Suspension problems hinder Beech

Oldham speedster Ashley Beech in full flight at Oulton Park

Suspension issues hindered Oldham motorcycle ace Ash Beech's attempt at progress at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the weekend.

Now after round three of the National Superstock 1000 Championship, it has proved to be a season of mixed fortunes so far for Beech, courtesy of a crash in round one at Donington Park and a double points finish at Brands Hatch two weeks ago.

However, ahead of the weekend there were still worries that Beech's BMW S1000RR race bike was still suffering the effects of the Donington crash.

Beech and the team attended a test day prior to this latest round and were happy that progress is being made and lap times were encouraging.

In Friday practice in glorious sunshine, Beech quickly settled into his rhythm and finished the first of two sessions in 19th place.

After some changes to the geometry of his bike he improved his lap time, but ended the second session 20th quickest.

Despite overnight adjustments to the suspension, Beech was unable to improve his lap times in qualifying and dropped to 26th quickest. He would start the race in the middle of row nine on the grid.

Beech got a good start in the race, but a coming together ahead of him had a ripple effect and pushed a number of riders onto the grass and despite avoiding the melee, the Moorside rider lost time and dropped down to cross the line in 30^th place at the end of the first lap.

For the remaining 14 laps, Beech battled his way through the field to finish the race in 20^th position.

After the race he said: “The rear suspension was causing me problems, making the bike unstable and difficult to steer into the corners, but we have a break now until the next round, so that gives us a chance to work on the bike and sort these problems.".

Beech will be back out on track on June 17 at Snetterton for round four of the championship.