MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 02 SUNDAY 14 APRIL THRUXTON Weather: Sunny, blustery winds. Temperature: Ambient degrees 15C, Track degrees 21C DOUBLE PODIUM FOR LOWES BUT WOES FOR KIYONARI Alex Lowes consolidated his second position in the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings as he took hard earner third and second placings in the second round of the series at the super-fast Thruxton circuit in Hampshire. The Samsung Honda rider so far has been a model of consistency, finishing each of the four races so far in the top three to maintain his second place in the rankings, though 91-76 down on the defending three times champion Shane Byrne who took both of the victories on his Kawasaki in this round to become the most successful rider in the series, taking his winning tally to 44. But Lowes form was in stark contrast to that of his team-mate, the former three times champion Ryuichi Kiyonari who had a weekend to forget. The Japanese rider was caught out by the changeable conditions across free practice, and when Saturday’s qualifying fell victim to the heavy and prolonged rain, he was left on the back foot. The grid for the opening race was formed on the basis of the times recorded across the three free practice sessions, leaving Kiyonari back on the fourth row, sixteenth fastest with a lap in 1m 18.337secs compared with the 1m 16.412secs lap that earned Lowes his pole position start. In the opening race, Lowes made the perfect get-away but Byrne was close behind and took the lead on the second lap, heading the action throughout, apart from a brief spell on the final lap when Josh Brookes snatched the lead, before being relegated to second, ahead of Lowes. Michael Rutter, still suffering the effects of a leg injury sustained while testing for the Honda TT Legends team in France last month, took eighth place on the Bathams Honda while Jakub Smrz was a further two places back on the Padgetts Honda, just ahead of Lloyds British GB Moto Honda riding Peter Hickman. Robbin Harms completed the points scoring finishers on the Doodson Honda with Kiyonari a forlorn 17th. Lowes first race pace earned him a front row start, but for Kiyonari there were more struggles ahead as he started from the sixth row for a race which for him was over on the opening lap as he crashed out of contention exiting the Club chicane on the opening lap. Lowes ran second to Byrne in what proved to be a race of attrition punctuated by two Safety Car interventions to deal with crashes first by Kiyonari and the Kawasaki riding Lee Costello before the action was red-flagged after 13 laps to allow marshals to deal with the tangle at the chicane in which Karl Harris and Bathams Honda rider Tommy Bridewell crashed. Bridewell, who had been forced out of the opener by a technical problem, suffered leg injuries needing hospital treatment. Rutter took fifth place, Hickman ran tenth, Smrz was a further two places back while Harms was again the last of the points scoring riders. Jenny Tinmouth, as in the first race, was the last of the finishers. HONDA RIDER QUOTES Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) “I’ve taken four podium finishes so far and while I’ve not been on the top step if I continue with this consistency and hard work then the wins will come. It is nice to get these results here, I’m really happy and these races were very enjoyable. I pushed until the end of the first race. I knew it was going to be difficult; I had a good start to try and get away and then we had a close race right until the end. I was disappointed to be at the back of the three of us. It was hard work; the front was sliding, the rear was sliding, but it was great fun. We made a few changes for the second race and they were good.” Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) “Very disappointed – this has been a very difficult weekend. We didn’t have much practice and like at Brands Hatch I had problems which we tried to improve. First race, my problem, everything me, not the bike but then in second race I crash. I highsided, tried to catch it, but went down. Now have to improve in the next round at Oulton Park – that is not an easy track but we will try very hard.” Havier Beltran (Team Manager – Samsung Honda) “Alex had another two cracking good rides – he used his head to achieve two podiums despite difficult qualifying and limited practice time. I am really pleased with his progress so credit to him for his focus. Kiyo has had a bad weekend. It is clear that he is not happy with the chassis set-up direction and he doesn’t like the new engine specification and performance. We have some testing before the Oulton Park round so we have to work hard to get him back on track.” RESULTS BRITISH SUPERBIKE RACE1: POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / GAP 1 / Shane BYRNE / GBR / Kawasaki – Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki / 26:31.549 / 2 / Josh BROOKES / AUS / Suzuki – Tyco Suzuki / 26:31.850 / 0.301 3 / Alex LOWES / GBR / Honda – Samsung Honda / 26:32.212 / 0.663 4 / James WESTMORELAND / GBR / BMW – Buildbase BMW Motorrad / 26:37.964 / 6.415 5 / Jon KIRKHAM / GBR / BMW – Buildbase BMW Motorrad / 26:38.082 / 6.533 6 / James ELLISON / GBR / Yamaha – Milwaukee Yamaha / 26:38.327 / 6.778 7 / Karl HARRIS / GBR / Kawasaki – PR Racing Kawasaki / 26:40.013 / 8.464 8 / Michael RUTTER / GBR / Honda – Bathams Honda / 26:40.441 / 8.892 9 / PJ JACOBSEN / USA / Suzuki – Tyco Suzuki / 26:41.102 / 9.553 10 / Jakub SMRZ / CZE / Honda – Padgetts Honda / 26:41.366 / 9.817 11 / Peter HICKMAN / GBR / Honda – Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda / 26:47.858 / 16.309 12 / Howie MAINWARING / GBR / Kawasaki – MH Kawasaki / 26:52.499 / 20.950 13 / Danny BUCHAN / GBR / Kawasaki – Quattro Plant Kawasaki / 26:54.322 / 22.773 14 / Martin JESSOPP / GBR / BMW – Riders Motorcycles / 26:55.624 / 24.075 15 / Robbin HARMS / DEN / Honda – Doodson Motorsport Honda / 26:55.660 / 24.111 Fastest lap: Shane BYRNE GBR Kawasaki – Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki Lap 2 1:16.152 179.24 Km/h RACE2: POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / GAP 1 / Shane BYRNE / GBR / Kawasaki – Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki / 18:39.335 / 2 / Alex LOWES / GBR / Honda – Samsung Honda / 18:39.580 / 0.245 3 / James ELLISON / GBR / Yamaha – Milwaukee Yamaha / 18:39.991 / 0.656 4 / Josh BROOKES / AUS / Suzuki – Tyco Suzuki / 18:40.092 / 0.757 5 / Michael RUTTER / GBR / Honda – Bathams Honda / 18:41.154 / 1.819 6 / Keith FARMER / GBR / Kawasaki – Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki / 18:41.243 / 1.908 7 / Chris WALKER / GBR / Kawasaki – Quattro Plant Kawasaki / 18:41.508 / 2.173 8 / Jon KIRKHAM / GBR / BMW – Buildbase BMW Motorrad / 18:41.824 / 2.489 9 / James WESTMORELAND / GBR / BMW – Buildbase BMW Motorrad / 18:42.609 / 3.274 10 / Peter HICKMAN / GBR / Honda – Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda / 18:43.145 / 3.810 11 / PJ JACOBSEN / USA / Suzuki – Tyco Suzuki / 18:43.594 / 4.259 12 / Jakub SMRZ / CZE / Honda – Padgetts Honda / 18:44.591 / 5.256 13 / Howie MAINWARING / GBR / Kawasaki – MH Kawasaki / 18:44.873 / 5.538 14 / Martin JESSOPP / GBR / BMW – Riders Motorcycles / 18:45.977 / 6.642 15 / Robbin HARMS / DEN / Honda – Doodson Motorsport Honda / 18:45.995 / 6.660 Fastest lap: James ELLISON GBR Yamaha – Milwaukee Yamaha Lap 6 1:15.943 179.73 Km/h CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS: 1 BYRNE 91, 2 LOWES 76, 3 BROOKES 60, 4 ELLISON 51, 5 KIRKHAM 42, 6 WESTMORELAND 27, 7 WALKER 26, 8 FARMER 26, 9 JACOBSEN 23, 10 KIYONARI 21, 11 RUTTER 19, 12 HARRIS 18, 13 HICKMAN 18, 14 SMRZ 13, 15 HARMS 12. NEXT EVENT: ROUND03 MAY 6, OULTON PARK More, from a press release issued by MWR Kawasaki: Tough Day For MWR Kawasaki At Thruxton The MWR Kawasaki team endured a weekend of misfortune at Thruxton this weekend with both James Egan and Harry Hartley failing to score any points in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 and 600 Championships. South African Egan struggled in Pirelli National Superstock 1000 practice once again due to the weather with the second qualifying session being wiped out by rain which meant he had to start from 31st on the grid. In the race, the rider from KwaZulu-Natal province lapped quicker with each lap and moved up to 25th place before his charge was ended due to the race being stopped on the 11th of the 16 laps but with three riders ahead of him crashing out and subsequently being excluded from the results, it meant he was awarded 22nd place. Rain also affected the qualifying sessions for the Pirelli National Superstock 600 class where Hartley, the 16-year-old from Burnley, started the race from 20th on the grid. Maintaining position in the early stages, he then suffered a fall on the sixth lap, just after a safety car period but was lucky to escape injury. James Egan: “I’ve had to put my expectations to one side for now as I definitely under-estimated the competitiveness of the class and with the weather continuing to conspire against us, we’re simply not getting the dry track time we need. However, the race was dry and it was successful for us in that my lap times improved all the time and I was able to move forward throughout the race. The Kawasaki ZX-10R has so much power so it’s all about being smooth and using the power properly. We’re making strides forward all the time so I am looking forward to the next round.” Harry Hartley: “It was an eventful race as I nearly got caught up in the crash which brought out the safety car and then to crash out soon after was disappointing. We are just chasing a set-up as we have had so little time on the bike and it’s proving tough but we’ll get there. I’m a bit battered but I’ll be OK for my home round at Oulton Park next time out and hopefully we can get a result to reflect our hard work.” Mark Webster, Team Owner: “James has been chasing a dry set-up all weekend which hasn’t been easy as conditions have been against us once more and his cause wasn’t helped by a holed radiator in session two. We ended up going with a completely different set up for the race and it was definitely a step in the right direction. His race pace was far better than that of qualifying so he was able to make some excellent progress in the race, moving forward all the time. Harry’s still learning how to ride a four-stroke and he’s improving every time he goes out on the track. Unfortunately, he was caught out by a bit of inexperience and with the tyres having cooled down during the safety car period, he crashed out. It’s good news that nothing is broken so it’s onwards and upwards and once again, full credit to the team for all their work.” The next round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 and 1000 Championships take place at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the bank holiday weekend of 4/6 May. For further information, please visit www.mwrkawasaki.co.uk or www.britishsuperbike.com. Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship (10 laps) 1 David Johnson (Kawasaki) 2 Adam Jenkinson (Kawasaki) 3 Steve Brogan (Kawasaki) 4 Joe Burns (Kawasaki) 5 Jonathan Howarth (Kawasaki) 6 Victor Cox (Kawasaki) 22 James Egan (MWR Kawasaki) Championship standings (after two rounds) 1 Jenkinson 45 pts 2 Johnson 25 3 Brogan 22 4 Burns 21 5 Backlund 20 = Ward 20 Pirelli National Superstock 600cc Championship (14 laps) 1 Tim Hastings (Kawasaki) 2 Jordan Simpkin (Yamaha) 3 James Lodge (Kawasaki) 4 Grant Whitaker (Yamaha) 5 Nick Anderson (Kawasaki) 6 Niall Campbell (Yamaha) DNF Harry Hartley (MWR Kawasaki) Championship standings (after two rounds) 1 Simpkin 40pts 2 Hastings 38 3 Collier 32 = Lodge 32 5 Cooper 20 = Campbell 20 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes took a second-placed podium and a fourth place at the second round of the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton as pace cars and red flags plagued the two races and inhibited his race strategy. Teenager PJ Jacobsen joined GSX-R1000 team-mate Brookes on the front row for the opening race, but a small mistake on lap one, followed by arm pump in the latter stages left him to fight valiantly for a ninth place finish. The BSB rookie took 11th in the second outing with the result declared after 13 of the scheduled 20 laps when the red flag was deployed. Brookes opted for the harder SC2 rear Pirelli tyre in both outings, looking to gain a distinct advantage in the latter stages. But with incidents bringing the pace car out in both race one and for an extended period in race two before the red flag, the Aussie didn’t quite take the points he felt he should have from the two outings. Josh Brookes: “I don’t want to complain but I am frustrated at the outcome as the red flag in race two especially really destroyed our strategy with the SC2 tyre. We opted for the harder tyre in both races but with so many incidents I didn’t get the chance to really make it pay in race one; and race two pretty-much ended after seven or eight laps behind a pace car. It could have been worse and we could have ended up in the fence like a lot of other guys, so we will just re-group now and look forward to Oulton. We know we can make the Shootout ok; it’s just a matter of stopping Shakey winning so many races.” PJ Jacobsen: “Today was frustrating. We had a good opportunity with our front-row grid position in race one but the guys in front seemed to brake early into turn three or four and I ended up having to run wide after lofting the rear wheel in the air. I fought back and top 10 is still a good result but not what I think I could have achieved. Race two was always going to be tough from the fourth row of the grid and with so many laps behind the pace car we were never going to make much progress.” In the British Supersport Championship, Taylor Mackenzie took 12th and 11th placed finishes from his two outings. In race one the young Scottish rider used the session as extra set-up time as he endeavoured to perfect his feel on the Tyco Suzuki GSX-R600 around the fast and bumpy Thruxton circuit. He made significant progress in race two with his lap times and is now looking forward to Oulton Park at the beginning of May. Taylor Mackenzie: “We made a tyre change for the second race and it was 100 times better and I was really excited, but then I got stuck behind Scott Smart. I went to pass him and ran on at the chicane, which messed me up a bit. I did feel that I could get back onto the tail-end of the front group, but by the time I got past Scott my tyre was finished. The bike felt a lot better in that second race and we were only half a second off the fastest lap, so I’ve got to be happy with that – although the position is not where I want to be.” Philip Neill – Team Manager: “In the circumstances it was a solid enough day for all three riders today. In saying that I have to be honest and say that we leave the second round a bit frustrated and disappointed after so many incidents and red flags, which didn’t help our strategy. We had what we believed to be a really good strategy for today, as Thruxton is such a strong circuit usually for Josh, and the boys had done an excellent job setting the bike up for a race duration. “The goal was to come strong at the end of both races. Granted, Josh was super-strong at the end of the first race but just left the door open on the last lap for Shakey, which cost him dearly. We were very confident for race two and the strategy was not to move to the front until the final few laps, which we were not able to do because of the stoppage. That’s how it goes sometimes, but as I say, we are a little frustrated on a day when we felt at least one win and possibly two was there for the taking. “PJ and Taylor were also a little disappointed with their performances, but they are building results slowly, which is what I want them both to do, so we have no concerns with either of them. I’m confident both our young riders will come on strong as the season progresses.” MCE Insurance BSB Race 1 Result: 1. Shane Byrne (Kawasaki) 2. