Gobert wins Supersport at Eastern Creek FX-Superbike round Gobert Motorsports Yamaha rider Aaron Gobert has sealed victory in the Supersport category during Eastern Creek’s third round of the Yamaha Australian FX-Superbike Championship on 1-3 July. The experienced former American and Australian national champion finished as top Supersport contender during Saturday’s FX Nationals and then repeated that feat on Sunday in the official Australian championship round. Gobert set his best lap ever of the world renowned Eastern Creek Raceway on Sunday during race one with a 1:34.731 lap, before going on to top the Supersport field in all three races for the round. In a successful weekend for Gobert aboard his Yamaha YZF-R6, he was also credited the ‘Formula Oz’ round win in the combined field against more powerful 1000cc machines. “I was riding my spare bike over the weekend and it all went to plan once we got the settings right with the suspension,” Gobert explained. “I was able to do my best lap that I’ve ever done around Eastern Creek on the 600 on Sunday morning, so that was a good achievement for me as well. “It will be good to carry this momentum into racing for the rest of the season.” Gobert will now set his sights on the final round of the Australian Supersport Championship, which will be contested at Phillip Island in Victoria on 18-20 November. More, from a press release issued by KTM: Heroic ride returns Martin Bauer to IDM Championship lead Martin Bauer was the KTM hero of the day at the Salzburgring this weekend when the KTM Superbike riders contested the IDM (German International Superbike Championship). Bauer, riding with a badly injured hand rode to a 2-4 finish in the two races to reclaim the lead in the overall standings In Saturday’s practice it was not certain that Bauer would be able to ride on Sunday even though he was the fastest of the three KTM supported riders on the speedy Austrian circuit where the fastest riders clock in excess of 190 km/h. Bauer finished seventh fastest on Saturday in what is his home race while Stefan Nebel of Germany, returning after an injury break was tenth. The third of the trio of riders of the KTM RC8 R Superbike, Matej Smrz of the Czech Republic was 16th, but only 0,8 seconds off the front row times. Race one on Sunday produced an absolutely outstanding performance from Martin Bauer. On Friday it was far from certain that he would be able to race at all and the team said they would decide session by session whether it would be possible to have him on the track. Two things combined to allow the Austrian to compete on Sunday perfect support from his team of physiotherapists and his unbelievable will to ride. He went out, rode like a champion and finished second behind fellow Austrian Michael Ranseder but in front all his major rivals. With Carl Muggeridge finishing only in tenth place, Martin already reclaimed the standings lead after race one and he did in in front of the admiring eyes of KTM management and more than 500 KTM employees who went to the circuit situated near the company headquarters in Mattighofen. Bauer was so exhausted after the race he could barely move. The effort of riding without full use of his right hand and therefore having to exert more pressure with his legs to stabilize the bike on the 4. 2 km circuit with a top speed of more than 300 km/h had completely drained him but attracted huge admiration from the many KTM fans who came to see him ride. Stefan Nebel finished strongly in sixth place and also had to fight against the pain of his still healing shoulder and collarbone injury. Matej Smrz also rode well to move from the fourth row into the top ten, battling with Australian Rider Muggeridge. Smrz picked up five points for his eleventh place. Race 2: The 10,000 spectators were excited to see Bauer get away well also in the second race to be third at the end of the first lap. Ranseder overtook him but he managed to stay in touch with the three front riders and was in fourth place when rain stopped the race. This earned him another 13 points to extend his lead over Muggeridge to 12 points. While Bauer’s epic ride on Sunday will go down at KTM as one of the bravest, the Austrian now has three weeks break to help heal his injury. Nebel also finished strongly just two seconds behind Martin in fifth place. While his injury break has stolen any championship chances from Nebel, he has underlined his motivation with his strong comeback. Matej Smrz was unable to finish the race as his RC8R began to lose performance and rather than take any risks on the high-speed circuit he decided to return to the pits. He is now fifth in the standings but only 15 points behind second place and is enjoying a strong rookie year with the Inghart KTM team. Martin Bauer (finished 2-4): “Without a doubt the hardest race weekend of my career. It was important for me to get a good start in both races to enable me to ride together with those at the front. I only managed to secure second place in the first race in the third last corner. It was a good thing that the second race was stopped because I am not sure I would have been able to ride in the last four laps. What I really need now is a holiday. Many thanks go to my two physiotherapists Erwin Göllner and Dr. Thierry Murrisch without their help it would have been impossible to return to the top of the standings. ” Stefan Nebel (finished 6-55): “It was only three days ago that I got the okay to start here and I am very happy that I managed to do quite well for the home race and in front of so many fans. Despite the conditions not being ideal I managed quite well and even though I wasn’t completely fit I was still much faster than in 2010. The team really did a great job. Finally, a huge compliment to Martin. While I was riding behind him I just hoped he would be able to keep going at what was a crazy tempo. Matej Smrz (11/DNF): “It’s no secret that the Salzburgring is not my favorite circuit, and on top of that I had a crash in free practice and technical problems in