STEVE PLATER IN THE POINTS AT SNETTERTON Fresh from his triumph at the North West 200 in Ireland where he won the main NW200 Superbike race for the second year in succession, Steve Plater returned to domestic action to contest round five of the 2007 Bennetts British Superbike championship at Snetterton where he rode to a points finish in the opening race on Sunday. Plater completed his qualifying to make a start from a fifth row grid position and, as the first race got underway he made a good start to progress through the field to 16th where he stayed for the majority of the 22 laps. With three laps remaining, Plater overtook Ollie Bridewell and repeated the move on Aaron Zanotti two laps later to claim 15th place at the chequered flag. Race two saw Plater again get away to a good start and move up into 14th position on lap seven. He was right on the tail of the group of riders ahead and after overtaking Cal Crutchlow was all set to make further progress. But his race came to an early end when the AIM Yamaha developed a clutch problem and Plater reluctantly retired back into pit lane. “I was looking at a top eight finishing position in that last race,” said Steve. “I was catching Scott Smart who eventually finished eighth but the bike developed a problem with the clutch and I thought it wiser to come in rather than maybe end up on the tarmac. “The bike will now go back to base and be stripped down and prepared for the TT next week. We have to find out what caused the problem today and rectify it. It’s a shame really but we are not too bothered as we have proved the bike can now run within the top ten and as long as we know we can be there its half the battle and we are quite happy with the way things are progressing.” Steve sets off for the Isle of Man on Tuesday to prepare for practise week, which begins on Saturday. He is making his debut around the 37.7-mile mountain road course and looking forward to enjoying the experience. More, from a press release issued by Bridewell Brothers Racing: TOP TENS FOR TOM AND OLLIE AT SNETTERTON Wiltshire racing brothers Ollie and Tommy Bridewell, from Etchilhampton near Devizes, racked up a superb top ten finish apiece when round five of the 2007 Bennetts British Superbike Championship was played out at Snetterton in Norfolk in front of another massive crowd at the weekend. Riding the Team NB Suzukis, 18 year old Tommy posted 14th fastest time during Saturday’s frenetic Qualifying session with Ollie, 21, managing 17th place on the grid and in the opening 22 lap race in glorious sunshine, Tommy battled it out with the likes of Chris Walker and Michael Rutter to end up in a superb tenth place with Ollie just outside the points aboard the second of the Pirelli-shod machines in 18th place after a race long battle with Steve Plater, Peter Hickman and ex Vivaldi Superstock team mate Aaron Zanotti. The brothers made some improvements to the 1000cc K6 Suzuki machines before race two and they paid dividends as both riders circulated with the front runners and were looking good to score a good result each. But half way through the race, Tommy pushed a little too hard and slid out of eighth place at Sear Corner before remounting and returning to the pits leaving Ollie to duke it out with the likes of Walker and former team mate Scott Smart to record his best finish of the season with a fighting tenth place. “I’m pleased with my result in the second race but the set up in race one hampered me which meant I couldn’t stay with the others on the fast corners” said Ollie. “We altered a few settings for race two and it made a world of difference and it was good to be racing with the likes of BSB winners, Chris and Scott. I think we have a good base set up although the opposition keeps upping thier game and if we want regular top tens, we need to be able to respond.” “Although I ended up crashing out in race two, I’m reasonably happy with my performance but I think the punishment didn’t fit the crime. Race one was good and we were able to put in some consistent laps and I was really confident we could improve in race two but that’s what happens sometimes when you push a little too hard. I feel I’m riding well at the minute and am looking forward to scoring a load more points at Mondello” said Tommy. The next round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship takes place at Mondello Park in County Kildare, Ireland over the weekend of June 15/16/17th. More, from a press release issued by Samsung Suzuki: Thomas pulls in points for Samsung. Dean Thomas and the Samsung Suzuki team had an interesting weekend at Snetterton for round five of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship. Thomas’ Superstock Ducati racing team-mate, Jon Kirkham has left the Samsung team on amicable terms in order to run his own Superstock effort. Kirkham will be replaced but as yet no rider has been selected for the job. With Kirkham gone, Thomas had initially intended to run in Superbike and Superstock but a high side on the Ducati Superstock machine early in the weekend made him decide to concentrate on the Superbike class. He qualified in nineteenth place due to a technical problem during the session. Race one resulted in a DNF following an excursion into a field at the end of the front straight and race two yielded a points scoring finish in thirteenth place. Thomas explained what happened in qualifying, “My