Steve Hislop Seeks Donnington Glory

The 40 year old Onchan, Isle of Man rider leads the thirteen round seriesby twenty-one points having taken three wins and a second place in theopening four races aboard the new Phil Borley-prepared Ducati Testastretta aswell as securing both pole positions to date...

But despite it being one of his favorites, Donington hasn't proved tookind to the Scotsman in recent years having not taken a victory theresince 1998, so Hislop is looking to reverse his fortunes at theLeicestershire circuit.

"It was back in the Cadbury's Boost Yamaha days and I remember myteam-mate Niall Mackenzie had fallen off and I managed to outbrake JamesHaydon into the final corner to win despite us both going onto the grass.But it was a long time ago and I could do with a couple of wins therethis weekend. The omens are good as that was the National circuit whichwe are using again on Sunday," said Hislop who, despite his seemingDonington jinx, stormed to Superpole before taking third place in theopening World Superbike Championship race there last year.

Team mate Stuart Easton will also be hoping to build on his Brandssuccess when he came from behind to win a hotly-contested Supersport raceaboard the 748cc MonsterMob Ducati. The 17-year-old from Hawick outwittedveteran Jim Moodie on a Yamaha to claim a sensational victory in only hissecond ever race on a four-stroke machine:

"I said at the start of the season I had the tools to do the job and Iproved that at Brands. Donington will be more difficult but hopefully Ican get a good start and score some more solid points" said Easton whonow lies third in the series.

After experiencing the euphoria of his first ever triple win at Brands,team boss Paul Bird is hoping his riders can deliver a similar set ofresults at Donington, but the Penrith businessman remains cautious:

"The three wins were magnificent and a total dream for both me and theteam but we all know they will count for nothing if we have a bad resultthis weekend. We're less than a quarter of the way through thesechampionships and one non-finish could cost us dear but both Steve andStuart are aware of that and they're both riding really good at present"said Bird.