Disappointing Donington weekend for Harworth racer Dean Hipwell

Harworth’s CDH Racing Team and rider Dean Hipwell had a frustrating weekend at Donington Park with a crash, a failure to finish and a well deserved 19th place in his three races in the third round of the British Superbike Championship
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Jun 2019, 17:13 BST

Saturday midday’s qualifying saw Hipwell put the CDH Racing Kawasaki in 25th on the grid for the late afternoon’s first race of the weekend’s triple header.

Hipwell didn’t get away to a good start dropping back to 26th at the end of the first lap, being the tail ender of a group of five riders covered by less than a second.

As the race progressed Hipwell gradually worked his way up into 22nd but had lost touch with the group ahead of him.

Most Popular

Disaster then struck on the last lap as, when he exited the last corner with the flag in sight, he lost the back end, resulting with him crashing out.

Hipwell was winded for a while afterwards but walked away with a badly bruised back but fortunately no broken bones.

The CDH Kawasaki suffered some damage but fortunately nothing major and the team were able to repair it ready for Sunday’s two races.

His fastest lap saw him once again start from 25th for the second race.

Hipwell got away to a good start and as the race progressed he was holding his own with his fellow competitors and looked to be on for a good finish.

However, at the end of the eighth lap he pulled into the pits due to one of the handlebars working loose preventing him from continuing.

Due to his early retirement Hipwell’s fastest lap saw him start from 26th for the late afternoon’s third race of the weekend.

Hipwell made a good start in race three moving into 23rd by the end of the first lap and being in the middle of a group of six riders separated by just over a second.

As the race progressed, despite gradually moving up through the field Hipwell was losing ground to the other riders in front of him. By the end of the penultimate lap Hipwell had brought the CDH Racing Kawasaki into 19th where he stayed to the end.

Afterwards Hipwell said he lost ground due making a few mistakes himself and also due to the fact he appeared to lose power when he changed direction when changing direction.

These factors meant he had lost the tow from the riders in front which also caused him to drop back.

Hipwell was also philosophical about the weekend’s races and said at least he had finished one of them.

Related topics:Harworth