Bikesportnews and Ben Field rounded out a fantastic weekend in the Ducati 848 Challenge with another fourth place finish. Ben had battle through weather and pain, after tearing the ligaments between his shoulder blade and collar bone in yesterday’s Motorpoint Supersport race.
Ben was also given a ‘master-class’ before the race by former British and World Superbike Champion, Neil Hodgson. “I got a great start after listening to Neil’s advice”, said Field, “he told me not to gun it straight from the line as in the rain it is likely to spin up; therefore I let the clutch go early and got more of a rolling start. From that I was in about eighth going into Clearways but suddenly five riders ahead of me crashed. It must have been very slick so I just backed off and hoped I wouldn’t join them in the gravel. After the carnage I ended up fourth and knew I was in with a shout of a podium.
“I got into a great battle for third and was really enjoying it but unfortunately a rider in front of me high sided coming out of Graham Hill Bend and I was left with nowhere to go. I managed to stay on but lost touch with the leaders so I just rode my own race from there on and hoped I could catch them. It wasn’t to be but I managed to set the fastest lap of the race which is another positive to come out of it.
“It has been a fantastic experience and hopefully I can jump back onto the Ducati sometime in the near future. Big thanks go out to bikesportnews and Ducati for arranging it all for me. I’d also like thank my sponsors MJW Specialists, Oxford Products and Bradley Smith Racing.”
