The Team Blackhorse Kawasaki rider was holding on to a strong seventh place, well in contention for the podium, when he slid off on lap 10 on the exit of Knickerbrook fortunately without injury and the no-score means he has now slipped back to sixth in the Championship table.

Seventh in free practice, slight handling problems saw Conor slip back to 10th at the end of the first 30-minute qualifying session but, working hard with the Maxton technicians, significant improvements were made to the suspension for Sundays second and final session and he was able to improve considerably. Despite a few rain spots in the air, Conor reduced his lap time by three quarters of a second and he was able to move up to 7th overall for a second row start, well in contention with main Championship rivals Steve Plater and Howie Mainwaring who qualified 5th and 6th respectively.

A good start in Mondays race saw Conor move up to sixth at the end of the first of the 15 laps and he was embroiled in a terrific six-rider dice for second place for the next 10 laps as places changed with frequent regularity. A few spots of rain made the race even more dramatic but the clouds soon blew by and allowed the race to carry on uninterrupted. Briefly pushed back to seventh, Conor moved back past Ian Hutchinson on lap 4 but two laps later he was back down to seventh and, as the race approached two thirds race distance, the gaps started to stretch out between the leading seven riders. Conscious of championship rivals Plater and Mainwaring running in 2nd and 4th, Conor could not afford to stay in seventh but he pushed slightly too hard in his efforts to get back level with them and he crashed out on the exit of Knickerbrook.


Talking afterwards, a disappointed Conor said:

I was feeling really good out there today and confident of finishing in the top five, at least, so Im gutted to have slid off. As I came through Knickerbrook, the front forks bottomed out and it simply tucked the front end and down I went. Id set the second fastest lap of the race so maybe I was just finding new limits and Im just sorry for all the team as, again, we had a great bike and it was a match for anything else out there. The bike needs a bit of work as it cartwheeled through the gravel trap but, apart from my pride, Im ok and Im still sixth in the Championship so Ill be looking to get back at the front next time out at Cadwell.

There was however encouragement for the team, as David Pearce put in his best performance of the season to qualify for the Metzeler National Superstock 600 race in association with Blackhorse.

David, who celebrates his 17th birthday on Wednesday, last rode at the Cheshire circuit two years ago in the Superteens class and was under no illusion as to the altogether different challenge he would face on the Kawasaki ZX-6. However, the young Manxman went about his business in a professional manner, learning with every lap under his belt and consistently posting highly respectable lap times to qualify for the shoot-out race.

At the end of the first lap of the shoot-out David had come through from the back of the grid to 14th, and on the second lap he gained another place and set about joining a three-man group in front. Fastest in the middle sector and through all three speed traps, David was on the move and on the last lap he posted the fastest lap of the race (1:44.100) to finish in a brilliant ninth position, just under a second off sixth place man Grant Whitaker and thus claimed his place in the feature race which unfortunately was cancelled after a crash.

The team now prepares for the first International road race of the year, the North-West 200 in Northern Ireland.

In the team colours on this occasion will be Ian Lougher, making his first competitive appearance of the year.

Practice for the meeting, which takes place on the 8.9-mile circuit linking the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush, is held on Tuesday 11th and Thursday 13th May with the 6-race programme on Saturday 15th May.