In the Pirelli National Superstock class, only one of the FHO Racing with Kobelco riders – Kent’s Alex Olsen – was able to race this weekend after team-mate Jack Nixon suffered a big crash on Sunday resulting in a broken collarbone.
This left Thruxton double winner Olsen flying the flag for the team single-handedly. Starting from fifth on the grid, he was spent the whole race challenging at the front end, just missing out on a podium as he crossed the line fourth.
Speaking after the weekend, Olsen said “The start of the race was very good, we settled into a good pace, the bike felt good to be fair for the first three or four laps and I got some good lap times in so for me that’s good going, considering we haven’t done a lot of riding here.
“I think it just came down to track time, the three boys in front of me have all had more track time here so considering we’ve not ridden here since last year it hasn’t been too bad.
“All in all, the weekend was good, we scored some points and we roll onto Snetterton where hopefully we can get back to winning ways and try and close the championship down again.”
It was a tough weekend for Nixon who had to sit out the race on Sunday with a broken collarbone.
Giving his thoughts after the weekend, Nixon said: “We had a fairly positive Saturday but made a lot of improvements in FP2, the bike felt really good, I felt really good on the bike and we were just moving forward so I had quite a lot of confidence going into qualifying.
“We came in for a new tyre quite near the start just to get a bit of clear track and on my out lap something really strange happened – I’d been getting a few false neutrals and unfortunately had one on the out lap of my second run. I went onto the grass and just released the brake but the front folded instantly and kind of slapped me down on my right side and hit my head – and unfortunately broke my collarbone.
“Of course, I want to be back as soon as possible but I want to be back strong and healthy I don’t just want to come back for the sake of it so we will see what happens in the next few days and where we go from here with my treatment and recovery.”
Images courtesy of Double Red Photographic