Home discomfort for Hipwell
A mixed weekend saw a frustrated Hipwell take 11th place in Monday’s main race, after coming off twice.
Saturday morning’s first free practice session saw Hipwell make a positive start as 15th quickest overall.
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Hide AdThe second free session on Saturday afternoon was when things started to go wrong.
The racer was just putting in some quick times when he rounded the hairpin and Billy McConnell forced his way up the inside, clipping the Globalnet Telecoms machine.
This resulted in Hipwell being brought down in a slow crash with minimal damage to both rider and machine.
Sunday mornings early qualifying session saw Hipwell put the Yamaha in a disappointing 20th place on the grid for the qualifying race.
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Hide AdHipwell got away to a reasonable start in the race and had moved up into 18th on the first lap just three tenths of a second behind the Triumph of Jonathan Lodge.
By the end of lap three he was less than a tenth of a second adrift as he looked to overtake, which he did on lap four.
Lap five saw his downfall however as he hit a false neutral as he entered the hairpin, losing engine braking as he struggled to control the bike.
This resulted in him running wide onto the grass losing the front end in the process and being unable to remount.
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Hide AdHipwell’s fastest lap time would see him start from 19th on the grid for Bank Holiday Monday’s main race.
Another good start saw the Harworth man in 16th place and lap two saw him overtake two riders, eventually moving up into 12th.
On lap five he pushed into 11th and had to settle for this position, picking up five championship points after a disappointing start to his weekend.