race 2. For me it was a rather disappointing weekend and I’m happy that it is over.” IDM 125 Podium for Toni Finsterbusch Toni Finsterbusch of Germany fought to a strong third place in the 125 competition on Sunday. Fellow KTM riders Alex Kristiansson and Luca Gruenwald followed him. Philip Oettl, who on Saturday raced to a solid fifth place in the Red Bull Rookies Cup in Italy, came home in eleventh place. Kristiansson is third in the championship as the best KTM rider, Finsterbusch is fourth, Gruenwald is sixth and youngster Oettl is eighth. IDM SUPERBIKE, Race 1 Results 1, Michael Ranseder, Austria, BMW 2, Martin Bauer, Austria, KTM 3, Ghisbert van Ginhoven, Netherlands, BMW 4, Damian Cudlin, Australia, BMW 5, Filip Altendorfer, Germany, BMW Other KTM 6, Stefan Nebel, Germany, KTM 11, Matej Smrz, Czech Republic, KTM IDM SUPERBIKE, Race 2 Results 1, Filip Altendorfer, Germany, BMW 2, Michael Ranseder, Austria, BMW 3, Ghisbert van Ginhoven, Netherlands, BMW 4, Martin Bauer, Austria, KTM 5, Stefan Nebel, Germany, KTM DNF Matej Smrz, Czech Republic KTM IDM SUPERBIKE Standings 1, Martin Bauer, Austria, KTM, 146 2, Karl Muggeridge, Australia, Honda, 134 3, Michael Ranseder, Austria, BMW, 129 4, Damian Cudlin, Australia, BMW, 120 5, Mate Smrz, Czech Republic, KTM, 119 Other KTM 13, Stefan Nebel, Germany, KTM, 47 IDM 125, Results 1, Luca Amato, Germany, Aprilla 2, Jack Miller, Australia, Aprilla 3, Toni Finsterbusch, GER, KTM 4. Alexander Kristiansson, Sweden, KTM 5, Luca Grünwald, Germany, KTM Other KTM 9, Damien Raemy, Switzerland, KTM 11, Philipp Oettl, GER, KTM IDM 125, Standings 1, Jack Miller, Australia, Aprilla, 105 2, Luca Amato, Germany, Aprilla, 104 3. Alexander Kristiansson, Sweden, KTM, 65 4, Toni Finsterbusch, GER, KTM, 52 5, Maximilian Eckner, Germany, Aprilla, 47 Other KTM 6, Luca Grünwald, Germany, KTM, 46 9, Philipp Öttl, GER, KTM, 30 10, Deni Cudic, Austria, KTM, 23 15, Florian Alt, GER, KTM, 13 16, Damien Raemy, Switzerland, KTM, 12 More, from a press release issued by AP Kawasaki: Points All Round For AP Kawasaki The AP Kawasaki team enjoyed a good day of racing in front of over 43,000 fans at Snetterton today with both Freddie Russo and Leon Hunt scoring points in their respective Metzeler Superstock Championships. Russo took a fine fifth place in the Metzeler National Superstock 600cc Championship race, just a couple of tenths off a podium spot, whilst Hunt racked up his second points scoring finish of the season with a fighting 15th in the 1000cc category. Brentford rider Russo had been in good form all weekend and right from the off he was on the pace, posting the third fastest time in free practice. Qualifying saw him post the fifth fastest time and so he was in good shape coming into today’s 12-lap race. A good start saw him complete the first lap in sixth place but a lap later he was up to fifth as he fought it out with three other riders for third place when out came the red flags to stop the race. With the re-start scheduled for five laps, Freddie got another solid start and finished the first lap in fourth place although he was shuffled back to fifth at the end of lap three as once more though, the red flag came out for another crash and with the results taken at the end of the third lap, he was awarded fifth place, a result which moves him onto 38 points and up to ninth in the Championship table. Hunt meanwhile had again struggled with the set-up of the machine during practice and only qualified in 19th place but a change to his suspension settings saw him post the eighth quickest time in morning warm-up. Although he still had to start from the fifth row of the grid, Leon was happier with the bike and he made steady progression throughout the race. Lapping consistently quicker than those riders in front of him, the Brighton rider moved up into the points on the 13th of the 14 laps and his hard riding was rewarded with 15th place and a valuable Championship point. Freddie Russo: “With all the red flags, it was a bit of a stop-start race but I had a good race plan in my head and although I didn’t make the greatest of starts, I had a good first corner and was able to maintain my position. I got a better start in the re-run and although fifth’s still good, I’m a little disappointed as I’m sure we could have had third had it not been for the second red flag. James East had got me at the last turn but I was able to get by him going into the first bend and I was just lining up Jake Newstead for third when the red flag came out again so it scuppered that plan. “I’ve been in the top six all weekend, which is where we want to be, and the bike’s been on the dyno and it’s been flying all weekend whilst we’ve also got a real good set-up now so I’ll be looking to stay in the top six from now on in. I enjoyed the new Snetterton circuit so a big thanks to all the team for doing a great job. We’ve got Oulton Park next, where I got second earlier in the year, so I’ll be looking to keep the momentum going and hope for more of the same there.” Leon Hunt: “I again struggled in qualifying but the changes we made overnight definitely worked and although I didn’t get the greatest of starts I was catching and passing people throughout. I had a small problem with my brakes in the early laps and when I went to adjust it, I moved the lever the wrong way so lost a bit of time trying to sort it out. It took me a while to get going again but, when I did I was really happy with my pace and I was reeling people in all the time, even the group battling for eighth place were coming back to me. I’m still not happy with 15th as I know I can do better but my fitness is now really good, I was happy with how I rode and we’re making progress all the time so there are lots of positives to take from the race.” Alan Greig: “After the Knockhill round, Freddie’s learnt the importance of qualifying well and he was fast straight out of the traps this weekend. He only lost out on a front row start in the dying seconds so we were all confident he could have a good race. He was