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +0.301s 3. Alex Lowes (Honda) +0.663s 4. James Westmoreland (BMW) +6.415s 5. Jon Kirkham (BMW) +6.533s 6. James Ellison (Yamaha) +6.778s 7. Karl Harris (Kawasaki) +8.464s 8. Michael Rutter (Honda) +8.892s 9. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +9.553s 10. Jakub Smrz (Honda) +9.817s MCE Insurance BSB Race 2 Result: 1. Shane Byrne (Kawasaki) 2. Alex Lowes (Honda) +0.245s 3. James Ellison (Yamaha) +0.656s 4. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +0.757s 5. Michael Rutter (Honda) +1.819s 6. Keith Farmer (Kawasaki) +1.908s 7. Chris Walker (Kawasaki) +2.173s 8. Jon Kirkham (BMW) +2.489s 9. James Westmoreland (BMW) +3.274s 10. Peter Hickman (Honda) +3.810s 11. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) + 2.459s More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision: EASTON DOUBLES UP AT THRUXTON IN EPIC MOTORPOINT BRITISH SUPERSPORT RACES Stuart Easton celebrated a double victory at Thruxton yesterday for the Mar-Train Yamaha team as he won an epic eight-way battle for the win in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Feature race after claiming the Sprint race win earlier in the day. In the Sprint race, which was postponed after heavy rain on Saturday afternoon, Richards had taken the early lead but Alastair Seeley then hit the front with his Gearlink Kawasaki team-mate Ben Wilson in close contention. Easton snatched the lead from the charging pair before the race was red flagged as defending champion Glen Richards crashed out; he was unhurt but the Smiths Racing Triumph caught fire and the team faced a challenge to be ready for the Feature race. Seton Tuning Yamaha’s Graeme Gowland was clipped by the stricken bike but skilfully stayed upright and claim fifth place. Seeley got a flying start in the Feature race from Billy McConnell and Wilson, with the Gearlink Kawasaki rider taking the advantage before Easton again hit the lead. Seeley fought back to reclaim the position, but Easton was able to make a move to put him at the front whilst McConnell had put in some determined moves to push to third. Easton was holding the lead when the race was red flagged, with the Mar-Train Yamaha victorious from Wilson, who had out drafted Seeley on the previous lap. The Smiths Racing Triumphs of McConnell and defending champion Richards were fourth and fifth respectively ahead of Gowland and Samsung Honda’s Jason O’Halloran. Easton said: “It was job done which was perfect with pole position and two wins. I was really pleased with my pace in qualifying, but strangely in the races the pace was slower for everybody. To get two wins is all that matters to be fair and the team and bike were faultless all weekend. Thankfully I did my job and brought the fifty points home and we can build a lot of confidence from that. We now move on to Oulton Park, which is my favourite circuit and it can’t come quick enough.” Motorpoint British Supersport Championship, Thruxton, Sprint race: 1. Stuart Easton (Mar-Train Yamaha) 2. Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) +0.248s 3. Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) +0.574s 4. Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) +1.406s 5. Graeme Gowland (Seton Tuning Yamaha) +1 lap Motorpoint British Supersport Championship, Thruxton, Feature race result: 1. Stuart Easton (Mar-Train Yamaha) 2. Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) +0.201s 3. Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) +0.315s 4. Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) +0.575s 5. Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph) +0.993s Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings after Thruxton: 1. Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) 77 2. Stuart Easton (Mar-Train Yamaha) 75 3. Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) 66 4. Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) 65 5. Graeme Gowland (Seton Tuning Yamaha) 41 For more information please visit www.britishsuperbike.com More, from a press release issued by John McGuinness’ publicist: McGuinness battles hard for more Championship points Morecambe’s John McGuinness battled hard to score some more Championship points at round two of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship with 14th place around the high-speed Thruxton circuit. Proceedings at the Hampshire venue were affected by the weather all weekend and after taking fourth in the opening qualifying session, rain on Saturday brought an early end to the final session so John had to settle for a second row starting position. Conditions had improved considerably for Sunday’s 16-lap race although strong wings created a new hazard for the 40-strong field. A solid start saw John lie in eighth at the end of the opening lap but with damp patches still around the course, conditions were tricky whilst the considerable amount of slipstreaming meant maintaining position was an extremely difficult task. As the race wore on John found himself pushed back to 14th and any hopes of climbing back into the top ten were dashed when the race was stopped early, on the 11th lap. It all meant John was awarded 14th place and two hard earned Championship points. Speaking later, John said; “The results sheet doesn’t look the greatest and there’s no doubt it’s frustrating to be in 14th this weekend, especially after getting on the rostrum last