Two top 10s leave BSB rookie “happy” after Oulton Park Bimota debut

Joe Talbot’s debut as a full-time BSB rider may have been delayed by a year thanks to the problems encountered by OMG Racing early last year, but the 22-year-old made an impression in his first weekend with the Bimota team.

Talbot scored two top-10s in his first weekend as a full-time BSB rider, finishing 10th in the first race and ninth in the second, results which represented a performance over the weekend to be pleased about for Talbot, especially being only a week-and-a-half on from his Oulton Park test crash.

“Happy,” Talbot told Crash.net after Race 3 at Oulton Park.

“Two top-10 results and a 13th in the last race. First time doing full race distances, so it was a lot – especially after such a big crash a couple of days ago. 

“We’re heading in the right direction and we’ve got a lot of data collected, because we come here again, so it’s good. 

“Team’s been mega, I’ve had a good weekend, so see what we do at Donington.”

Talbot’s speed in Race 2 got him a sixth-place starting position for Race 3, meaning he started towards the front among the fastest riders in the class – an opportunity to learn for the rookie, although he dropped to 13th at the end.

“For sure,” he said. “I got a 10th, a ninth, and a 13th; the last race I started sixth on the grid, so definitely up there, learnt a lot on the opening laps, obviously behind some really fast riders. 

“Just didn’t have the best couple of last laps, really, and had the pace to still fight for 10th position

“But obviously it’s such a stacked grid, everyone wants that 10th position, so I got sat up, ran wide and whatnot. A few people got me in that regard, but learning lots every time I go on the bike.”

Looking to Donington, Talbot is keen to continue adapting his riding style to utilise the power of the Superbike.

“There’s not one thing,” he said. “I think it’s a collection of things. In our game we’re only talking about metres or inches, so if I adapt my style a little bit, a bit more sit the bike up and whatnot, get the power to the ground, that’s a step in the right direction.”