challenging for third place right from the off and actually got into that position when the red flag came out. Sadly for us, the results went back a lap and we got bumped back to fifth but the target was the top six and that’s what we got so we’re very pleased with the result. “It’s been the same story for Leon this weekend as he’s continuing to struggle with the set-up of the bike but he tried something totally different for morning warm-up and he was immediately a lot happier. He still had to start from 19th, which was obviously tough but he moved forward throughout the race and, with a series of good laps, he made his way into the points, which was very satisfying. We’re moving in the right direction with both riders and bikes and we can go to Oulton feeling confident. It’s a good track for us and where Freddie finished on the podium earlier in the year so we’re all very much looking forward to going there.” Metzeler National Superstock 600cc Championship (3 laps) 1 Glenn Irwin (Kawasaki) 5m54.429s 2 Connor Behan (Kawasaki) +0.363s 3 Jake Newstead (Yamaha) +1.822s 4 James East (Yamaha) +2.095s 5 Freddie Russo (AP Kawasaki) +2.126s 6 Deane Brown (Yamaha) +2.355s 7 Keith Farmer (Yamaha) +2.436s 8 Tom Fisher (Kawasaki) +5.006s 9 Grant Whitaker (Yamaha) +5.132s 10 Cody Nally (Kawasaki) +5.547s Championship Positions (after 6 rounds) 1 Farmer 109pts 2 Behan 71 3 Irwin 64 4 Brown 62 5 East 57 6 Burke 48 9 Russo 38 Metzeler National Superstock 1000cc Championship (14 laps) 1 Richard Cooper (BMW) 26m14.313s 2 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki) +0.234s 3 Howie Mainwaring (Kawasaki) +20.569s 4 Luke Quigley (BMW) +20.621s 5 Tristan Palmer (Honda) +21.060s 6 Victor Cox (Kawasaki) +21.084s 7 Adam Jenkinson (Honda) +21.632s 8 David Johnson (Honda) +26.955s 9 Jonathan Howarth (Kawasaki) +32.653s 10 Marshall Neill (Aprilia) +32.654s 15 Leon Hunt (AP Kawasaki) +42.653s Championship Positions (after 6 rounds) 1 Buchan 117pts 2 Palmer 115 3 Cooper 104 4 O’Halloran 61 5 Mainwaring 54 6 Quigley 52 25 Hunt 2 More, from a press release issued by sorrymate.com Honda: Hard fought points for Linfoot at Snetterton Dan Linfoot and the sorrymate.com Honda team battled hard throughout three days of action at Snetterton at the weekend where they were competing in the latest round of the British Superbike Championship and although they didn’t reach the heights they have done previously this season, they were at least rewarded with some points in Sunday’s second race, a fighting 12th place position. With a new circuit to tackle, the 2.97-mile ‘Snetterton 300′ layout, there was a lot to learn for everyone and although only 18th in the first free practice session, Dan took almost two seconds off his time to go 15th quickest in the second session. He did the same again in the final free practice session and a time of 1m49.457s placed him 9th quickest and feeling a lot more confident going into qualifying. However, he was unable to find any more time and a lap of 1m49.593s saw him eliminated at the second stage subsequently lining up in 17th place for the opening 17-lap race. It proved to be a tough race though with the hot temperatures causing there to be a distinct lack of grip around the new course. That, coupled with some major electrical problems, meant Dan was really up against it and with no traction he was unable to make any impression on the race eventually taking the chequered flag in 18th place. The second race saw Dan again line up on the fifth row but this time in 19th, a position he held until lap 3 when he moved up to 17th. That soon became 16th although the red flag came out on the seventh lap due to a heavy crash involving Simon Andrews and Steve Brogan. With the race re-started over 9 laps, the race was compromised at the start when the machine bogged down but although he dropped back to 16th, Dan was able to overtake a number of riders and his determined riding culminated in a 12th place finish. The 4 Championship points have moved him on to a total of 49 to maintain his 14th place overall in the title table. Talking afterwards, team owner Robin Croft said: “There’s no doubt it’s been another tough weekend for us but at least it ended with some hard earned points. All weekend Dan’s been struggling for grip and the problem was compounded in the first race with electrical gremlins causing him to have no traction at all. He also had a misfire low down in the rev range but Dan rode hard and did all he possibly could to bring the bike home in 18th place.” “The boys in the team made a few changes between the race and did what they could to trace the misfire but the bikes are so technical now you literally have to strip the bike right down and rebuild it something we obviously didn’t have time to do. The red flag helped us out and meant we could start the final 9-lap race further up the grid although the bike bogged down at the start and immediately left Dan with a lot of work to do. He dug deep though and steadily chipped away so at least we finished the weekend with a solid finish and some points. It’s very much been a damage limitation weekend though and a frustrating one for all concerned.” The action now moves to the teams’ local circuit with Oulton Park in Cheshire hosting round 7 on the weekend of July 15-17. More, from a press release issued by Marty Nutt’s publicist: No fun in the sun at Snetterton for Nutt Marty Nutt wasn’t able to enjoy himself in the hot sun of Snetterton at the weekend with the Castlerock rider failing to score a point at the latest round of the 2011 British Supersport Championship. After a promising qualifying performance, the Nutttravel.com/Dawn/T&G rider was hopeful of continuing his recent good form but he could only manage a solitary 18th place from the two races, a spill in the second race ending his chances of a top ten position. The weekend started well and, with the new Snetterton ‘300’ circuit in use, times dropped in each and every practice session and Marty steadily improved, taking 15th in the first free practice session