BSB Oulton Park
15th July 2007

Friday 13th lived up to its reputation of bringing bad luck as Steve discovered when he crashed in practise for the eighth round of the 2007 Bennetts British Superbike championship at Oulton Park resulting in an overnight stay in hospital at Chester.

Steve damaged his ribs and was knocked out in the crash and forced to withdraw from racing over the weekend.

“The bike highsided at Tower, the fifth gear left-hander just after Clay Hill on the final lap of the session,” said Steve.

“Obviously it was wet but the bike was running good, we had made some changes and everything was going forward. We were running top ten all session really but we are still struggling for rear grip. I highsided, then the bike followed me into the tyre wall and gave me a good hiding. I was knocked out for quite a long time, which means that I have an automatic eight-day ban or go and get a head scan to prove that I am fit to race. I also damaged a couple of ribs and this will be the deciding factor whether or not I will be riding at Mallory next week. I am going for some treatment and will just have to wait and see how I feel.

“It is a shame I am unable to ride the bike this weekend as we have made some good chassis changes and things were looking really good for Oulton.  We had been a million miles off in the wet at Knockhill but were running inside the top ten here and I was feeling good to be competitive again.”

With less than a week before the next round at Mallory Park it is a race against time for Steve to prove he is fit enough to ride the AIM Yamaha Superbike. Free practise begins on Friday with qualifying Saturday and racing set for Sunday.