Team HARIBO Starmix’s Jack Groves achieved his third top ten of the year at Silverstone in the Fuchs-Silkolene Superstock 600cc championship while team mate Johnny Blackshaw suffered an injury in qualifying.
Groves said: “I started on the fourth row on the inside lane, my goal was to shoot down on the inside and tag onto the front runners.  I had a great start and was in tenth place on lap one, and on the back of the front group.   I made a slight mistake onto the back straight and was then 1.3s behind ninth place.  I treated every new lap as a qualifying lap and was thinking just stay smooth and you’ll pass him”
“I passed him around the fast right hander under the bridge, this was my strongest place on the track and I was faster here than all other riders. We battled for a few laps but he eventually retook me through the fast kink and I finished ninth.  But we later found out that the race winner had been disqualified so it was eighth place for me.  I’d had a great weekend.”
Blackshaw suffered a high side in the second qualifying which caused a deep skin abrasion to his right arm and unfortunately was deemed unfit to ride.  Blackshaw said: “I came into pit lane with ten minutes to go and we put in the new rear tyre.  This gave me so much more grip, and I built myself up and got back into the rhythm.  I saw that there were now just three minutes to go, so I knew I only had two laps left." 
“The tyres were beginning to drop off in grip levels but I was confident with how the bike was sliding.  I was on my last lap and pushing on.  I was half a second up in the first sector and I was only a tenth off my best time in the second sector, but sadly we never got to see the end of the lap.  As I powered out of the final right hander before the chicane the back wheel slid out.  I was comfortable with this but as I pulled the bike back into line it fired me off and up into the air.   It was only a little crash, but my leathers let me down and left me with a nasty tarmac gash to my forearm.”
This may have ended Blackshaw’s season as a skin graft is needed which can take six weeks to heal putting him in doubt for next weekend at Oulton Park leaving team mate Groves to match or beat his best result in the seasons finale.
Groves said: “Poor Johnny, I know he’d have done really well for us this weekend.   I just hope he’ll be back out on track for Oulton Park.  We both practiced there less than three weeks ago, we could be awesome together there.”