Team ILR – Bob Smith Spring Cup Report

Spring certainly sprung for Team ILR at the Bob Smith Spring Cup Road races at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough at the weekend, with the team coming away with a total of five wins and no fewer than six Top 6 placings.

Good weather was forecast for the weekend and whilst this did eventually materialise, nevertheless overnight rain made for a tricky few laps on Saturday morning in which Joey Thompson headed timed qualifying for the Lightweight/Ultra Lightweight class.

The rain gave way to sunny but chilly conditions as racing got underway on Saturday afternoon with Joey finishing 10th in a high quality Junior Race field and he followed this up with a runaway win in the Solo Open B race which he led from start to finish with the fastest lap of the race.

Next up was the Lightweight/Ultra Lightweight race with Thompson on pole and Ian Lougher seventh quickest.

Joey led them through at the end of the opening lap and he was never headed, eventually winning by over half a minute from the experienced Paul Owen and again posting the fastest lap of the race. 

The real race however was in the ultra-lightweight class where Lougher had come from the third row to gradually close on front row starter Justin Waring. With two laps to go the gap was one second, and on the penultimate lap Lougher made his move and used all his experience to just hold on to the line to take the honours and round off a very good first day for the team.

Sunday dawned dry and sunny as Joey opened his day’s account with 12th in the second Junior race and he again dominated the Solo Open B race.
He then scored his second win in the Lightweight/Ultra Lightweight class with another dominant performance. Joey’s lead at one point was over 13 seconds before he showed great maturity to roll off and come home with 8.4 seconds to spare. Meanwhile Lougher and Waring had resumed their dice from the previous day and this time it was ‘local’ man Waring who just got the better of the exchange with two laps to go to take the win.

The last action for the team was in the main Spring Cup race with Joey having a solid ride to finish 11th and the second highest placed 600 rider.

So a successful Spring Cup for Team ILR with four wins for the impressive Joey Thompson and yet another one for the circuit’s most successful ever competitor Ian Lougher. 

Unofficial word regarding Ian’s race win tally is that the statisticians have just stopped counting!

Team ILR owner/manager Ian Lougher, Joey Thompson and team mechanic Jacko at Oliver’s Mount.
Photo: Team ILR

Team ILR owner/manager Ian Lougher:

“I was really impressed with Joey over the weekend.

It was the first time for him to ride his 600 around Oliver’s Mount, it’s not an easy place to learn especially in mixed conditions as it was on the Saturday morning.

But he listens carefully, taking in all the advice from myself and his mechanic Jacko, and he chipped away at steadily improving his set-up on the ZX6 and bringing his times down.

This has shown us that he has real maturity and promise and he should take the forthcoming North-West 200 and TT races in his stride.

As for my own results at Scarborough, I really enjoyed being back on a motorcycle, the first time since September. The little NSF250 Moto 3 bike did me proud, helping me win the Saturday race and narrowly missing the same on the Sunday…top do!!”

Joey Thompson:

”We had a strong weekend at Oliver’s Mount, as I had never ridden there on a 600 before.

We were progressing leaps and bounds every session.

We managed to take 4 wins on the 600 and 250 and made good progress in the main Spring Cup open race.

The whole weekend went to plan and all at Team ILR did a superb job and thanks to my dad and sponsors for all their help.

Also a big thank you to all the fans and supporters at the event, it makes it a great atmosphere!

Now, on to Round 3 of BSB!”

From the roads it’s back to the short circuits where the team will again be in the British Superbikes paddock for the continuation of the premier domestic championships at Oulton Park over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Source: Team ILR – Bob Smith Spring Cup Report