Oxford Products Racing: Christian Iddon Donington Park Round 3

Oxford Products Racing: Christian Iddon Donington Park Round 3


Wednesday, 22 May 2024

Battling weekend for Iddon at Donington Park
Christian Iddon and his Oxford Products Racing Moto Rapido Ducati endured their most difficult weekend of the season to date at Donington after a heavy fall in the first race.
After the successful round prior, the feeling within the team was good and Iddon was confident moving into round three and as the free practice session went on, it was clear that confidence was being shown out on track too as both Christian and the team continued to improve and feature towards the top of the standings.

After qualifying 7th for the first race of the weekend, Christian got a great start and was quickly moving forwards and looking strong but as the last few laps came around, Iddon crashed exiting the Old Hairpin and was flung from his Oxford Products Ducati.

The race was immediately stopped and Christian was attended to trackside by the BSB Medical crew.

From the crash there were no broken bones but Christian was struggling with a lot of soft tissue damage specifically in the shoulder. This meant his ability to race needed to be reviewed by the Championship and by the team to ensure it was the correct thing to do.

After completing morning warm up on Sunday, Christian was declared 'fit' to race and after his stellar performance in the first laps of the first race, he took his pole position for the short Sprint race.

A battling performance saw Christian finish 6th which was followed by a 9th in the final race of the weekend which was good damage limitation given the tough circumstances.

Christian now sits 5th overall in the Championship standings.
After the weekend Iddon commented;

"This weekend has been really tough and I'm devastated with how it's turned out given the great start to the season we've been having."

"I felt fantastic on the bike at the beginning of the first race but I did start to struggle in the latter parts of the race. I was still on for a top 5 but I lost the rear and it bit me hard. It hurt a lot I must admit as normally I can get myself off and out of the way but this time it was impossible to do so."

"I am more than happy to ride through pain but I was concerned with how weak my shoulder was and the last thing I wanted to do is be a danger to my competitors so I wasn't sure if I could race or not on the Sunday but on the warm up lap I felt confident I could maintain a pace good enough to race so I started the sprint race from pole and did the best I could."

"To finish 6th in the Sprint and 9th in the main feature race was above expectations so despite the results not being what we wanted when we arrived, it was simply a case of damage limitation."

"I need to thank the team and the BSB medical staff for all their efforts this weekend because both have been amazing in their respective ways."

"We have a short break now which is good because I need a full assessment on my shoulder so I can hopefully come back fully recovered when the racing resumes."

The next round of the championship is at Knockhill on the 14th-16th June
Photograhy: Bonnie Lane