Parkes rues ‘massive disaster’ at Oulton

The third round of the MCE British Superbike championship was a ‘massive disaster’ for Milwaukee Yamaha rider Broc Parkes, after a combination of injury and weather left him struggling to find a comfortable setting all weekend long.

“Oulton Park was a massive disaster for us. It’s quite a difficult track to learn, and then the bad weather meant we didn’t have a lot of dry track time to use to learn. We went straight into qualifying without being ready and without really having a set up – and that left us with a lot to do from sixteenth on the grid.”

Adding to his misfortune, however, was a terrible start to the weekend’s two races, when he was taken out on the opening lap by Jack Kennedy at Hizzy’s Chicane.

“I had a crash in the wet, landed on my shoulder and managed to hurt my arm and my shoulder quite badly. I made a good start in the first race, and then got t-boned going onto Hizzys – and managed to land on my back and hurt myself quite badly again. I was feeling pretty beaten up, and the bike was quite damaged for the second race.

“The boys did a really good job trying to fix it up again, but it wasn’t quite right – little things like not being able to adjust the brakes. I just tried to finish the race and get some miles under my belt – but I just didn’t have the pace I needed.

“I need to regroup now, come back strong for round four, and try and get back towards the front, where I’m sure I can be, in time for Snetterton.”