After a solid start in differing conditions at Brands Hatch, Hawick’s British Superbike star Stuart Easton made the journey to the picturesque 2.6-mile Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire.
Lying in fifth place with 20 points, the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider lined up to compete in two 18-lap races over the May Day Bank holiday in the second round of the British Superbike championship.
The Teri was narrowly pipped to the post in the second free practice session on Saturday by Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes, but the Scot still managed to lap consistently in the 1’ 35s, leaving him feeling positive ahead of qualifying on Sunday.
Easton’s best lap of 1’35.733 was enough to place him second fastest on the time sheets, and even out-paced team-mate Shane Byrne in the afternoon’s session, after the triple champ experienced technical problems.
Speaking after the session, a confident Easton said: “It is good obviously for me to get near to the top of the time sheets, but it’s only free practice and we have qualifying tomorrow.
“We have found a good setup after going backwards and forwards all day, but I am now happy with the feeling of the bike. I feel solid on it and everyone is working hard. I am hoping to continue to make small improvements throughout the weekend and this is a tricky track, but I am happy at the moment, and this is the best start that I could have hoped for.”
And in Sunday’s qualifying, he was very consistent and earned fourth place for the two Monday races.
In near perfect conditions for race one, Easton kept with the top three for several laps, but on lap six, a gap was opened on him and Tommy Bridewell, with the Teri finishing in fifth place behind the latter.
Race two produced a similar situation with the same top three of Josh Brookes, Shane Byrne, and James Ellison hitting the front. Easton battled for fourth place with Bridewell, this time getting the better of him and finishing fourth, which sealed another strong weekend for the Hawick pro.
These results move him into fourth place in the championship with 44 points.
The next round is at Snetterton in Norfolk in June.