It was a mixed weekend for the T3 Racing team of Luke Jones and Alex Olsen at Oulton Park. After a huge crash in practice, Luke suffered an injury to his hand but was able to battle back to score a sixth and fourth in the Supersport class while Alex overcame early machine trouble to enjoy two third place finishes in the EVO class.
After a strong showing in practice, Acumen Industrial Services/T3 Racing’s Luke Jones suffered a heavy crash during practice which saw him sustain an injury to his hand and putting his appearance in the two races in doubt. Starting from seventh on the grid for the opening race and with his T3 prepared Triumph being the second fastest machine through the speed trap, Luke battled through the pain barrier to take a hard fought sixth place in the opening Sprint race.
PPR’s Alex Olsen endured a tough time on opening practice day as his Triumph suffered technical problems during first practice and had to be returned to the T3 Racing workshop in Kent before returning to the track early Saturday morning. Despite missing all of Friday, Alex was able to qualify in fifteenth overall and third in the EVO class, a position he repeated in the Sprint race.
With heavy rain arriving at the circuit overnight, the Feature race saw the duo face a damp but drying track. After a slow start, Luke worked his way to fifth where he entered a race long battle, eventually finishing fourth. In the EVO class, Alex found himself in an epic battle with Luke Stapleford before claiming another third place finish.
Luke Jones commented “I was in a lot of discomfort through both races and struggled to be as aggressive with the bike as I would have like to have been. The Sprint race was tough but I’m glad to have brought home some decent points. In the second race it certainly wasn’t the best start of my career but I simply can’t operate the clutch that well! I found myself entangled with some riders after a silly mistake on my behalf when I out braked myself and had to take to the grass. Fortunately with the wet weather the tyres cleaned quickly when I got back on track and I was able to claw back two more places to finish fourth. Again not ideal but I have held my position in the championship and gained on the leaders a little. I shall get this hand healed and try again at Cadwell.”
Alex Olson said. “I’m not overwhelmed with the results this weekend but pleased to be on the podium with good points. We opted for a slightly softer engine this weekend in the hope of getting good results given the forecasted weather conditions, in the dry conditions of the Sprint race it wasn’t the best but it certainly helped in the main feature race. Two more podiums is a great result and we’re still comfortably leading the EVO class so I’m happy!”