Another win for Horsman to take lead of British Motostar Championship

By Giles Spencer

Forest Hill motorcycle racer, Cameron Horsman took his second win of the season over the weekend with a victory in the first race at the Knockhill round of the British Superbike Championship meeting. A second place finish in race two was enough to see him take over at the top of the Standard Class British Motostar Championship.

Horsman was straight up to pace at the Scottish track on his Honda NSF250R Moto3 machine, putting himself 3rd on the grid in race 1 for the standard class.

As the lights went out, the now usual fight between 18-year-old Horsman and Doncaster’s Scott Ogden resumed at the front of the pack, this time being joined by Harvey Claridge and Charlie Farrer.

Initially Ogden and Claridge had the advantage with Horsman third in class, stuck behind one of the slower GP class riders.

Within a lap he was past the rider and on the tail of Ogden who was swiftly dealt with before the end of the third lap giving Horsman the lead.

Unable to break away, a four way battle for lead ensued with Horsman slipping to 3rd around mid- race as Farrer came through. The County Durham rider briefly took the race lead before crashing out giving Horsman the chance to take the lead back. Ogden was on his back wheel the whole time but the Londoner held his ground to take the chequered flag and his second victory of the season.

Despite his fall, Charlie Farrer sat on pole for the second race, courtesy of setting the fastest lap in the first race. Horsman started second, two positions behind Farrer with a GP class rider sandwiched in between them on the combined grid.

A good start from the lights saw Horsman 2nd behind rival Scott Ogden by the end of the first lap. In a repeat of race 1, the same four riders were battling for supremacy at the front again. Ogden began to stretch open a gap at the front as Horsman, Claridge and Farrer fought for second position.

With around 6 of the 18 laps completed, Claridge passed Horsman and then Ogden to take the lead as the early pace setter suffered a mechanical issue.

Settling into a safe 2nd, Horsman and Claridge started to drop the rest of the field.

Not unusually for a Scottish circuit, rain began to fall and with Horsman’s main rival in the championship back out on track but a long way behind, there was no point in taking any risks and he decided to sit in second place and collect twenty points rather than risk throwing it all away in the tricky conditions.

With Ogden down in ninth Horsman now has an 8 point advantage at the head of the Championship.

“It has been a great weekend. Steve Patrickson and the team gave me a great bike again. In race two I was a bit fortunate after Ogden had a problem so I was able to just be sensible and think about crossing the line rather than needing the race win.”

Cameron Horsman will be back on track at Donington Park on 5 – 7 July. This time for the British Talent Cup, another Moto3 championship but run by the organisers of MotoGP. He is currently second in that championship.

Photos: Bonnie Lane