After a battling performance last time out at Donington Park and securing a 5th placed finish, Rhys was back on his bike again for the penultimate round of the Pirelli National Sportbike Championship, this time at Oulton Park. Rhys would be hoping for a similar finish at Oulton as he secured a 3rd place and podium finish on the opening round of the season, also at Oulton.
Rhys' round got underway on Friday morning in damp, wet conditions, making things a lot trickier. Despite this, Rhys got into a good rhythm early on and set his best lap time on his 9th lap with a time of 1:54.603, placing him 7th.
After a very short break, Rhys was back on the track for the second and final free practice session of the round. Despite it being just over an hour between sessions, it was a completely different story. The heavens opened up, making the track soaked. Unfortunately, on lap 6, Rhys got caught out and high-sided on the exit of the second chicane, ultimately ending his session. Thankfully, Rhys walked away okay, with the team doing a great job getting the bike turned around, ready for qualifying. It was Rhys' lap 5 that was his best time with a 2:00.950, placing in 11th.
Saturday was meant to be qualifying day; however, due to weather conditions, the session was cancelled. This meant that the grid positions were determined by combined practice times. With his finishes in the free practice sessions, Rhys would start 7th on the grid come race day on Sunday.
Race 1 got underway on Sunday on a dry track, to the relief of everyone. It had been 48 hours since Rhys last rode a lap, but he was determined to make the most out of the improved conditions. He got off to a strong start and was battling it out with the leaders early on. A safety was out partway through, and after the restart, Rhys slightly misjudged his timing and fell away from the leading pack. With some tight racing and a few close calls. Rhys crossed the line in 5th place and earned more championship points.
A 5th place finish at Oulton meant 16 championship points to Rhys' standings, pushing him onto 140, sitting comfortably in 7th place. It would have to be a big final round from Rhys to push him into the top 5 in the standings, but there's every belief that he could manage it.
This is what Rhys had to say about his weekend:
"Huge thanks to the whole team for their hard work getting the bike dialled in across such mixed weather, and to all the fans who stuck it out trackside in the rain. We'll take the positives from this weekend and come back stronger for the next and final round".
We'll see Rhys next weekend for the final round of the Pirelli National Sportbike Championship at Brands Hatch!