Pole and lap record for Shand, but no win.

AIM Yamaha's Les Shand had a high-speed excursion across the grass at Craner Curves which cost him a second successive race victory in the British Superstock Championship whilst competing in the twelfth round at Donington Park.

The Scotsman carried on from where he left off at Oulton Park and was in sensational form around the 2.5-mile GP circuit, topping both qualifying sessions to claim his first ever pole position. A good start in the race saw him running comfortably in the top four before being forced onto the grass on lap six and causing him to drop back to sixth - a position he remained in until the chequered flag. Shand was on the pace despite his excursion and this was illustrated by him claiming the new lap record of 1min 35.472secs.

Friday's free practice session was held in damp conditions but the weather was perfect throughout qualifying and, in the first qualifying session, Shand signalled his intentions for the weekend by putting the R1 Yamaha into provisional pole position. Not even a low speed tip-off on the grass in the closing stages could hold him back. The afternoon's session continued in a similar vein and, after being pushed back to fourth mid way through the session, Shand responded immediately with two fast laps to re-take pole with a time of 1min 35.449secs.

Heavy overnight rain left the track damp but by the time the Superstock machines came to the line for their 16-lap race, conditions were excellent for racing. Shand got away from the line cleanly and slotted into second as the riders swept around Redgate Corner for the first time, although he was shuffled back to fourth at the end of the opening lap. He remained in fourth until lap six when he began to put pressure on the three riders immediately in front of him but it all went wrong as they went through the downhill Craner Curves section.

Shand was attempting an overtaking manoeuvre on third-placed rider Guy Sanders but Sanders didn't see him and tipped into the corner nearly taking his front wheel away from him. He lifted the bike up to avoid a collision but there was no chance of taking the next two bends and Shand was forced to run straight on over the grass at 130mph, eventually rejoining the circuit after the Old Hairpin. This dropped him back to sixth, however, despite setting the fastest lap of the race, a new lap record, and closing to within half a second of fifth placed rider Adrian Coates, Shand could climb no higher and he had to settle for sixth.

After sixteen hard laps Shand commented: "After taking pole position I'm disappointed not to have finished on the podium at least but, at the same time, I'm relieved to have finished. Taking to the crass at over 130mph is not to be recommended and there were that many bumps and divots - it was all I could do to hang on! I was trying to get up the inside of Guy Sanders but he shut the door on me and I had to pick the bike up and go straight on to avoid a crash. Once I rejoined the track, I was really fired up and once all the dirt had gone from the tyres I was able to put in a series of fast laps to get back on terms with the leading group."

"Having ridden the Superbike at Oulton, it took me a while to readjust to the less powerful brakes on the Superstock machine so I struggled all weekend on the first and third sections of the track, running wide a couple of times. I decided to settle for my position in the end and a new lap record goes some way to making up for it. Although I didn't get a podium finish, I was delighted with my riding over the weekend and I proved that I can run at the front in the class so I just want to get a strong result at the final round at Brands Hatch," concluded Shand.