Linfoot distraught to miss maiden BSB victory

Honda Racing’s Dan Linfoot was distraught to miss out on a maiden MCE British Superbike victory after crashing out of the lead of yesterday’s opening race at Oulton Park with three laps to go.

The Honda Racing rider rode a clever race to sit on the back of the leading group, before following JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Leon Haslam through the pack to the lead.

Quietly sitting behind Haslam for a while, Linfoot made his move with four laps to go and immediately began to gap the former WSB runner-up. However, his hopes of victory were cruelly taken away as the rear end came around on him, ejecting him from his Honda Fireblade with just a handful of laps remaining.

“I needed a win as I think that once I get one my confidence will go up. I was that close too. I’m crying; that’s how bad I want it,” he said speaking to MCN in tears.  

“I was waiting behind Haslam, and I seemed to be managing my spin so much better than him, and thought ‘right, there’s four or five to go, I’m being held up, I’ll make a pass and set me own pace.’ That’s what I was doing, and I don’t know what I did wrong.

“I went into Hizzy’s, went left and went right, and the rear just didn’t follow. That’s why I’m so upset, because after riding here for four or five years with top teams, I need a win. Podiums are hard enough to come by here, and you need to take the opportunities when they come to score big – and I was only a couple of laps away.”

It didn’t get much better for the Wetherby rider in race two, either. Opting for wet tyres in the tricky conditions, despite a strong start he began to struggle as the circuit dried, eventually pushing that little bit too hard and crashing out of the race for the second time of the day.