Solid start for Horsman at Oulton Park

Go Racing Developments SGR rider Cameron Horsman from Lewisham finished eighth and fourth in the first round of the British GP2 championship event at Oulton Park last weekend.

Last second changes to his bike proved successful as he qualified his Chassis Factory Moto2 machine third with a lap time of 1:40.467.

The first race of the season did not go to plan. After getting a bit of air under the front wheel from the start Horsman dropped a few places on the opening corner.

Now running fifth in the British GP2 class and keen to regain lost positions Horsman out-braked the Go Racing Developments SGR Moto2 going towards the Hizzy chicane on lap two. He was forced to take to the escape road and lost around three seconds.

Horsman pushed hard to try and make up the lost time and ending the 12 lap race in eighth position in the GP2 class.

Grid positions for race two were based on riders’ fastest lap times from race one. Horsman lined up 21st on the grid and eighth in the British GP2 Class. He made a clean get-away this time and quickly moved into seventh position in the British GP2 class.

About a third of the way into the race Horsman caught up with two more GP2 riders. The three were in amongst some British Supersport machines which added another challenge to their own racing progress. On lap eight Horsman overtook one of his competitors and quickly closed the gap on the next.

By two-thirds distance he was ahead of both the rival GP2 riders and into fifth in the class. He managed temporarily to put a British Supersport machine between himself and his GP2 rivals and began to make a gap. With another ride in the class being forced into the pits Horsman was able to cross the finish line for a fourth place finish.

Horsman leaves round one of the British GP2 championship in fourth position with 21 points.

Cameron Horsman said, “Clearly I was disappointed with the first race. I braked a little too late at the chicane which meant I had to take the long lap penalty route to stay on the bike and avoid a crash. This lost me a lot of time. The second race was better with a fourth place finish. We have actually not done too bad and scored points in both races. Thanks to my team and my sponsors for all their help this weekend.”

Photos: Bonnie Lane