Two wins and lap record smashed at Oulton Park

Since his return to a national championship last month Hopkins has been unbeatable. In his first outing in the Thundersport Superteen Challenge he won all four races on a track he’d never seen before. Last weekend Hopkins was at Oulton Park and not only won both races, he smashed the lap record.

The Superteen series has seen the likes of Cal Crutchlow, the Lowes brothers and Casey Stoner pass through its ranks and go on to make a career in motorcycle racing.

The 15-year-old from Sittingbourne set out his stall on Friday when he claimed pole position. Steadily increasing his pace he finished 3.452 seconds ahead of his nearest rival in damp conditions.

On Saturday there were two ten lap races. Starting from pole position in race one Hopkins didn’t get away from the line well. However, by the end of the first lap he had worked his way to the front. Hopkins then went on to beat the lap record on just the second lap of the race as he continued to pull-away from the championship leader, who was in second place. On lap four and then again on the penultimate lap he further improved the lap record ending with a best time of 1:58.482. Hopkins finished almost twenty seconds ahead of the field.

In the second race of the day Hopkins made no mistake as the race started. He led from lights out to the chequered flag. No one had his pace on the day and on lap three Hopkins reduced the lap record once again. He finished with more than 16 seconds in front of his closest rival. His lap time of 1:58.065 in race two was more than two seconds better than the previous lap record coming into the weekend.

Luke Hopkins,”I’m really enjoying my racing again and this championship and the people in are great. My next race will be the final round of the Superteen Challenge at Donington Park in October. Thanks as always to all my sponsors.”

(Photo: Kerry Rawson)