and 11th in the second, his best time being 1m54.772s. For the solitary qualifying session, he went quicker still although his time of 1m54.568s meant he lined up in 13th place on the grid for Saturday’s 10-lap race. A sluggish start to the race saw Marty slip back from 13th to 18th at the end of the first lap and here he remained until lap 3 when he moved up to 17th. For the next few laps, Marty found himself embroiled in a battle with Jesse Trayler and Max Hunt for the final Championship point and although he overhauled Hunt on lap 6, he was unable to climb any higher. Indeed, an overtaking attempt at the end of the back straight saw him forced onto the grass and he dropped back to 18th at the chequered flag. However, with the 12th fastest lap of the race, he was able to start from slightly higher up the grid for Sunday’s longer 15-lap race although another sluggish start saw him complete the first lap back in 16th. He soon began to advance forward though and by the third lap he was up inside the points in 13th and part of a four-man group battling for 11th. No sooner had he begun to start planning his attack though, he clipped the kerb on the way into the final corner and he crashed out, fortunately without injury. Speaking afterwards, Marty said: “I made a really bad start in Saturday’s race and had a bad first few corners as well so that left me mired in the pack and it was struggle to get by people, I just couldn’t get close enough to make a safe pass. In the end I made a mistake at the end of the back straight when I tried to go round the outside of Jesse Trayler. It worked for me a lot last year but he ran wide and it left me no place to go other than the grass so to finish 18th and outside the points was disappointing especially after the good run we’ve had recently.” “The good thing this year though is that we get two bites of the cherry so we made a few changes to the bike overnight, the main ones of which were fitting a softer back spring and also softening the front and that made the bike so much better through the faster turns. Again, I didn’t make a great start but I was happy with how I soon began to move forward and the bike felt so much more comfortable that I felt confident of reaching the top ten. However, as soon as I clipped the kerb I was down and there was no way of saving it. It was completely my fault but the punishment didn’t fit the crime and it’s very frustrating as I really like the circuit and it’s brought an end to my run of good results. My mechanic Andy had worked really hard over the three days and I didn’t repay him as I would have liked but I was riding well in Sunday’s race and we again made progress with the bike so there are plenty of positives to take. We’ll just put it behind us and look forward to getting back into the points next time out.” Round 7 of the British Supersport Championship takes place at Oulton Park, Cheshire on July 15-17. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing’s Josh Brookes took his first podium for Suzuki at the Snetterton 300 British Superbike Championship round on Sunday with second place in race two, jumping into a provisional Shoot Out top-six position. Josh Brookes: “Now I’ve got something to smile about! In race one we just didn’t have the grip we’d been having in qualifying and free practice. I knew from lap one that we had a problem, but I did the best I could, although I was disappointed as we had been so strong up to that point. I really do believe we could have had the same result in race one that we had in race two. I was riding past pit wall looking at the guys knowing they would be thinking, ‘oh no our luck hasn’t changed’, so there was a sigh of relief when I came in and told them what was wrong. “Race two is the first opportunity I’ve had this year to show people what I can really do on the GSX-R1000 Suzuki and there’s more to come. We really do have more room for improvement. I did expect to move forward this weekend but jumping into the top six is a bonus. We’ve just got to get out there now and make the results and the rest will happen.” Philip Neill – Team Manager: “We’re back in the hunt in the Superbike class and what is pleasing is that Josh was able to ride at the front, well within his limits today. We could well have been up there in race one if we hadn’t had a problem, but race two made up for it. It’s been a fantastic weekend all round and with the pace he has shown I knew Josh was capable of fighting for podiums. It’ll give him confidence especially coming away from the meeting in the top six. I have to thank my team for ten days of hard work in testing which enabled us to provide Josh with an easier bike to ride. We never doubted his ability; it was just a matter of getting everything to gel. Snetterton Superbike Results: British Superbike Race 1 [17 laps]: 1 John Hopkins [Suzuki] 31: 59.427; 2 Tommy Hill [Yamaha] +0.274; 3 Shane Byrne [Honda] +2.966; 4 Michael Laverty [Yamaha] +3.638; 5 Ryuichi Kiyonari [Honda] +4.199; 6 Jon Kirkham [Suzuki] +5.505; 7 Josh Brookes [Relentless Suzuki by TAS] +10.427; 8 Chris Walker [Kawasaki] +11.572; 9 Loris Baz [Yamaha] +11.792; 10 Peter Hickman [Honda] +13.909. British Superbike Race 2 [9 lap re-start] 1 Ryuichi Kiyonari [Honda] 16: 4.190; 2 Josh Brookes [Relentless Suzuki by TAS] +0.810; 3 John Hopkins [Suzuki] +1.518; 4 Shane Byrne [Honda] +3.550; 5 Michael Laverty [Yamaha].