time out at Brands, but I felt good out there and was racing with some good lads who’ll be up there in the Championship so it shows I’m riding well. We lost a full practice session and I haven’t been here for a couple of years so I was up against it to a certain degree but I feel sharp and I’m getting plenty of miles on the bike so the weekend has been another valuable, worthwhile meeting. It’s off to France now and I’m feeling good so am looking forward to getting back on the Honda TT Legends bike.” John now turns his attention to the opening round of the Endurance World Championship with the ‘24 Hour Bol d’Or’ taking place at Magny Cours, France this weekend. More, from a press release issued by Quattro Plant Kawasaki: Up and down weekend at Thruxton for Quattro Plant Kawasaki The Quattro Plant Kawasaki team were back in action at the weekend with round two of the 2013 British Superbike Championship taking place at Thruxton, Hampshire and although Chris Walker and Danny Buchan both endured an up and down weekend, they both scored points to boost their title campaign. Weather conditions around the 2.36-mile venue were changeable all weekend and Saturday’s qualifying session had to be cancelled due to heavy rain meaning grid positions were determined by the free practice session of Friday afternoon. It placed Chris in eighth place and a superb start in Sunday’s first race saw him move up to fourth at the end of the first lap. Over the next few laps Chris alternated between third and fifth place but, just as an excellent result looked to be heading his way, a mechanical problem forced him out at three quarters race distance. However, with a fifth place starting position for race two, he was determined not to let his excellent form go unrewarded and he was never out of the top eight during the second race later in the day. The race was interrupted on a number of occasions by the deployment of the safety car which made for a stop-start race and it was eventually ended early on the 13th lap with Chris in seventh place. The nine points moved him on to 26 in total and joint seventh overall in the Championship table. Team-mate Danny Buchan had an equally up and down weekend but after two DNFs at the opening round at Brands, he put that behind him and was deservedly rewarded with his first points of the season. After qualifying inside the top 15, he was able to take a solid 13th place and three points in the first race only to then also suffer with a mechanical problem and retire from race two when, again, handily placed. National Superstock 1000cc Championship contender Kyle Wilks had a superb outing and came home in an excellent 12th place whilst James Hillier and Steve Heneghan gained more valuable track time as their preparation for the forthcoming International road races continued. Pete Extance, Team Manager: “It’s been another mixed weekend of results for the team. Chris was on the pace all weekend and was really unlucky to have a mechanical problem whist holding onto a superb fourth place with just five laps to go in race one. Race two saw him put in another great effort though to finish seventh and move to joint seventh in the Championship table.” “Danny also showed good pace and after a torrid Brands Hatch meeting a week ago he scored good points with a solid 13th in race one. Unfortunately, he suffered from a loss of power in race two and had to pull in so hopefully his luck will change next time out at Oulton Park. In the Superstock 1000 cc race, Kyle impressed us all with a superb 12th place in only his second 1000cc outing at BSB level. It’s been a hectic start to the season and the team have now earned a few weeks off before round three at Oulton Park.” The third round of the series heads north to Oulton Park, Cheshire with the meeting taking place on May 4-6. More, from a press release issued by Mar-Train Yamaha: EASTON TAKES DOUBLE AT THRUXTON FOR MAR-TRAIN RACING A remarkable double in today’s [Sunday] British Supersport races at Thruxton for Mar-Train Racing’s Stuart Easton, makes it three wins in the opening four races for the Northern Ireland based team – who are now just two points off the championship summit in second place. Easton out-gunned the Gearlink Kawasaki duo of Alastair Seeley and Ben Wilson in the opening encounter to take the win by 0.248sec, and it was the same paring in race two who succumbed to Easton’s racing prowess by a similar margin [0.201sec] – as the softly spoken baby-faced assassin firmly cemented his championship aspirations at the Hampshire venue. His young team-mate Glenn Irwin also impressed on the day with 10th and 8th placed finishes. At one stage in race two Irwin looked like he could possibly battle for a podium position, the leading freight train was that closely connected. But when it split, he was on the wrong end of a 2.5sec deficit, but did set the second fastest lap of the race as consolation. He now holds tenth place in the championship standings. Stuart Easton: “Job done for the weekend which was perfect with pole position and two wins. I was really pleased with my pace in qualifying, but strangely in the races the pace was slower for everybody. To get two wins is all that matters to be fair and the team and bike were faultless all weekend. Thankfully I did my job and brought the fifty points home and we can build a lot of confidence from that. We now