number one bike had an oil leak and an engine problem of some kind. The black and orange flag came out for me to pull in and of course this happened as far away from the pits as possible!” The Superbike class are subject to a new tyre rule this year where they are allowed to use just three tyres during qualifying and Thomas suffered the down side of that rule, “With the three tyre rule, which I’ve been caught with before, it was the same problem we had at Silverstone. We had to come back in and run another tyre which cut our qualifying tyres down to one. The second bike is just not as good as the number one machine so we just had a bad run,” he said. Race one saw the affable Australian suffer a bad start which he was doing his best to make up for, “I was just trying to get back through the field and I had made up three of four places and I was gradually getting through. We had made some small changes to the bike for the race as we hadn’t found the setting we needed for this track so it was worth the gamble. We made a bit of a mistake and I just couldn’t stop, each time I went for the brakes the forks were bottoming out and I was running on. I slip streamed someone on the front straight and dived under them and I thought I had just made it but I went in too deep and I couldn’t stop! That was it I was straight off the end of the front straight, out passed the Armco, straight through all the fields and straight out the other end. I was pretty much stuck out there, took a while to get back. So that was the end of that one. By the time I had made it back, the rest of the field had actually done another lap.” The second race was better and Thomas stayed on track to finish in the points, “Second race was better but I still had to make my way through the field a little bit but finished in thirteenth. I was fighting with the bunch for tenth so it wasn’t a bad result considering the hassle we’ve had this weekend with a few bits and pieces going wrong but we seem to be running in tenth or thirteenth for some reason. We need to make some changes and make the second bike up to speed and move on to Mondello and see what happens. The Samsung Superbike team are working well and they are putting the effort in.” The Superbike Championship now has a three week break before heading to Mondello Park in the Republic of Ireland on the 15th 17th June. More, from a press release issued by Centurion Racing: More Points for Centurion Centurion Racing once again had a very successful weekend at the fifth round of the Maxxis British Supersport Championship at the ultra fast Snetterton Circuit. The two riders James Westmoreland and Dan Cooper were both in the points again scoring a strong eighth and eleventh place respectively. The two rookies were rarely out of the top 15 throughout the whole weekend at the Norfolk circuit. Not even half way through the season and the two youngsters who have made the jump from the 125 Championship are finding their feet on the powerful Honda 600 machines and showing their true potential. Westy ran well throughout the weekend and managed to qualify on the second row in seventh place with Cooper not far behind in 15th. Despite a high speed crash at Coram Curve on Friday, Cooper was luckily uninjured and the bike was not too badly damaged and therefore the mechanics were able to ensure that he managed to be ready for the two qualifying sessions on Saturday. In the race both secured a strong start and Westy dropped down to eighth whilst Cooper was already moving his way through the field and was in 13th position after the first lap. Westmoreland was locked in a six bike battle for fourth place and exchanged positions with Guy Sanders and TT legend John McGuinness on a number of occasions. Cooper had the pack in front of him in his sights and was making progress on every lap, getting up to ninth position at one point. As the fraught battle progressed the Centurion riders showed maturity and both rode a confident and comfortable race. Westy also took his third win in the Supersport Cup, leading the Cup Championship and lying ninth in the main Championship he commented “It’s finally nice to have positive things to say! Today’s race was hard but fun, I got a good start but didn’t quite get with the guys I wanted to. I made it slightly hard work but to finish eighth is good. My confidence is high and I’m riding really well so roll on Mondello. I must thank the Centurion Team because the whole package is fantastic, and my bike worked very well today and was very fast.” Cooper was also pleased with his result saying “I felt strong going to Snetterton because my bike has been fast all year and knew it would suit the fast track. Things were going well on Friday and a gust of wind caught me at Coram and the next thing I knew I was sliding into the grass at just over 100mph! Thankfully I was ok. I got a good start in the race and by mid race distance I could see a pack of riders in front of me so I pushed hard to try and catch them, I managed to get on the back of them but by this point I had used the best of my tyre and just had to bring it home. I’m really pleased with the way things are going and we are getting closer to the front runners each weekend I just need to improve on my qualifying position at the forthcoming races.” Team Manager Gary Stubbington is very pleased with the riders efforts saying, “Each weekend the pair are getting