Jim Hind further enhanced his growing reputation as a future star with superb performances at the Spring Cup,
particularly on the Team ILR - Mark Coverdale ZX-6 Kawasaki.
Photo: OTTpix

It was a successful Spring Cup for Team ILR as the team made the familiar trip to Oliver's Mount for the return of the popular race meeting, with the team's talented Jim Hind again among the winners as he put in performances that belied his young age.

On only his third appearance at the circuit Hind won the overall award for the Supersport class and picked up two Supertwins race wins over the weekend.

This along with typically solid performances by renowned Oliver's Mount expert Ian Lougher provided the basis for a great weekend for Team ILR.

It was very slippery during practice on Saturday morning, but the early morning rain had thankfully stopped as the action proper began with Hind in action in the opening Supersport Heat over 5 laps, the race was won by Lee Johnston by 2.34 seconds from Mike Norbury with Jim in a very secure third a further 2.7s back on the Team ILR - Mark Coverdale ZX-6.

The first day also saw two heats for the Supertwins with Jim joined by his mentor Ian Lougher on Team ILR - Mark Coverdale S1-R Patons.

Jamie Coward took the first race by 8.1 seconds, Lougher meanwhile was riding a great race and he determinedly defended second place for four laps from Adam McLean before just losing out on the last lap.

Hind was in action in the second heat and after a great race he took the win from Rob Hodson by the narrowest of margins with just 0.439s between the two at the flag.  


Sunday's opening Supersport race saw Hind once again ride strongly on the 600. With Lee Johnston clear at the front Jim slotted himself into 4th behind Dean Harrison and Dominic Herbertson.

Harrison crashed out on the third lap as Hind set about closing the gap to second placed Hertbertson and within a lap he was right on his rear wheel as the battle for second began in earnest. Johnston took the win and the end of a frantic battle saw Herbertson just edge second from Hind by 0.06 seconds.

There was disappointment for Hind in the Feature Spring Cup race as rain before the start gave way to sunshine making tyre choice a lottery, and with Jim out on the warm-up lap on the wrong tyres the team took the sensible and safe decision to withdraw the ZX6 from the race.

The first of two Supertwins Group A races also ended in disappointment before it began as Hind and Lougher were both retirements after the warm-up lap, but they repaid the team's hard work in an exciting second encounter.

From pole Adam McLean grabbed the lead with Mike Norbury, Hind and Lougher pressing hard.

On the second lap Jim grabbed second from Norbury with Ian close behind and the Welshman soon took third and move clear of Norbury as Hind began his challenge for the race win. On the last lap Jim brilliantly made his move at Drury's Hairpin and went on to hold off Ulsterman McLean by 0.447 seconds for another Oliver's Mount win to add to his tally, with Ian bringing the second Paton home in a secure third.

Hind had another superb ride in the second Supersport Group A race.

With Dean Harrison dominating at the front, attention turned to the race for second with Jim involved in a great tussle with Herbertson, Norbury and Joey Thompson. It was a terrific race before Hind put time into them all to take second 3.4 seconds behind Harrison and 2.35s clear of third placed Norbury.

Jim's 20 points was enough to give him the Road Racing News Supersport A title and further cement his fast growing reputation as one of the Oliver's Mount star riders.

Hard work combined with great teamwork and great performances on the track had paid dividends for Team ILR at the Spring Cup, and the focus for the team now turns to short circuit action with a return to the BSB paddock at Oulton Park at the end of June where Joe Loughlin will ride the Team ILR - Mark Coverdale R6 Yamaha, with team boss Ian Lougher also mentoring James Alderson in the Junior Superstock on his 675 Triumph.

Team ILR owner - manager Ian Lougher:

"Oliver’s Mount is always very challenging and this time was no different. It was soooo nice just to be going racing again, even catching up with everybody from the various teams was a pleasure after such a long time. The weather was fairly kind to us, only giving us a hard time just before the feature race where we chose wets instead of dry tyres for Jim’s ZX6 Kawasaki.
The sun came out so Jim had no choice but to retire to the paddock after the warm up lap.

Jim is a star in the making and we all at Team ILR/Mark Coverdale thoroughly enjoy working with him. His results get better and better and on only his third visit to the track he claimed the 600 class win overall. His win in the second twins race was just a measure of his versatility too...mega.

For myself I felt I rode well considering not sitting on a bike for 8 months and was pleased with my results, but it was a shame we both suffered a small mechanical issue in the first twins race which lead to our retirement. A big thank you to Mark and all our team for working so hard over the weekend, and a massive thanks to the organisers and marshals for putting on a great meeting. "

Jim Hind:

"Another fantastic weekend working with Team ILR once again, it is a faultless operation that they run and I really can't thank Ian and the team enough.

It was just good, a chilled out time, with lots learned and plenty of quick racing done in the process. "