move on to Oulton Park, which is my favourite circuit and it can’t come quick enough.” Glenn Irwin: “I felt really good after the second race as I wasn’t so positive after race one. We learned a lot as a whole team and found direction with the bike for the second race. I was as strong as the front guys but didn’t just have the pace for the whole race to run with them but it will come. I have to be satisfied with that.” Tim Martin – Team Principal: “Pole position and two immaculate winning performances from Stuart, and Glenn made great progress with his results and was right behind the leading group in race two, which was fantastic – what more can I say? I’m over the moon and the team did great as a whole this weekend. We now have a few weeks to refresh ourselves before Oulton Park, then it’s off to the North West 200 which we are all thoroughly looking forward to.” Motorpoint British Supersport Championship – Race 1 Stuart Easton (Mar-Train Yamaha); 2nd – Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) +0.248s; 3rd – Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) +0.574s; 4th – Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) +1.406s; 5th – Graeme Gowland (Seton Tuning Yamaha) +1 lap Motorpoint British Supersport Championship – Race 2 Stuart Easton (Mar-Train Yamaha); 2nd – Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) +0.201s; 3rd – Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) +0.315s; 4th – Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) +0.575s; 5th – Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph) +0.993s Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings Alastair Seeley (Gearlink Kawasaki) 77 Stuart Easton (Mar-Train Yamaha) 75 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) 66 Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) 65 Graeme Gowland (Seton Tuning Yamaha) 41 Follow us on Twitter: @martrainracing For more information please go to www.martrain-racing.co.uk More, from a press release issued by Chrissy Rouse’s publicist: Rouse leads Triumph Triple Challenge after Thruxton victory CHRISSY Rouse now leads the Triumph Triple Challenge after winning Sunday’s race at Thruxton. The 17-year-old Geordie led from Lap two of the 12-lap race to take the win ahead of Phil Atkinson, with Daniel Fuller third. Rouse had qualified third on Saturday on his Stratstone Triumph Racing machine, but was disappointed after heavy rain in the afternoon forced race chiefs to postpone the first race to a later date, leaving him with just one race this weekend. At the green light he had a tentative start and dropped a handful of places to sixth, but quickly picked up his pace and had made two places back before the pack crossed the line at the end of the first lap. Moments later he made a move on Fuller for third, before searing past Freddy Pett who was lying second and Atkinson in one move to take the lead. He quickly put a gap between himself and Atkinson, but by Lap Five Pett had moved into second and closed in behind him. But as they reached the chicane at the end of the lap, Pett touched Rouse’s rear wheel and crashed out. From here, Rouse maintained his lead, coming under a little bit of pressure from Atkinson, but his rival never got close enough to make a serious move, and the teenager kept the lead all of the way to the chequered flag. He took the win and 25 points to move to the top of the championship. “I’m so happy to get this win, especially after such a long weekend,” he said. “I was a bit disappointed when yesterday’s race was postponed because I wanted a wet race, but obviously safety has to come first and the decision to cancel it was the right one. “I had another slow start but I was quick to recover from it. Once I’d passed Fuller I knew I could get into the front, so I made the move and took Freddy and Phil in one go. “A few laps later I felt something on the rear wheel when Freddy hit me, but I didn’t know who it was or even how many were behind me so I just put my head down and concentrated on keeping in front. “It was quite a hard race but I knew on the last lap that if I could just keep it pinned I could win it. It’s a great feeling to win the third race, and take my third podium of the year. “The field is very strong this year, so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but I’m so happy and relieved to end the weekend with the win. “Now I am looking forward to Oulton Park in a few weeks’ time. Thruxton has never been my strongest of tracks so to get a result here is fantastic, and now I will be looking to build on this lead in the championship.” Triumph Triple Challenge top six, Thruxton: 1. Chrissy Rouse 2. Philip Atkinson 3. Daniel Fuller 4. Scott Pitchers 5. Sam Cox 6. Charlie King Triumph Triple Challenge Championship points after Thruxton: 1. Chrissy Rouse 61 2. Philip Atkinson 56 3. Freddy Pett 50 4. Daniel Fuller 40 5. Charlie King 33 6. Tom Hayward 29 More, from a press release issued by T3 Racing Team: Rob Guiver continued his battle in the British Supersport series and finished 23rd in Race 1 at Thruxton for the Ace Cafe T3 Racing team. After minimal time on the Ace Cafe Racer at Thruxton, Guiver qualified 18th on the grid in one of the few dry sessions on the day. Race 1 had to be rearranged for Sunday after heavy rain which caused standing water on track on the Saturday. Guiver was not feeling confident on