Railton banishes crash demons

Grafton rider returned to Oulton Park at the weekend – the scene of his horrific crash back in May

HORROR crash demons were banished by Grafham racer Jon Railton as he returned to Oulton Park for round seven of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship over the weekend.

The 20-year-old produced a fine display of wet weather riding to finish 17th – a far cry from his last outing the circuit in May, which ended in a massive accident, severely damaging the bike which, fortunately, he survived unscathed.

Railton eased his way into qualifying to end the first session 27th and, when the second session began with a damp track, he waited in the pits to conserve the tyres until the track dried out.

A check over the bike discovered a broken engine mounting which meant Railton was unable to take further part in the second qualifier, but he was only pushed back two places - so avoiding the shoot out race.

Race day dawned very wet and would remain so for the rest of the day.

Each race had two warm up laps so the riders could become accustomed to the atrocious conditions.

From the start, Railton made a steady getaway but soon began to move up the order to finish the second lap in 22nd place and catching the riders ahead.

Unfortunately, the race was red flagged after four laps and the race declared a result, which was disappointing for Railton as he was making good progress in difficult conditions.

The next round of the championship is at Brands Hatch in three weeks’ time.