It was a tough weekend for the T3 Racing duo of Luke Jones and Alex Olsen at Cadwell Park as despite strong showings in the opening British Supersport race, both riders were taken out before being able to complete a lap in Monday’s action-packed Feature race.
Despite having to miss the second free practice session, considerably reducing Acumens/Ace sponsored Luke Jones’ set-up time around the tricky and incredibly physical Cadwell Park circuit, he was still able to secure a strong eighth place in qualifying. In the British Supersport EVO category, PPR/T3’s Alex Olsen continued his dominance of the class by qualifying top EVO machine and 13th overall.
In the opening ‘Sprint’ race of the weekend, Luke Jones was able to immediately grab some places on the opening laps to run sixth. With the Cadwell Park circuit being notorious for being hard to pass at, Luke was caught behind the Yamaha of Alastair Seeley for a number of laps, allowing the leaders to break away. Eventually passing the former British Supersport Champion, Luke secured a strong fifth place at the chequered flag. In the EVO class the Alex showed his imperious form once again to finish twelfth overall to claim his tenth class victory of the year.
Unfortunately in the main ‘Feature’ race, which was held in incredibly challenging and wet conditions, both riders were taken out by other riders on the opening lap, ending any chance for a repeat performance.
Speaking after the weekend, Luke Jones said; “Throughout the weekend we looking for a slightly different set-up to deal with some turning issues particularly in the chicane. It wasn’t a big issue but with every race being so close in the Supersport class, it was enough to prevent us from being able to run with the front guys. The first race was tough, I got a good start and was able to pick up a few places but I just got a little caught up mid-race which meant I wasn’t able to close up to the leading guys.
Conditions were pretty bad in the second race but I was keen to get away up the front to lessen any potential of visibility issues. Despite starting from the third row I was up to fifth halfway round the opening lap before I was suddenly got taken out. Thankfully I didn’t do any further damage to my hand, but it’s gutting. I guess we have to walk away from Cadwell Park with the points we have but that was an expensive crash in terms of my Championship standing.”
Alex Olsen commented “It was a shame to hear about David Allington and Danny Webb having injured themselves recently, just when things were really hotting up and I wish them both a speedy recovery. The weekend went well, at least to a point. I’m really enjoying the bike, my team and the consistency of the results. To chalk up another win the opening race was brilliant but it’s gutting to have been taken out in the second race – I feel sorry for Luke as he was on it, thankfully I have enough points in the bank that it’s not really affected my Championship challenge.
We’ve only got a few rounds left of the season and I know I will feel a lot happier if I can nail this Championship, if that was to happen then I could let my hair down a little and see if I can push the envelope – I’d be interested to see where I can go with this bike!”
T3 Racing owner Tony Scott said, “It was certainly a disappointing end to the weekend for the team as we were confident Luke would be able to challenge for the win while Alex looked set to repeat his earlier victory. That aside, it was a strong showing once again from the T3 team. Despite some set-up troubles Luke was able to battle through and score some good points in the opening race while Alex continues his incredible dominance in the EVO class.
We’ll now move onto Donington Park where I’m confident Luke and Alex will once again be challenging for top honours in their respective classes while we are also looking forward to welcoming Aleix Aulestia back to the team, following his recently successful arm pump surgery.”