the bike after an off in the morning warm up, the reason wasn’t completely explained which made him unsure of the track. Guiver dropped back to 20th off the line and was overtaken twice more on lap one putting him in 22nd place. His race was shaken up by a coming together with Dean Hipwell on lap two. Hipwell’s race was over but, luckily for Guiver, the Ace Cafe Racer wasn’t too badly damaged and he was able to continue. After a couple of laps, he was beginning to find some pace and reclaimed a position from William Dunlop. However, things continued to get worse for Guiver as Dunlop came back past, along with Pauli Pekkanen, Shaun Winfield and John Simpson. It was on lap five that Guiver began to find more pace and started knocking off the seconds from his lap times. Two laps later, the race was red flagged as Glen Richards came off his bike, hitting Graeme Gowlands in the process who surprisingly stayed on his bike. Guiver was disappointed with the race and spoke to us after: “Well the race was a bit of a disaster for me really, on the second lap I had a coming together with another rider. We had a bit of a seep coming from our brake from the crash in the morning warm up and I couldn’t stop so just went into the back of another rider and after that I sort of just lost all of my concentration. Then it got red flagged not long after because of the crash with Glen Richards, so not a very good race to be honest with you.” The race saw Stuart Easton cross the line first once again after battling it out with Alastair Seeley, Ben Wilson and Glen Richards. Supersport returned for their second race which was reduced to 15 laps that afternoon. For more information visit www.t3-racing.co.uk or www.ace-cafe-london.com. Alternatively you can find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/t3racing) or follow us on twitter (@T3Racing). More, from a press release issued by T3 Racing Team: Rob Guiver finished 18th today at Thruxton but 3rd in the cup class putting him on Supersport podium two weeks running. After coming off in the practice this morning and a collision in race one with Dean Hipwell, the outlook for race two was far from positive but Guiver managed to keep his mind on the race in hand and put himself in to a strong position. Stuart Easton went on the win the race in the 14th lap due to a red flag caused by Nikki Coates coming off at Club. The race was far from easy for Easton as he was constantly trading places for the lead with both Ben Wilson and Alastair Seeley. Guiver started at 23rd position off the grid and got away to a good start in the first lap but unfortunately dropped in to 26th by the end of the second lap. Despite his problems in the previous race he managed to get a good line and rhythm going and gradually crept up the pack until the 9th lap where Guiver got caught up in a fight for 22nd with Simpson who forced him drop into 23rd. Rob responded in the lap ten by overtaking both Simpson and Newstead to take 21st, the next few laps saw Rob climb to 20th by the 14th lap, and when Nikki Coates came off, Guiver jumped to 18th but the race was then red flagged. Guiver had this to say after the race: “Obviously having a crash this morning dented my confidence a bit, the changes we made to the bike were really good but it was just a matter of getting my confidence back. I was pretty happy with the bike and with the speed of it, we’ll just take the positives for Oulton really” A difficult race for the team but manager Ricky Chadwick had this to say about Guiver and the weekend as a whole: “He just struggled a little with his head today after he came off in morning warm up. It’s a bit of an unexplained crash really so he was worried about how the bike was going to perform on track. It’s a strange circuit here anyway, so there’s no data we can use from other circuits and there’s none that we can take away either. It’s not been a bad weekend, he’s still on the podium, it’s just not where we want to be.” A three week break until the next meeting at Oulton park should give the team time to get some of the problems and kinks worked out, hopefully meaning a more successful next round. For more information visit www.t3-racing.co.uk or www.ace-cafe-london.com. Alternatively you can find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/t3racing) or follow us on twitter (@T3Racing). More, from a press release issued by Triumph Triple Challenge organizers: Chrissy Rouse claimed his first Triumph Triple Challenge (TTC) victory of the season at Thruxton and is now leading the championship. It was a disaster race for Freddy Pett who crashed on lap five after qualifying on pole. Pett and Phil Atkinson where close from the start whilst Rouse dropped back to fourth after being overtaken by Dan Fuller. For much of the first lap they were challenging for position or running side by side. On lap two, Rouse found a gap and pulled into the lead, leaving Pett and Atkinson to battle behind. The two older riders continued to swap places whilst pushing to catch Rouse. It was on lap four that Atkinson began to lose pace and dropped back to fifth. There were now two battles at the front of the race, Rouse and Pett were challenging for the win and Scott Pitchers was chasing down Fuller for third. It was then, on lap five, that Pett high sided and was thrown off his bike. Fuller began chasing down Rouse and by lap