REDDITCH superbikes boss Dave Worthington was left fuming after seeing young rider Tristan Palmer write off one of the team's two bikes -- 24 hours after another engine had blown.
Promising youngster Palmer was set for a stormy meeting with his team manager this week after ignoring orders to take it easy at the weekend.
The engine on the R1 blew in the opening untimed qualifying session at Thruxton on Saturday.
After a frantic dash to Redditch a standard roadgoing engine was put in the bike in 30 minutes but Palmer missed qualifying by four minutes.
Under Superstocks rules Palmer would have been unable to start on the grid but organisers made an exception, partly because of the intense media circus which trails Palmer and the brolly girls provided by his Birmingham lap-dancing club sponsors.
Starting at the back alongside the pace car, Palmer was under orders from Worthington not to risk anything after an expensive weekend for the team.
Palmer was only able to compete because Legs 11 paid for a replacement machine after he crashed out of his last meeting. But he still came out of the blocks flying and overtook four bikes on the first corner to the anger of his manager.
"I saw him take the back of the grid and thought 'this isn't going to last'," said Worthington.
"In true Tristan style he climbed from 33rd to 22nd but on the sixth lap he leant over too far on a sharp left-hander.
"He put a hole in our second engine and ripped the left hand side of the bike off."
Worthington estimated the weekend cost him £10,000 and with two wrecked bikes and two wrecked engines he is racing against time to get a machine ready for the next round at Oulton Park in a fortnight.
"I'm looking to salvage as many parts from the engines as possible and see if we can put one together," added Worthington.
"Legs 11 paid for another bike before this meeting but I can't just go back again and ask for more, there could be some team developments in the next fortnight."
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