VICTORY PUTS BUCHAN WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE OF NATIONAL SUPERSTOCK TITLE

Tsingtao Racing Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan didn’t disappoint the large army of British fans during the Silverstone MotoGP round on Sunday. The 21-year-old took his seventh victory of the season in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc class, affording local fans the chance to hear the British National Anthem at the Northamptonshire circuit.

Buchan’s victory leaves him 53 points ahead of main rival Jason O’Halloran, who finished second at Silverstone on Sunday, in the championship chase. With just three rounds remaining, Danny could mathematically clinch the title this Sunday at Donington Park.

Danny said: “We had a great weekend as part of the MotoGP circus at Silverstone. We had mega pace all weekend, but after the first qualifying session we had to make some changes to the bike as we were half a second off the pole time.

“We got the gap down to 0.080sec, which put us in a good place for the race; then in the race I just got my head down and chipped away and focused on being consistent. When the safety car came out in my mind I knew I had grip in certain parts of the track, so my plan was to push on through those and we got the gap to 1.8 seconds; after that the race was over.

“It’s great to see the big effort we put in away from the circuit paying off on track. We are close to the Championship, but as usual I am going to take each race as it comes and remain focused on the job in hand.”

Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship, MotoGP Silverstone, race result:

Danny Buchan (Tsingtao Kawasaki)

Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing UK) 1.777s

Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) +1.925s

Hudson Kennaugh (Linxcel Trik Moto Racing BMW) +4.916s

Josh Elliot (GA Homer Racing Kawasaki) +4.959s

Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship standings after MotoGP Silverstone:

Danny Buchan (Tsingtao Kawasaki) 215

Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing UK) 162

Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW) 136

Filip Backlund (SMT Racing) 88

Adam Jenkinson (Northern Escalators Racing) 75

More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:

British MotoGP™ debrief with Shinji Aoki

Tuesday, September 2 2014

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Extra-soft, Soft & Medium; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)

Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez won a thrilling battle with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo at last Sunday’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the pair finishing first and second respectively with just 0.732 seconds between them, ahead of Valentino Rossi in third place on the other factory Yamaha M1.

After a chilly start to the race weekend conditions for Sunday’s race were relatively warm, with a peak track temperature of 34°C recorded at the start of the twenty-lap contest. The warmer weather created good conditions for Marquez and Lorenzo to set a fierce pace at the front of the field, with the winner Marquez recording the fastest ever total race time for a rider at a MotoGP™ race at Silverstone.

Q&A with Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department

This year Bridgestone brought an expanded front slick tyre allocation to Silverstone. Was this a positive change for the riders at last weekend’s British Grand Prix?

“Yes, I think this was a good change. We expanded our allocation to bring our softest front slick option, the extra-soft compound which gives the very best warm-up performance. The riders were happy to have this option in their allocation, particularly for the cool morning sessions as it allowed them to safely get up to speed around the circuit, and helped reduce the effect of the bumps on track. As the track conditions improved over the weekend and in the warmer afternoon sessions, the riders then had the soft and medium compound front slicks on offer which gave better cornering and braking stability. So at Silverstone, the riders had a front slick tyre compound to manage every situation over the race weekend.”

For most of the race weekend temperatures were much cooler than were experienced last year at Silverstone. What effect did this have on tyre performance?

“Excessively cool conditions always make it harder for riders to get their tyres in their optimum temperature range, but once again I think our expanded front tyre allocation helped in this regard. Cool and windy conditions are not unusual at the British Grand Prix so we were well prepared for this. The reduced grip in cool conditions also made it more difficult for the riders to deal with the bumpy track surface and especially on the first day of the race weekend, some teams found it difficult to find a setup that got the best potential out of the tyres. However, our tyre engineers worked closely with the teams and riders to help find a solution, and by Saturday afternoon most riders were able to find a setup that used the tyres more effectively. The warmer temperatures on Sunday were also a welcome change, as it allowed riders to get their tyres in the optimum working range much quicker.”

The Silverstone circuit has one of the highest average speeds on the MotoGP calendar, but also experiences some of the coolest track temperatures. How does Bridgestone manage to provide enough performance for the demands of this circuit, while maintaining high levels of safety for the riders?

“The mix of high average speeds and cool temperatures does pose quite a challenge for tyre development. Last weekend’s FP3 session experienced the coolest track temperature we’ve had all year, just 19°C, yet the average speed this year was over 173 kilometres per hour. This means finding a good balance between safety and performance is very important. We developed our Silverstone tyre allocation to ensure maximum rider safety – which is always our priority – hence why our front tyres featured our softest rubber compounds, while our rear slick allocation was also engineered to work in low temperatures. Despite this focus on ensuring rider safety, the overall race time at this year’s British Grand Prix was the quickest ever, so this is a good indication that our tyre allocation for Silverstone not only provided safety for the riders, but offered very good performance as well.”

More, from a press release issued by Fogi Racing:

No luck for Hunt at Silverstone

Manxman Gavin Hunt found himself out of luck at Silverstone on Sunday with the Northern Escalator Racing rider forced to retire on the penultimate lap of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship race, just when another top ten position looked on the cards.

With points scored in each of the previous four rounds, the Douglas rider was confident of extending that run and signalled his intentions for the weekend in Friday’s opening qualifying session when he placed a strong tenth. However, a few set-up changes for Saturday’s second session didn’t work as he had hoped and he slipped back to 12th although he was still on the fourth row and well within reach of the leading group of riders.

A good start to the 12-lap race saw Gavin consolidate his position and although two small groups had got away at the head of the field, the 27-year old was part of a strong group battling it out for sixth place. Holding onto 11th place, Gavin was confident of utilising his strong pace at the end of the race to move forward into the top ten but, after a short period behind the safety car, when racing resumed his machine slowed suddenly and he was cruelly forced to retire on the penultimate lap.

Gavin Hunt: “It’s obviously disappointing to have been forced out right at the end of the race especially as some more good points looked to be heading my way again. The bike had been mega all weekend but after the safety car pulled in the engine lost all its power and just wouldn’t pull. It started to sound a bit sick so I had no option other than to pull in and we think the fuel pump was the cause.”

“Up until that point, I couldn’t fault the weekend at all and was really happy with my pace and how I was riding. We made a few set-up changes for Q2 which didn’t work out but I’d been in the top 12 all weekend and was confident of finishing inside the top ten once more. I was only two thousandths of a second slower than my team-mate in qualifying and the race was going to plan so it was a real shame it ended how it did. On the plus side, we’ve got a good base setting for when we return to Silverstone next month and the team’s working superbly well so I’m extremely hopeful we’ll have a strong final three rounds.”

Gavin is back out in action this weekend with round 10 of the series taking place at Donington Park.