eight had got the gap down to only 0.2 seconds. However, only a lap later, Atkinson snuck past the two Cup riders and began pursuing Rouse. Atkinson was pushing to the end but it was Rouse who crossed the line first. When we spoke to him afterwards he was thrilled with the result: “I’m absolutely over the moon, fantastic race. To be honest with you, when I went out there, I was only really expecting to be top three, and I was planning on staying behind a few riders and making a last lap go at getting a good result but I felt more comfortable leading the race. I thought if I can get out in the front, I can do my own thing and stay nice and consistent and I’m just delighted to take the win.” Although he didn’t get the win, Atkinson was still really happy with the result: “We haven’t had a lot of time on the bike and I’m still riding injured so it’s probably the best result I could have asked for. Those final turns are always a bit dodgy, so I tried to square it off and get Chrissy across the line, it didn’t happen but it was close!” Fuller was able to hold his position against Pitchers and crossed the line third overall putting him fourth in the championship. He also came first in the Cup class with Pitchers second and Sam Cox third. Fuller spoke to us about the difficulties of riding at Thruxton: “The back straight slip stream was incredible, I’m not the smallest of riders and people were coming past like I was standing still in my slip stream and I couldn’t do anything about it.” It was Pitchers first time on the podium in the TTC and he was thrilled with the result: “I started 11th on the grid and I made some changes late with the Ohlins suspension and basically just guessing on the weather, it was a bit worrying if it was going to be wet so I just took a chance and it worked. The bike handled really well, I couldn’t complain really I just picked away and got up further and I tried to get to catch the others but they just pipped me at the end, I gave it all I had.” Last years race at Thruxton was Cox’s first time on the TTC podium. He was leading the remainder of the pack ten seconds behind the front runners: “It would have been nice to be up the front pack but I didn’t get a great start and I managed to fight my way through and started closing on Tom Hayward. Eventually I got him with about three laps to go. I’m really happy with another podium and hopefully we can build on this for Oulton.” Rouse now leads the championship, five points ahead of Atkinson and 11 ahead of Pett so it is all still to play for as we head to Oulton Park for the next round. Follow @TriumphTC on twitter or like www.facebook.com/triumphtriplechallenge for more information and updates. More, from a press release issued by Doodson Motorsport Team: Tough Weekend Yields Points for Harms With less than a full session of dry track time before the first race Robbin Harms faced an uphill task at the second round of the British Superbike Championship but still notched up a pair of points scoring results for the Doodson Motorsport Team. The Thruxton Race Circuit in Hampshire is renowned as one of the fastest and most challenging tracks in the country. The ex World War II airfield track is ultra fast and bumpy which present challenges to both rider and team. Having never seen, let alone ridden, on the 2.35mile track for Harms it was a steep learning curve. The conditions for learning the circuit but also finding a good bike set up to suit were far from ideal. Only the second practice session was dry enough to allow the use of “Slick” dry tyres leaving Thruxton rookie Harms at a big disadvantage in learning the track and also finding a good bike set up to suit the unique track. Weather continued to hinder preparations for race day, with qualifying eventually cancelled due to heavy rain, meaning standing water made the track unraceable. Having been placed 21st on the grid, Robbin continued to improve his pace throughout the 20 laps of the first race. A creditable performance earned him 15th place, championship points and a lap time 1.5 seconds faster than his previous best. The second race was incident packed with crashes bringing out the safety car twice before a third accident on the 13th lap brought a premature end to proceedings. During the seven flying laps Harms had improved his time by another half second and this time worked his way up to 14th. Harms concluded: “With only one practice in dry before the races I am happy to go home with some “small” points in both races. The team and I did everything possible to find the best setup up in the impossible circumstances. We still have a long way to go before our bike is performing good but we are working in the right direction” Team manager Tom Tunstall added: “Under the circumstances I think we couldn’t have expected any more from both Robbin and the team. It’s been a tough and challenging weekend with the lack of dry time for Robbin to learn the track and get the information to work with the bike. The races were almost like tests as it was only then the areas for improvement became apparent, but to bring home more points was a good achievement”. Those challenges may well continue over the next three races, all at tracks that are new to the Danish rider. Hopefully the British weather will be kinder as the series moves onto Oulton Park in Cheshire in just under three weeks time [4th-6th May].