+4.819; 6 Martin Jessopp [Ducati] +9.648; 7 Loris Baz [Yamaha] +9.815; 8 Chris Walker [Kawasaki] +16.360; 9 Ian Lowry [BMW] +18.208; 10 Jake Zemke [Honda] +20.145. More, from another press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Alastair Seeley followed up his domination of the Supersport class on Saturday with a double victory on his Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing GSX-R600 by almost nine seconds on Sunday. The Ulsterman also took both pole positions and fastest laps over the weekend at the Norfolk circuit. Alastair Seeley: “That’s what we came here to do: win races. Ben tried to rough me up in the first few laps but I got him back pretty early on and just watched my board and pulled away. It has been a perfect weekend for us with poles, fastest laps and two wins. Now we’ve just got to keep chipping away, but I have to say, the boys in the team have done a great job with the bike. It’s making my job that bit easier and I’m sure my GSX-R600 will be even stronger as the season goes on. It was also good to see Josh getting the Superbike podium he deserved today. I’m convinced he’ll go from strength to strength now.” Philip Neill – Team Manager: “What can I say about Alastair Seeley that hasn’t already been said? It’s hard to describe how good he is to watch in that sort of mood. We have improved the bike yes, but the rider is always the final ingredient, and even we as a team were surprised to see how he dominated such a quality field. He needs to keep plugging away now. We know how good the new GSX-R600 is and with the improvements, we can make it even better for Alastair. He’s not under any pressure and in that sort of form who knows what he can do.” British Supersport Race 2 [15 laps]:1 Alastair Seeley [Relentless Suzuki by TAS] 28:11.261; 2 Ben Wilson [Kawasaki] +8.699; 3 Luke Mossey [Triumph] +12.535; 4 Sam warren [Yamaha] +13.193; 5 Dan Cooper [Triumph] +17.188; 6 AJ Venter [Triumph] +20.799.. More, from a press release issued by FTR MOTO: FTR MOTO AND CORSI RUN CONTINUES IN ITALY FTR MOTO M211 rider Simone Corsi continued his run of scoring points in every race of 2011 with seventh place in Sunday’s eighth round of the Moto2 World Championship at Mugello in Italy his seventh top 10 finish this year. Corsi sits fourth in the World Championship on his Ioda Racing Project FTR M211 after he pipped fellow FTR rider Max Neukirchner for seventh by 0.3s in the 21-lap race. Esteve Rabat narrowly missed out on World Championship points as he took 16th place on the Blusens STX M211. Valentin Debise continues to close in on a first point-scoring finish as the young Frenchman brought the Speed Up M211 home in 18th place. Mattia Pasini, on the second of the Ioda Racing Project M211s, finished 20th after starting from eighth place on the grid. Anthony West (MZ-FTR) also qualified in the top 10 and the Australian was as high as sixth place in the race before finishing 21st. Luckless Pol Espargaro, having qualified in sixth place, was lying seventh when he crashed out lap 13, remounting to finish 28th, one place ahead of Kenny Noyes (FOGI/GP Tech Team) with Santiago Hernandez (SAG Team) 30th as the Colombian continues to chase his first points of 2011. Ratthapark Wilairot, on the Thai Honda Singha SAG M211 was a lap 15 retirement while Yonny Hernandez having sat in fifth place in the early stages crashed out on lap eight. Tommaso Lorenzetti, replacing Kev Coghlan in the Aeroport de Castello team, was a fifth lap retirement. FTR Moto introduced its new MotoGP Marketing Manager, Fabio Barchitta, at the Italian Grand Prix. The former 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix racer will work with FTR on all of its MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 projects. “Mugello was another mixed bag of results for us but the positive signs were evident once more,” said FTR’s Steve Bones. “We were in the top five speeds of the weekend, at 178mph, and some of the fastest laps of the race were recorded by Simone Corsi, Pol Espargaro and Yonny Hernandez. “The younger guys are definitely improving and becoming much more acquainted with the M211 now. It was also nice to introduce Fabio Barchitta at Mugello and we’ll now all be working together to improve results again when we get to the German round on Sunday week.” More, from another press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Samsung Crescent Racing’s John Hopkins took a win and a podium from the inaugural BSB meeting at the Snetterton 300 circuit today and with the highest points tally of any rider on the day, strengthened his position in the 2011 British Superbikes Championship. After six of 12 rounds, the Suzuki rider is second to Shane Byrne by a gap of 19 points but significantly is just one point behind on podium credits. Team mate Jon Kirkham struggled with grip issues in both races. He battled these to record a hard-earned sixth place in race one (just 5.5-seconds behind winner Hopkins), but crashed out of the restarted race two while trying to recover from a slow start. Kirkham has dropped to ninth place in the Championship but with the lower leaderboard positions being so tight he in fact only lies seven points outside the important top-six ‘Title Fighters’ that go on to battle for the Championship over the final three rounds. John Hopkins: “I’m happy; my Samsung Crescent Suzuki was brilliant today and I can’t thank my crew enough for creating a bike that I feel so confident with. We got the biggest points haul today and that’s really helped my Championship position; to be just one point behind Byrne on podium credits will do fine at this stage of the Championship. “I must also say, again, that I really enjoyed this circuit. It’s been so much fun. All of us riders said before today that it would create close and exciting racing – and it did. It also led to some bar-banging, quite literally and ultimately that cost both Byrne and myself the chance to win the second race. I’m sorry for the both of us on that; we both probably wanted that win maybe too much and in the heat of the moment you want to do everything you can to make that win happen.” Jon Kirkham: “I’m feeling pretty second hand after crashing at the Bombhole in that second race. It’s been a really tough day’s racing as I haven’t had the rear tyre grip I need to do the job. Emotionally right now I don’t feel so upbeat, but I guess if I can finish this close to the lead on a bike that’s not yet ‘mine’ then what can come when we get the set-up sorted?!” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “We had a cracking first race. Hopper proved his set-up was right by doing great lap times throughout the race and being able to manage his tyres so that he had what he needed to steal the win at the flag. In the second race it looked like he stood a chance of running away with the win, only for the race to be stopped because of a crash. With the race re-run as a nine-lap dash it became something of a banzai affair for everyone – hard passes were being made on every corner. We lost the win in all of that, but the podium finish is some consolation. “JK’s had a very testing weekend. He hasn’t yet found a set-up that will work for him as Hopper’s found on his bike. We’re doing everything we can to make that happen. That JK can in the meantime make a top-six result like he did in race one is testament to his considerable skill. The re-run of the second race cost him more than it did for Hopper. He made his worst start of the weekend and crashed while trying to recover so many places over so few laps. I can understand his frustration, but as soon as we can solve his grip issues then I know he’s going to be podium material again. “We’re looking forward now to Oulton Park in a fortnight’s time, for our second visit – the venue of Hopper’s first win. We’ll be looking for more podiums and hopefully more wins again!” MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship: Race one result: 1 John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 2 Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +0.274s 3 Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +2.966s 4 Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +3.638s 5 Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +4.199s 6 Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +5.505s 7 Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki) +10.427s 8 Chris Walker (Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki) +11.572s 9 Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +11.792s 10 Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) +13.909s Race two result: 1 Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 2 Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki) +0.810s 3 John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +1.518s 4 Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +3.550s 5 Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +4.189s 6 Martin Jessopp (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +9.648s 7 Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +9.815s 8 Chris Walker (Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki) +16.360s 9 Ian Lowry (Buildbase BMW) +18.208s 10 Jake Zemke (WFR Honda) +20.148s DNF: Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) Championship points: 1 Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 201 2 John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 182 3 Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 140 4 Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 120 5 Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 119 6 Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 91 9 Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 84 More, from a press release issued by Muench Racing: MUENCH Racing is back! German E- bike Team wins TTXGP championship race in Spa Francorchamps Last Saturday’s TTXGP Championship race was really thrilling to watch for all fans and motorbike enthusiasts. Eleven E-bike Teams participated in the race to compete against each other. Amongst them Ho Chi Fung and his team Zongshen, a Chinese Motor Bike manufacturer. Due to the changing weather conditions it was not only each drivers driving ability but far more the racing strategy each team chose which defined the winner of the race. Having already proofed what successful strategists they are MUENCH Racing took advantage of the circumstances and came out victorious in the end. “Our dream started at 8.30 am on Friday morning during the open practice”, says MUENCH Manager Thomas Petsch. “Amongst the eleven participating teams we were the only German team and after our bitter set back during the race in Silverstone we brought our new developed MUENCH TTE-2.0.” Instead of the missing Japanese Team Prozza the Chinese team of the big motorcycle manufacturer Zongshen with its 16 team members and two bikes participated in the race. However, MUENCH had other problems to focus on: “In contrast to the TTE-1.2 the hinge moment during the lower engine speed is not satisfying yet. We hope that in the future we will be able to improve it. Until now the engineers of the manufacturer could only shrug their shoulders. During the higher engine speed however the TTE 2.0 is almost as fast as the former TTE-1.2. Although it is more then 15kg heavier”, stated Thomas Petsch. Nevertheless Matthias Himmelmann was once again able to proof his outstanding talent and use the high speed racing track to his advantage. Due to the TTE-2.0’s powerful output during the higher engine speed MUENCH driver Himmelmann was able to achieve a top speed of 214,9 km/h and from that point on drove ahead of the competition in the qualifying and the race. After the two qualification runs it was obvious: If the bike did not have any problems Matthias Himmelmann had good chances to win. He drove a lap time of 2:56.504 and was 0:16.448 seconds ahead of Ho Chi Fung from China and 0:16.852 seconds ahead of his all time rival Alessandro Branetti from Italy. “Our plan was to let Fung and Branetti duel for the victory and attack during the last third of the race. Of course everything turned out to be different when Fung attacked right after the start and since then was ahead of the field,” tells MUENCH manager Petsch. Soon Himmelmann started to chase Fung and passed him as scheduled during the last third of the race. With a considerable gap to his followers Branetti and Fung, Himmelmann was able to bring home another victory for MUENCH Racing. Ahead of Fung Alessandro Branetti came in second. Further Information can be found via www.muenchmotorbikes.com More, from a press release issued by Quay Garage Tyco Honda: MUFF FOURTH IN BSB EVO AT NEW-LOOK SNETTERTON