Silvester's lead is cut after Oulton Park battle

​Having been pushed off track by close rival Asher Durham at Cadwell Park two weeks ago, Silvester’s championship lead was just 17 points going in to the event, so the pressure was starting to build.

Silvester finished Friday’s opening practice sessions fifth overall with rivals Owen Jenner and Durham in eighth and 13th respectively.

In Saturday’s qualifying session, Silvester didn’t quite have the front end feel he was looking for but he still managed to finish fourth on the time sheet to head up the second row of the grid with Owen Jenner alongside him in fifth and Asher Durham further back on row four in tenth place.

Unfortunately, Sunday’s 11-lap race didn’t quite go to plan for the Horncastle rider. He made a great start to take third on the opening lap with Jenner behind in fifth and Durham further back in ninth. At the front, MSS Kawasaki rider Cameron Dawson shot away from the pack and led from start to finish, but behind him it was a frantic seven-way scrap.

On lap two Silvester overtook Ed Best for third and three laps later he challenged Harrison Crosby for second but that move cost him time and allowed Owen Jenner to get past as Aaron dropped to fifth.

Then, on lap eight, Asher Durham pushed past at Shell Oils Hairpin but in doing so he once again he made contact with Silvester who dropped to eighth as a result. Silvester couldn’t get his A&J Racing Yamaha past the faster Kawasakis and newer Yamahas ahead of him and he eventually finished seventh, 6.4 seconds behind race winner Dawson, after being gifted a position when Best crashed on the last lap.

With Jenner finishing second and Durham finishing fourth, Silvester’s championship lead has been cut to just seven points over Jenner with Durham third, 15 points further back.

With three races remaining and 95 points still up for grabs, six riders still have a mathematical chance of winning the series but in reality, it looks like it will be a straight fight between Silvester, Jenner, Durham and Dawson.

The next round takes place at Donington Park over the weekend of 29th September – 1st October.