Stapleford and Mackenzie share the Snetterton spoils in the Dickies British Supersport Championship

Reigning champion Luke Stapleford and Tarran Mackenzie shared the victories in two hard-fought contests at Snetterton, but James Westmoreland still holds a slender lead of six points at the top of the Dickies British Supersport standings.

It was pole man Mackenzie who took the holeshot in the Sprint race, but a dramatic opening lap saw the Nissan GT-R Safety Car deployed after a number of crashes. Mackenzie’s lead was slowly chipped away by the returning Stapleford, who put his Profile Triumph into the lead on lap five.

Continuing to set fastest lap after fastest lap, Stapleford claimed the win by 3.832s ahead of Mackenzie. A last lap collision between third place Ben Currie and fifth place Luke Jones saw David Allingham take his debut rostrum of the season.

Tarran Mackenzie took his second win of the season in dramatic fashion in the Feature race. Saturday race winner Stapleford took an early lead, just ahead of Mackenzie and Andy Reid, but a mistake from the wildcard rider saw him run on and drop back through the field.

With the remaining duo swapping places at the front, disaster struck Reid who was forced to retire on lap 11, handing Mackenzie a three second lead over Stapleford who had climbed back up to a podium position.

Despite increasing pressure from Stapleford during the closing stages, Mackenzie was able to hold on to take the victory, with Bradley Ray taking his first podium of the season in third. Championship leader Westmoreland secured ninth place.

Dickies British Supersport Championship, Snetterton, Sprint race:

Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing Triumph)

Tarran Mackenzie (Stauff Connect Academy Kawasaki) +3.832s

David Allingham (EHA Racing Yamaha) +7.648s

Brad Ray (FAB-Racing Yamaha) +9.671s

Andrew Irwin (Team Appleyard Macadam Racing Yamaha) +10.575s

Dickies British Supersport Championship British Supersport Championship, Snetterton, Feature race:

Tarran Mackenzie (Stauff Connect Academy)

Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing Triumph) +0.217s

Brad Ray (FAB-Racing Yamaha) +2.831s

Mason Law (Gearlink Kawasaki) +6.238s

Luke Jones (Acumen Industrial Services Triumph) +6.682

Dickies British Supersport Championship standings

James Westmoreland (CAME BPT Yamaha) 124

Tarran Mackenzie (Stauff Connect Academy Kawasaki) 118

Andy Reid (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) 103

Luke Jones (Acumen Industrial Services Triumph) 94

Joe Francis (CAME BPT Yamaha) 75

For more information visit www.britishsuperbike.com

More, from a press release issued by ePayMe Yamaha:

Easton scores top ten finish as Parkes makes strong debut with ePayMe Yamaha

The ePayMe Yamaha team returned to the top ten in the latest round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Snetterton yesterday as Stuart Easton claimed a ninth place finish.

Broc Parkes joined the team for the fifth round of the season, replacing John Hopkins who was sidelined through injury after Knockhill. The former World Supersport contender instantly proved his pace, running inside the top eight throughout free practice and securing his place in the final stage of qualifying to line up in the first Superpole of the season.

The Australian qualified seventh on the grid and was confident of a top six finish; however on the opening lap he was involved in a tangle at the second corner, causing him to take evasive action and crash out of the race. A battered Parkes was then forced to miss the second race, ending his run of momentum on his return to the championship.

Easton had a tough start to his weekend and then qualified in 20th place on the grid, giving him an uphill task for race one, however he battled through and after a hard-fought race returned to the top ten in ninth position. Easton was holding 16th position when race two was red flagged for an incident, leaving him unable to improve in the closing stages.

Parkes said: “It was a disappointing way to end the weekend really as it had been great working with all the ePayMe Yamaha guys at Snetterton. I was feeling really good on the bike from the start of the weekend and I think we would have had a good opportunity to end the weekend with some strong results. I didn’t have to change hardly anything on the bike during the weekend and despite not getting too much dry practice laps in the bag, we were able to be in that top nine for Superpole which was a good feeling.

