EVESHAM racer Mike Tustin felt he proved he is heading in the right direction after a positive outing in the latest round of the Ducati TriOptions Cup.
Tustin and Vale of Evesham based-Team MTR Ducati faced a big task to get the right set-up for round five at the Brands Hatch GP circuit. But after the previous round’s disappointment, they showed an improvement and consistency with 16th and 12th places in the two races.
After qualifying in a satisfactory 17th, Tustin and the team made a couple of changes to try and bridge the gap to the top 15 and try and earn some championship points. After a good start, it was clear to see that the team’s gearing gamble didn’t really pay off, and he crossed the line in P16, just missing out on a points-scoring finish.
In race two, with a few tweaks made to the bike overnight, Tustin felt the changes allowed him to push hard, and gained much confidence throughout the race, meaning the lap times tumbled rapidly.
He crossed the line in a very respectable 12th position, and well within the points for the first time at the Brands Hatch GP circuit. The pace he showed in the last four laps would have been good enough to place him well within the top 10, but once again, a difficult starting position made it difficult to progress through this extremely tough class.
After comparing results from the Brands Hatch GP race meeting in 2017, Tustin’s lap times were more than 3.5 seconds faster in 2018, showing the huge progress made in just 12 months.
While also racing in the Ducati TriOptions Cup, TeamMTR Ducati were able to enter a local club meeting at Mallory Park racing in the EMRA Club Championship.
Although the weather was extremely unkind, Tustin competed in six races throughout the day, and grabbed two wins, two third places, plus a fourth and sixth place finishes. Although these races are purely used as valuable track time, Tustin said it was always nice to be back at the front and competing for wins against some very competent riders.
TeamMTR Ducati Oxford’s next race meeting is at Cadwell Park, on August 17-18 for the sixth round of the Ducati TriOptions Cup, closely followed by the following round of the EMRA Championship once again at Mallory Park.