Teenager Louis Dawson made another progress step at the British Superbikes European round held on the famous Dutch TT circuit at Assen over the weekend of 20th and 21st of September.                                    

Backed by Ducati Wolverhampton, Dawson, from Highley has competed in all but one of the rounds in the single make Ducati Trioptions Cup. The youngest in the series, Louis is now being considered as a tip for the top in the 2016 series exhibiting the qualities needed to succeed in this tough sport.

The region of Holland the circuit is situated in is noted for very changeable weather conditions and this weekend was no exception, however Friday’s qualifying was held in ideal conditions. Qualifying just outside the top ten in twelfth place Dawson knew he needed a good start to get on the back of the leading riders. In race one he slipped back to 14th place on the opening lap as a result of a spectacular start which saw him wheelie in the bottom three gears, however by lap three he had passed two riders to take 12th place.  Lap five he passed Mark Cheetham and Dave Ferns steadily easing away from the two riders to finish in 10th place, 3.5 seconds ahead of Mark Cheetham

In the 8 lap Race two on the Sunday, Dawson also got a poor start this time dropping back to 16th place into the tight right hand first corner.  Riding confidently he set about clawing back positions and by lap three he had claimed 9th position which he held to the flag passing Danny Hill, Mark Cheetham, and Darren Fry and closing in on the two riders ahead of Aaron Brown and current Champion Dennis Hobbs.

Dawson said after the race “A minor clutch issue contributed towards another poor start, however we had seen my lap times improve over the weekend getting closer to the top six times so I knew I could maintain a consistent good lap time; once I had got past Danny, Mark and Darren I felt I could create a bit of a gap.  By the final lap of the eight lap race I could see Aaron Brown and Dennis Hobbs clearly, and at the flag I was only 3.5 seconds behind them.  Usual story - ran out of laps but very pleased with the race and the whole weekend really.”  

Managed by John Davies of JDF (Rider Development) John said after the race ‘ Louis is progressing well and is using any information he acquires on the track , and any information we can give him off track to improve his performance.  He is very hungry for it, so all good and looking forward to the next round!’

The next round of the Ducati Tripotions Cup is the British Superbikes round held at the Northamptonshire Silverstone track over the weekend of 3rd and 4th October.