“Unfortunately I got punted off on the first lap as there was quite a lot of action at turn two! It pushed me onto the grass and the bike landed on top of me; it was a stupid little crash but it left me feeling a bit beaten up so that is why we didn’t start race two. I really enjoyed working with the team though and would like to have another crack at it, so I need to thank them for all their hard work over the weekend.”

Easton said: “It was another tough weekend but to come away with a top ten finish was a good result, especially after qualifying. It is so close in the championship this season that such a small margin makes such a big difference so we have been still looking for that last bit. I started 20th on the grid for race one, so to come through to ninth felt good. I know some of the other riders crashed out, but we need to be finishing consistently in the points and that was what we did.

“My strength had been at the end of the race as I was able to manage the tyres, but with race two unfortunately red flagged I didn’t get the chance to make up some places over those final laps which was a shame, but hopefully we can move forward again at Thruxton.”

Team owner Tommy Hill commented: “It seems that bad luck wants to follow us around – that seemed to be the case at Snetterton. I felt that we had a great opportunity to fight for another top six finish in the race as Broc instantly gelled with the team and the bike, showing his pace in the dry straight from the opening session which shows what we can be capable of.

“To have qualified for the first Superpole of the season with Broc was fantastic but unfortunately when it came to race one he got collected in the melee at Montreal and landed awkwardly. He did try to make race two, but he was feeling sore and it was the right decision in the circumstances.

“Stuart was back in the top ten again and although some riders had crashed out, he started 20th so to finish ninth was a good result. It was a frustrating second race and we need to work out what is missing now as we know what the bike is capable of and also what Stuart can achieve too.

“The biggest positive of the weekend was a different rider proving the capability of the package and team from minimal track time, especially given his experience with the factory Yamaha team at Suzuka in the World Endurance. We want to thank all of our team partners and we will aim to come back stronger at Thruxton.”

More, from a press release issued by James Rispoli’s publicist:

Rispoli back in the battle to record season best finish at Snetterton

James Rispoli recorded his best performance of his rookie MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season at Snetterton last weekend, fighting within the top ten before scoring his first points of his campaign for the Anvil Hire TAG Yamaha team.

After working through various improvements throughout free practice and qualifying, the team made a breakthrough during the morning warm up session, making a small gain that put them closer to their rivals.

Starting 22nd on the grid, Rispoli skilfully avoided some of the opening lap dramas to be within the top ten battle throughout the first half of the race before a lack of grip towards the end of the race meant the American contender finished 13th and his first championship points.

An improved lap time in race one put the 24-year-old 17th on the grid for race two and again he made some determined moves at the start of the race to climb up the order. However despite changes in a bid to improve tyre longevity the issue continued, forcing him back to 19th in the closing stages before the race was red flagged.

Rispoli said: “The weekend overall ended well and we can’t be too mad about anything. In the middle of the weekend we struggled again a lot and went in a bit of a circle trying to make the motorcycle work. But in morning warm up we threw a bit of a science project at it and came out better than what we had in qualifying so we knew we were on to something.

“In race one we kept the same thing and we were improving. We did gain a bit from other riders’ misfortune but in the race we ran within the top ten so for me that was a huge positive. We still have a lot of work to do and figure out exactly what we need to get the chassis right and find some more horsepower. Everybody wants to step up again and the team is working hard before Thruxton to compete at the next level.

“It was really nice to be back battling at the front with the guys I know I should be up with week in week out after the last few races which were really tough.

“Race two we qualified better so that meant we didn’t have to try and fight for so many places, but I made a good start and made some great passes and it felt good to make some lunges on some good people again.

“To battle with those guys again was a great boost for my confidence and once again we had some tyre issues at around the tenth lap and that was the biggest problem so we need to look at that again when we get to Thruxton. Overall I am pleased with the weekend and we definitely made progress and that is what we want to achieve every time we are on track.”

For more information please visit www.jamesrispoli.com