Ben Wilson rode to a fine second place in the Henderson R1 Cup, following up with a fifth in the Metzeler National Superstock race at his home track of Cadwell Park on Bank Holiday Monday.
 
Going in to the Cadwell round of the R1 Cup, Wilson was leading the Autumn Cup by nine clear points and was hoping for another win in the series to extend his lead further.
 
But the overall series leader Jon Kirkham was in fine form and dominated the weekend throughout practice and qualifying to claim pole position for the start of the planned 12-lap race.
 
Wilson qualified in second place, just 0.3s down on Kirkham and was hoping for a quick get away at the start of Monday’s race. But as the race got underway it was Kirkham who got the hole shot with Wilson hot on his heels. The red flag prevented Wilson from further action after three laps but at the restart he got away to a flyer and led the field going through Coppice for the first time. But when the riders came back into view at Mansfield it was Kirkham who had the lead with Wilson chasing hard in second place.
 
The positions remained unchanged until the race was stopped at two-thirds distance when a fellow competitor fell and needed treatment. The result was called at eight laps distance giving Wilson the runner up spot and a place on the winner’s podium where he received his award from World Superbike champion James Toseland.
 
“Jon has been on the pipe all weekend, he's just on form at the moment,” said Wilson. “I've just got to try and keep winning and keep the focus on the Championship. I'm leading the Autumn Cup and I'm still in the running for the main Championship."
 
Later in the day Wilson lined up for the start of the National Superstock championship round where he had qualified in fifth place for a second row start.
 
Again he got away to a lightening start and made it through to third place by the first sector. The top three began to pull away from the pack until the pace car came out to clear a crash. This allowed the following riders to catch up. But when the car left the circuit Wilson maintained his position until the penultimate lap when he made a rare mistake and ran wide at the chicane, which allowed fellow county rider Peter Hickman to snatch his third place. On the final lap he was also passed by Adrian Coates and had to settle for fifth at the chequered flag.
 
“I was doing well until the pace car came out and that let the pack catch us up. But then I ran onto the grass at the chicane and then ran wide at the bottom of the Mountain on the last lap, ended up dropping from third to fifth. But its been a good weekend overall and I have made up a place in the rider standings to eighth with three races left to run.”