Quigley Struggles to get to grips with Thruxton
Formwise/Astro Suzuki rider Luke Quigley had a weekend to forget at Round 2 of
the British Superstock Championship held at Thruxton. Quigley was hounded by a
lack of grip throughout the weekend
and finished in a disappointing 22nd place.
Having rode through rear-end grip problems in the impressive opening round
display at Brands Hatch; Quigley was expecting the issues to be exacerbated
around the fast and bumpy Hampshire circuit.
With a high percentage of the lap spent cranked over, at full throttle, the
bumpy track exposes any handling issues. It was apparent during practice that
Quigley's Suzuki GSX-R1000 was proving difficult to ride. The rear tyre was
sliding around and costing Quigley precious seconds.
The Formwise/Astro Suzuki team made a series of changes to the bike over the
course of the two qualifying sessions, in search of improvements. Quigley
managed to make some progress and qualified 14th on the grid.
Race day saw the best weather of the weekend, and track temperatures were high,
only adding to Quigley's problems. After a steady start, Quigley began to move
up through the field. By mid race Quigley was running in 12th position. But the
longer the race went on, and the older the tyres got; the more the bike began to
slide around. As the tyres begin to slide the problem only begins to worsen as
tyre wear increases and reduces the grip yet further. Quigley was unable to
prevent himself sliding back down the order and eventually finished out of the
points in 22nd.
Quigley commented: "It was a really disappointing weekend, we never really got
going. We couldn't find a set-up to make the bike work, we tried numerous
alterations to the chassis, but nothing seemed to help. It's something we will
have to have a look at before we move on to the next round."
Quigley has dropped to 10th in the overall standings as the championship moves on to
Oulton Park in two weeks time.
Sam Farrington
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