Swiss rider Patric Muff had another great weekend on the Quay Garage Tyco Honda when he finished fourth in the second BSB Evo race of the day at the Snetterton circuit in Norfolk, the new-look ‘300’ circuit attracting a record weekend crowd of 43,000. Muff opened his account with a fifth place in race one but with his second race fourth has move back to fourth overall in the points chase and the half-way point in the 12-round championship. Muff’s second race effort also saw him finish 15th overall in the race against the fully-tuned superbikes on his Evo bike which, under the rules, does not have such a high state of engine tuning. Muff was delighted and said: “I’m really happy with my second race today. It’s like every weekend so far, it’s always a new track for me but we keeping working away and gradually improve the lap times all weekend. Now I’m looking forward to going to Oulton Park in two weeks time because it’s a track we’ve raced on earlier in the season.” The team’s sole BSB rider at Snetterton, Peter Hickman didn’t quite enjoy the same level of success as Patric. He crashed in practice his first ‘off’ of the season – and then couldn’t string a fast lap together in qualifying, although he had shown throughout practice that he had a good race pace on race tyres. He finished a promising tenth in race one but never got the chance to improve on the result in the second encounter when his bike ground to a halt after five laps. The race was red-flagged to deal with a crash and Hickman’s bike was recovered to the pits but it was diagnosed with a crankshaft sensor failure and there was no time to repair it for the restart. Hickman said: “It’s a real shame because we had improved the bike for race two and I felt pretty confident I could go better than the tenth place I scored in race one. But that’s how it goes sometimes.” Quay Garage Tyco Honda team owner Ian Woollacott said: “It’s been a disappointing weekend and we didn’t get the results we had anticipated. Patric rode well again but he was struggling for drive grip in both races, but then I think everyone did this weekend. “Peter’s downfall was qualifying so he had to start from the fourth row. He looked set to build on his first race tenth until the technical failure. “We’ll regroup and go to Oulton Park in two weeks. Peter has slipped outside the top six cut-off for the Showdown that decides the title, so we need some big points from him to claw his way back into contention. And it’s going to be interesting to see how Patric fares on the circuit he’s already had previous racing experience on. More, from a press release issued by Bike Interceptor Yamaha: Sam Warren elevated his Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton machine into a top three position as the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport championship exploded onto the newly created Snetterton 300 circuit (1-3 July). On-track action paid a fitting tribute to the sixty year celebrations of competition at the former air World War II airbase. With the circuit reworked over the close season, and just a handful of testing laps under their belts, all riders would find themselves on equal footing as they negotiated the new 2.97-mile layout. Sam continued his blistering form from Knockhill, taking his YZF-R6 by the scruff of the neck to post strong times at the sharp end of free practice and qualifying, that would see the 29-year old Derbyshire rider start Saturday’s 10-lap Sprint from the outside of the front row. A race-long battle with AJ Venter saw Sam secure sixth at the flag by just a tenth of a second from the Triumph rider, adding another ten points to his championship tally. Sam’s fastest lap time of 1:53.495, set on lap six, would see the Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton machine line up in the middle of the second row for Sunday’s main Supersport event. sam_warren_snetterton_300b.jpgIt was all to play for as the lights went out for the 15-lap Supersport event on Sunday afternoon. The action on track would prove to be as hot as the air temperature, as Sam fought off the advances of the Triumphs of McConnell, Young, Venter and Cooper in the opening exchanges. By mid-distance, Sam and McConnell had broken clear of the pack and began to hunt down Mossey for the final podium slot. An error from McConnell on lap 12 allowed Sam the breathing space he needed behind his machine in order to focus all of his attentions on the rider ahead. The stretch of asphalt to Mossey looked too big for Sam to breach, but his lap times were far superior in the closing stages as he utilised the phenomenal speed of the Seton tuned Yamaha to bridge the gap. Cracking open the throttle as he exited Murrays for the final time, Sam narrowly missed out on another deserved podium. With fourth position came another 13-points, leapfrogging Sam over McConnell and Young in the championship standings and into third with 113-points. Sam now has the accolade of being the highest placed Yamaha rider in the 2011 title chase. ben_burke_snetterton_300.jpgTeammate, Ben Burke looked strong throughout the weekend as the Australian Metzeler National Superstock 600 competitor wrestled his R6 into the top ten for a grid position of eighth for the 12-lap showdown. Dropping a couple of positions on the opening lap, Ben fought back to his starting position on lap 2, and looked as if he had the legs to hunt down the leaders but in his pursuit of the front runners, crashed out at Coram on lap 3. Undeterred, Ben will regroup ahead of Oulton Park, where he scored his second podium of the season back in May. Sam Warren: “It’s been a solid weekend for me and the team. We’ve been running consistently near the top in every session, the only blip came in the Sprint when the soft race tyre didn’t last the distance. Race 2 was much better; if I could get the starts nailed and eliminate some of the mistakes I made I’m sure 3rd would have been possible. To come away 3rd in the championship makes me very happy, hopefully we can keep hold of it! Once