It was another superb weekend for T3 Racing as Motorpoint British Supersport rider Luke Jones secured a well-deserved fourth and seventh in the main Championship, while current EVO Championship leader Alex Olsen further extended his lead with another victory in the class. Pirelli National Superstock 600 rider Aleix Aulestia overcame injury to take his first points of the season with a gutsy performance around the Cheshire track.
Near perfect track conditions allowed all of T3 Racing’s riders to concentrate on getting a feel for the circuit during their practice sessions, meaning some significant changes could be made to the bikes which certainly paid of later into the weekend.
It was a tough qualifying session for both of T3’s Supersport riders with Luke Jones achieving ninth on the grid for the opening race while Alex Olsen placed 21st overall, posting the sixth fastest qualifying time of the EVO class bikes. Despite suffering from his injuries, Alex Aulestia was able to secure 17th on the grid, and importantly set the fastest speeds through the first two sectors.
After qualifying 21st, Alex Olsen battled his way through the field to 13th by the chequered flag, securing a fourth place finish in the EVO class. Starting from 18th for the second Supersport race of the weekend, an astounding ride from the young T3 rider saw him take another victory in the EVO class to further extended his Championship lead and move into the top ten on the overall championship points table!
Having not ridden Oulton Park in two years, Power Projects Racing and T3 Racing’s Alex Olsen said, “We didn’t get any testing time here prior to this round and we haven’t been here in a few years, so to walk away with another EVO victory and be in the top ten on the main Championship is fantastic! Qualifying in 21st put us on the back foot, but another half a second would have put us up in to ninth or tenth so with these two rides under our belt and some solid data it bodes well for our return to Oulton later in the year.”
Acumen/T3 Racing’s Luke Jones performed excellently in an eventful opening race of the weekend, coming through the pack from ninth to finish fourth, keeping fans enthralled as he traded places with Glen Irwin throughout the closing stages. Luke went in to race two feeling comfortable on the bike, displaying this with a very clean and professional race to seventh.
Despite being a track he dislikes, Luke kept his calm throughout the weekend and brought home some important points which leaves him fourth in the championship standings. “Considering it is my bogey track and I have never felt confident at Oulton Park, to come away with two high point scoring finishes is better than we could have hoped for and I’m chuffed to bits! This has left me feeling confident for the rest of the season as we know we have the pace to battle for the podium!”
Osborne Clarke and T3 Racing supported Aleix Aulestia rode a fantastic race in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship. Battling with his injuries from round one, he made a poor start and dropped down to nineteenth on the opening lap. However, fighting his way clear of the mid pack of riders he was able to find some space and work his way through the field. Using the speed of his T3 Daytona 675 to his advantage, he pushed on to finish the race just outside of the top ten, bringing home some much needed points that have, through bad luck, eluded him so far.
The team now move into the break before Snetterton looking forward to the full recovery of Aleix Aulestia while both Luke Jones and Alex Olsen will continue training to continue the impressive start to the season so far.
Tony Scott the Team Proprietor had the following to say: “All in all not a bad weekend, I can sense Luke’s frustration in that he felt he could have done better but saying that, I think he rode well considering he has no fond memories of Oulton Park and could have easily pushed on and made a mistake. It was a mature ride in my opinion and as we know, points make prizes! For Alex it was time to come out of his comfort zone and break the mental barrier he had with this complex circuit, he did that fantastically in race one, hence the great result in race two.
Aleix was not so lucky this weekend. It’s clear that his injuries are keeping him just shy of being able to give 100%, and with the added inconvenience of severe arm pump it was a lot for a young rider to overcome. There is no doubt in my mind that Aleix can run right at the front of the National Superstock 600 Championship and I’m confident he will do just that when back to full fitness.”
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