Superb Fourth
Luke Quigley claimed an excellent 4th place finish in Round 4 of the British
Superstock Championship at Cadwell Park. A trademark lightning start gave
Quigley great track position and after his most accomplished ride of the season
he was rewarded with a great haul of championship points.
Quigley and his Formwise/Astro Suzuki team began the weekend well as they
continued to make progress with the set-up of the Suzuki GSX-R1000. Free
practice saw Quigley set the seventh best lap time around the 2.18 mile
Lincolnshire circuit.
It was apparent in the first of the two Qualifying sessions how difficult it was
for the riders to get a clear lap on which to set their best time. The Cadwell
Park circuit is famously as narrow as it is undulating, and with 43 riders on
track the traffic was a real issue. Quigley struggled to get the best from his
machine and could only post the 12th best time of the session.
After the second session had been restarted following a red flag, Quigley was
able to find some space and moved himself up to ninth position on combined time.
A stunning start enabled Quigley to make a move up the inside into turn one and
slot into second position. Quigley lost a place to the superior straight-line
speed of Scott Smart's Ducati down the long Park Straight.
On the second lap, Quigley again lost out
to the pole-sitter Tristan Palmer aboard one of the BMW S1000rrs, demoting him
to 4th. As the front three began to ease away, Quigley's consistent laps meant
he was able to comfortably maintain his fourth place. A safety car on lap six
allowed the field to bunch up again.
Once the race was back on, Quigley was again unable to hold onto the tow of the
front three down the long straight, and they began to pull away again. Once
more, consistent and smooth riding enabled Quigley to keep the chasing pack at
arm's length. Even as he began to struggle with arm-pump during the last couple
of laps, Quigley held off all of the attacks to take the flag in a well deserved
4th place, his best finish of the year.
After the race, a jubilant Quigley commented: "That was much better, I am really
pleased with 4th place. The other three were flying and I had no chance of
keeping up with them when they are nearly 5mph faster than us down the
straights. "
"The whole Formwise/Astro Suzuki team are doing a great job, and we have moved
the bike forward from the start of the year. I am now in a position where I can
race for podiums rather than top-tens."
"The start was almost perfect, I just got a great drive into Coppice. Once the
front three got a gap there was no stopping them, but I felt fairly comfortable
in defending 4th. Towards the end my arms were pumping pretty bad, but I was
able to smooth my riding out and maintain the advantage."
Quigley's next outing will be at the new Silverstone GP circuit alongside the best in
the world as a support race at the British MotoGP round in two weeks time.
Sam Farrington
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