again we worked very well as a team and the bike was very fast down the long straight’s. Thanks to all my personal sponsors who are enabling me to be here this year.” Phil Seton, Team Manager: “Another fantastic weekend for Sam and the team. Snetterton has been a big step up for us and Sam is now lying third in the championship and we are the top Yamaha. We took a bit of a gamble in the Sprint, running with the softer Pirelli. Sam was confident that he could post quick times and run at the front despite not getting enough clear track time in qualifying to test it fully. Unfortunately, the tyre went off after lap six, so Sam did an excellent job to keep AJ at bay in a damage limitation exercise. Had it not been for a couple of small errors early on in the main event, Sam would have been pushing for the win and certainly would have been on the podium as his lap times showed over the closing stages. All in, it has been another great weekend, the team has worked tremendously hard and we’ve come away with some solid points that we can take into the second half of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Ryan Farquhar’s publicist: Successful Scarborough outing for Farquhar Ryan Farquhar enjoyed a successful day’s racing at Oliver’s Mount, Scarborough on Sunday taking 4 wins including the feature Barry Sheene Classic Superbike Trophy race. Riding an assortment of machinery, Ryan took wins on Roger Winfield’s XR69 1000cc Suzuki and his own Kawasaki ER6 Supertwin as well as claiming a new class lap record in the Classic Superbike race, his only disappointment on the day being a mechanical failure with the 500cc Paton. Held in glorious conditions, Ryan’s opening race was the first leg of the 400cc and Supertwins, a race he led from start to finish on his KMR ER6 Kawasaki, and his eventual winning margin over Ivan Lintin was 16.95 seconds. He then rode the same machine in the Open race although he pulled in after just a couple of laps deciding it wasn’t safe to compete against 600cc and 1000cc machinery on the slower, but more nimble Supertwin. He was also forced to retire from the opening leg of the Denis Parkinson Trophy race, problems with the 500cc Paton causing him to grind to a halt on the penultimate lap at Mountside Hairpin whilst leading. However, that was his last DNF of the day and he was unbeaten in the remainder of his races. The second leg of the 400cc/Supertwins was another benefit for Ryan, his winning margin on this occasion 10.5seconds, again over Lintin, and he then swapped to the big XR69 Suzuki for the second leg of the Geoff Barry Superbike event, a race he dominated eventually taking the chequered flag some 69 seconds ahead of his nearest rival! He also claimed a new class lap record of 74.831mph. The feature race of the meeting, the six lap Barry Sheene Trophy Race for Classic Superbikes, was Ryan’s final outing of the day and, with a near 9-second lead at the end of the first lap, he was never under threat on the Suzuki and at the end of the race, the margin of victory was almost 26 seconds as he swept to his 4th win of the day. Speaking later, a happy Ryan said: “It’s been a good meeting for me today and although it’s a shame the entry wasn’t a bit bigger, you can only race who you’re up against and I’m naturally pleased to come away with a number of wins and a new class lap record. There were a few date clashes with the meeting namely Goodwood and Spa but it was great to have such fine weather and see a big crowd turn out to support the event. The Paton was going really well in practice so it was a shame we broke down in the race but the big Suzuki was flying and the changes we’ve made to the carburation have been a major step forward. i couldn’t fault the bike at all so I’m really looking forward to racing it at the Manx GP in August.” “I’d only taken my Supertwin with me and another two wins in that class was spot-on as we were close to lap record pace all day. I took the wee bike out in the first Open race but it was getting a bit dangerous as although I was a lot faster through the corners, the big bikes would come flying by along the straights and with some of the boys taking some weird and wonderful lines, I decided to park the bike and stick to the other classes. All in all, it’s been a good day so I’m going to enjoy the rest of the week before heading over to the Isle of Man on Saturday to prepare for the Southern 100 road races. I’ll have a full compliment of machinery there so it will be a busy old week.” Ryan’s next meeting sees him back on the Isle of Man where he’ll be defending his Southern 100 Championship, the event taking place from July 11-14. More, from a press release issued by Russ Proctor on behalf of Jim Cohrs Racing: Summit Point, WV July 2-3, 2011: Jim Cohrs of Suwanee, GA, dominated the competition at Summit Point Raceway for the CCS Twin Sprint event, winning 10 of 12 races contested on his Livengood Motorsports prepared Yamaha R6 race bikes. The outstanding Dunlop tires, coupled with race day tuning from RacerRuss Motorsports, proved to be an effective combination this weekend in the beautiful West Virginia countryside. Cohrs won Saturday’s MW-Superbike, Unlimited Superbike, HW-Superbike, MW-Supersport and HW-Supersport. The only blemish on a flawless day was a debris induced DNF while leading MW-Grandprix. Sunday saw similar results as Cohrs won the 20 Lap GTU event, HW-Supersport, HW-Superbike, MW-Grandprix and the MW-Superbike event, only relinquishing a perfect day by finishing second at the line to Livengood teammate Mark Miller in MW-Supersport. Forty two year old Cohrs extended his lead over rival Santiago Villa for the CCS Mid-Atlantic overall championship with his ironman performance in the hot and humid conditions. Next weekend will see Cohrs back in action at Roebling Road Raceway where he will try to widen his lead over Villa for the CCS-Southeast overall championship. Cohrs would like to thank his sponsors Livengood Motorsports, Dunlop, the Suwanee Clinic, Cycle Gear, Pitbull and Sharkskinz.