Buildbase Suzuki’s Luke Stapleford surprised himself with his results at the Silverstone Bennetts British Superbike season opener and wants to keep up the momentum at Oulton this weekend.

The former Supersport champ, who is relatively inexperienced in the blue riband class, came away from Northamptonshire sixth in the title chase on a bike he is not yet fully comfortable with.

“During testing we focused on getting comfortable on the bike with lots of laps and I think that paid off during Silverstone, I genuinely didn’t expect to have quiet as strong results so soon which is a bonus and has got us excited for Oulton Park,” said Stapleford.

“I know it’s going to be a completely different situation this weekend with the track being so different and with the limited laps we got at the test there is definitely still some work to do to get comfortable.

After not riding at Oulton Park for three years it really was an eye-opener on the Superbike. Having said all that I’ll approach the weekend as I did at Silverstone, get my head down and concentrate on our pace for the race and hopefully manage to come out with another two strong finishes to keep the momentum going.

“I’m really enjoying riding the Superbike and the team have been fantastic, working endlessly to give me a good bike.”

Seventh and fifth place finishes were a positive start to the season for Stapleford on his return to the Buildbase Suzuki team, adapting back to the Superbike after a stint in the World Supersport Championship.

On his return to Oulton Park at the official test, Stapleford was the fastest Suzuki rider on track, ending the day sixth fastest and feeling confident ahead of this Bank Holiday’s Monday’s races.

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