After the fantastic win at Bira International circuit just outside Pattaya two weeks ago, local racer Ben Fortt travelled to Nakhon Chaise with his team to participate in the next round of the Thailand Superbike championship.
Friday June 17 was free practice day and Ben put in some good lap times considering he has only ridden this course once before, so left the day happy with his Suzuki GSXR 1000 set up, ready for the all important qualifying on Saturday.
Ben Fortt, 2nd left, celebrates on the podium following his second place finish at Nakhon Chaise, Sunday, June 19.
Overnight rain made Saturday’s qualifying very hazardous, the track had mainly dried out but left some very dangerous puddles on some of the bends, the session went well and after the day’s times were in, the officials announced the race positions for the next day. Ben qualified in third spot which gave him a front row grid position.
Sunday, June 19, was the all important race day and there was not a cloud in sight and a dry track so these were the perfect race conditions.
Fortt negotiates a bend at the Nakhon Chaise race track on his Suzuki GSXR 1000.
Ben is getting a reputation for his blistering starts and he stuck one again here and reached the first bend in the lead, only to lose the place to a very well respected rider. Ben got his head down and managed to beat his own personal best lap time to finish in second place in the race.
Ben and his team were overjoyed with his performance and result as this now moves him up to grade 2 category with the next round of races scheduled to be held at the local Bira International race track on July 2.
