Gault in the points for second race in a row

Jul 1 2009 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

ALEX GAULT put in another assured display in round five of the National Super Stock 100 Championships last weekend, finishing in the points for the second consecutive race.

The Carluke teenager picked up four points at the Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk after coming home in 12th position. He had been in eighth place with just two laps remaining.

After missing the fourth round in Thruxton, Gault was looking to perform like he did at Donington Park in the previous round when he claimed his first points in a Super Stock 100 series.

Gault (18) and his ASTRO Kawasaki Racing team were quite hopeful of a good result after positive testing at The Ace of Aintree series last month.

The bike was also fitted with a data logger by Track Electronics which now enables the team to record how the bike is performing on track and can be used to make adjustments to the bike’s set-up for the next session.

Gault immediately got down to business in free practice last Friday, at one point setting the sixth quickest time, although this dropped to 13th by the end of the session.

With data now at their disposal, adjustments were made and in Qualifying One (Q1) he improved his placing to 11th and set his fastest time of the weekend, 1.08.522, hitting an incredible 173.8 mph down Snetterton’s Revett straight.

He was only out on track once on the Saturday for Q2 as rain meant only 19 of the 40 entries took to the track.

Gault was able to enjoy some valuable track time in the very slippery conditions but, as expected, no riders bettered their times from Q1, leaving the Carluke lad to start Sunday’s race from 11th on the grid, his best start position this year.

The race was the last of the day, with riders lining up on the grid for the 18-lap race at 5pm. The skies had cleared and it turned out to be an enthralling race from start to finish.

Before the end of the first lap, Gault was nearly taken out by a crashing bike but he finished the lap in eighth place and held the position for the next five, while under pressure from a pack of six experienced riders, including Connor Cummings, who was runner-up in this year’s senior TT.

Cummings took up the chase of the leading pack on the sixth lap but Gault regained the place two laps later.

By lap 12, James Hillier had taken the lead but once again the Scot fought back.

However, at the end of the 12th lap, Gault outbraked himself and went across the rumble strip and onto the grass.

Despite the setback, he recovered but had lost four positions, coming in 12th just two laps later.

At the front, Irishman Alistair Sealy made it five wins in a row despite a titanic battle with reigning champion Steve Brogan.

The 25 points from this race gives the leader a 38-point advantage over Brogan. Gault is currently in 16th place with nine points and will be looking forward to round six, which will be held at Knockhill, Fife on the weekend of July 3-5.