Motorsport: Tom Tunstall hits hot form

Apr 21 2010 by Peter Barrow, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

DENBY DALE racer Tom Tunstall bounced back from a mechanical problem to push for points in the latest British Superbike round at Thruxton.

Producing a strong performance, Tunstall fought his way through the field only to be denied a points scoring finish by just a few tenths of a second off Superbike legend Chris Walker.

The second round of 12 in the 2010 British Superbike Championship campaign was staged at the ultra-fast Hampshire circuit and Tunstall and his Doodson Motorsport team progressed well in free practice, and the culmination was an impressive qualifying lap, with an average speed of 111mph, placing him 17th on the grid of 34 riders.

Tunstall said: “I was really pleased with the progress the team made. We changed the bike set-up which gave me a lot more rear grip.

“I’m lapping nearly two seconds faster which says it all. The times are close and I’m confident we’re capable of turning it into results in the race.”

The conditions were near perfect for Sunday’s races, but as Tunstall took to the grid a slight oil leak was spotted by the team, and after attempting to solve the issue the Yorkshireman was forced to start from pit lane.

However, after completing only one lap, oil smoke was visible from Tunstall’s machine forcing him to retire from the race.

Things took a turn for the worse as his machine then caught fire, but the swift work of the marshals meant no serious damage was done.

The Doodson Motorsport team worked swiftly to re-prepare the bike for the second race, but with new rules basing the race two grid positions on race one lap times Tunstall was dealt another blow being shuffled to the rear of the grid as he’d only completed one lap.