The two Zoek Racing riders were competing in round three of the Ducati TriOptions Cup at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the bank holiday weekend with Sean Neary from Lymm recording a win and a third place to lead the championship by a healthy nine points and Newark rider Craig Currie securing an 18th place in race two after retiring from the first race with a technical issue.

Neary was competing at his home track and a large contingent of supporters was there to see him race. They were not disappointed as after qualifying in fourth place Neary started the first race from the second row right behind the pole sitter.

He got away to a good start moving straight into second place behind Lewis Rollo and followed him around the Cheshire circuit for a few laps before making his challenge for the lead on lap six of 10. The pair circulated in close company with Rollo challenging at every corner but Neary wasn’t prepared to back off and retained the lead. On the penultimate lap Rollo made a mistake and slid off unhurt out of the race leaving Neary to romp home for his first win of the current campaign with just over a second to spare from Rob Guiver. 

He said: “I followed Rollo to see where his weak spots were for me to make a move on him. when I did get past him I kept my cool, checked my pit board and maintained the lead, I lost my knee slider with three laps to go so felt unable to get around the left handers so well. But I had a bit in reserve as well just in case I needed it and am absolutely made up to get the win and have to say a massive thank you to the Zoek Racing team for sticking by me and for all the help from Maxton suspension this weekend.”

In race two Neary didn’t get such a good start and settled into third place for the three laps before being overtaken by Lewis Rollo. But he never gave up and regained third place on lap seven which he held to the chequered flag for his second podium finish of the weekend.

He said: “Third today just caps a solid weekend at Oulton. I am leaving round three with the championship lead so can’t ask for more than that. It will be a long old battle this year but I’m well up for it. Huge thanks to Zoek Racing Team, Matthew Sanders of Zoek, and Paul Nolan of Charlestown for his countless work behind the scenes. Evolution Waste, Craig Currie, JHP Ducati Coventry, Steve Jackson @Toiletspares, Chris Dutton of Claim Eazy, Motul, Joe Carlin, Guy Mainwaring of Held, Shark Helmets, Maxton, Lee Jackson, Applied Nutrition, Warrior Club, Tom Tucker Caines and the whole team for all their hard graft they deserve it, legends the lot of them - and of course Nicola Gore for always supporting me.” 

Newark rider Craig Currie was not so successful this weekend but after completing his qualifying in 12th place was looking forward to a good race. As the lights went out he set off from a fourth row grid position but found himself down in 22nd place on the first lap. He made it back up to 19th on lap five but then encountered a technical issue and was forced to retire with three laps remaining. 

With the bike back up and running for race two Currie took his place on the starting grid but much further back on row seven. He didn’t get the best of starts but soon recovered and began to make progress, moving into the top 20 on lap four. He continued to move forward and was right behind Paul Slade on the final lap. But although the pair crossed the finish line side by side Slade took flag for 17th place by a whisker from Currie who was just 57 thousandths of a second adrift in 18th place.

The series takes a six week break now to allow for the two major road races, the North West 200 and the Isle of Man TT festival and the riders will reconvene at Snetterton in Norfolk over the weekend of June 15-17 for round four.

Report courtesy of Zoek Racng 

Images provided by Dave Yeomans