ASHLEY Beech finished 13th for Evesham-based Jones Dorling Racing in round three of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at Oulton Park.

But there was disappointment for team-mate Joshua Boyd who pushed hard in mixed conditions but took a tumble on the final lap.

It was Boyd’s first outing at the Oulton circuit on the BMW, so the team had to work to a clean slate with no settings.

Adjustments were made and Beech finished comfortably within the top 10 during practice.

Beech qualified in ninth for the 50-mile race, while Boyd was further back in the field but had beaten his previous lap time with a personal best of 1.41.

Beech had a strong start from row three of the grid and was fighting in the group for fourth position.

However, after the leading duo crashed out and the rain began to fall, the race was red flagged after five laps to allow for tyre change to wets and setting adjustments.

The race was re-started with a reduced distance of nine laps in the wet conditions. Boyd, who had originally started from row 12, worked his way up to 28th and the wet setting helped him to surge through the field to 16th place.

He was in contention for his first points but, on the final lap while battling for 15th spot against Fraser Rogers, he broke harder than he wanted to and took a tumble at Hislops.

Although Boyd was disappointed with falling on the last lap, he was overjoyed with his progress, new-found confidence with the bike and the great support from team-mate Beech and the Jones Dorling team.

Beech had a harder race as the settings weren’t quite right and he suffered with chatter throughout the race, finishing in 13th place.

Beech said he was disappointed with the race result but knew he wasn’t able to challenge further up the field.

He still managed to move up the championship standing to 10th place. The large and very competitive field this year has several Superbike riders and Isle of Man TT veterans and it was no surprise the top 30 were separated by less than a second.

Team owner Chris Jones said: “I was impressed with both riders’ performances but there is work to do for the team to help Ash and Josh get stronger and challenge consistently in the top five.

“We have work to do to move Josh into the points, starting with our next race, supporting the World Superbikes at Donington Park, with the 100-mile race.”

Jones added: “A huge thanks must also go to the support from our new sponsor Aquila Trucks who came along to Oulton. Without their fantastic support, we wouldn’t be racing.”