stronger and stronger. They have a lot to learn and take in this year and that is just what they are doing. We are certainly making big steps forward and in the right direction so hopefully we will be able to continue to get good results like this.” Maxxis British Supersport Race Result Lowry Suzuki Laverty Suzuki Hobbs Honda McConnell Yamaha Robinson Honda Young Triumph Sanders Kawasaki Westmoreland Centurion Honda McGuinness Honda Grant Yamaha Cooper Centurion Honda More, from a press release issued by AIM Yamaha: AIM YAMAHA IN THE POINTS AT SNETTERTON Steve Plater rode the AIM Yamaha R1 to a points finish in round five of the 2007 Bennetts British Superbike championship at Snetterton in Norfolk on Sunday but pulled out with a clutch problem in the second leg later in the day. Starting from a fifth row grid position Steve made a good start to progress through the field to 16th in the first encounter where he stayed for the majority of the 22 laps. With three laps remaining, Plater overtook Ollie Bridewell and repeated the move on Aaron Zanotti two laps later to claim 15th place at the chequered flag. Race two saw Plater again get away to a good start and move up into 14th position on lap seven. He was right on the tail of the group of riders ahead and after overtaking Cal Crutchlow was all set to make further progress. But his race came to an early end when the AIM Yamaha developed a clutch problem and Steve reluctantly retired back into pit lane. STEVE PLATER “I was looking at a top eight finishing position in that last race. I was catching Scott Smart who eventually finished eighth but the bike developed a problem with the clutch and I thought it wiser to come in rather than maybe end up on the tarmac. ALISTAIR FLANAGAN “We have moved forward with the development of the bike and the lap times have improved with every outing over the weekend. But for the clutch problem we would have been looking at finishing the second race well within the top ten so everything is beginning to come together for us.” The bikes have now gone back to base to be stripped and prepared for the forthcoming TT races where Steve will be riding both the Superbike and Supersport machines for AIM Yamaha.” Following the TT AIM Yamaha will be back to domestic action with a round in Ireland at Mondello Park on June 17. More, from a press release issued by Hydrex Honda: Difficult weekend for Hydrex Honda at Snetterton. The three man Hydrex Honda team had a difficult weekend at the high speed Snetterton circuit. Karl Harris, riding in the Bennetts British Superbike class, qualified in tenth but finished race one in thirteenth and race two in fifteenth. Guy Martin, who had planned to run in the Maxxis British Supersport Championship qualified in twenty fourth following a couple of crashes. He then decided to sit out the race as TT practice starts in one week’s time and he didn’t want to risk an injury. Finally, Allan Jon Venter riding the PSM backed machine in the Metzeler National Superstock Championship qualified in twenty fourth but worked hard in the race to finish in a superb tenth place. AJ said, “I’m really pleased with the result. I’ve tested at Snetterton so that really helped as we already had some data. This is the first Superstock race that we have had that didn’t involve a red flag or the safety car; it was good to get a clean run. The team worked hard all weekend so I’m glad I was able to give them a top ten finish.” Following his successful North West 200, Martin had hoped for strong results at Snetterton before heading to the Isle of Man for the Centenary races. However, two crashes over the weekend left him languishing in twenty fourth position. “I’d already been off twice and starting so far back on the grid would have been a lot of work to get through the pack for a decent result. So I just thought better of it, my aim this year is a win at the TT and I didn’t fancy getting tangled up with another rider at Snetterton just before main event,” said Martin. Harris had been hoping for two top tens and he looked set to achieve that by qualifying in tenth place, unfortunately suspension issues kicked in and hampered his race pace. “I didn’t get a great start and lost a few places there in race one which I never really made up. We made some changes for race two and the bike felt good, but going into the turn one at the start of the race someone sat up mid pack and just ran me wide. I had to go straight on at the end of the main straight and into the field at the bottom. I got back on track but I was way down the field. I got my head down and came home in fifteenth which got me a point but I felt we were on for a good result in race two I guess that’s racing.” The team now head to the Isle of Man for the Centenary Races with practice starting on 26th May and the first race on the 2nd June. The next round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship and the next two rounds of the Metzeler National Superstock Championship is at Mondello Park in Southern Ireland on the 15th 17th June. British Superbikes – Snetterton Race One Result 1 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 24.00.140 2 – Jonathan Rea – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 24.00.417 3 – Leon Haslam – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 24.08.349 4 – Tom Sykes – Honda – Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport – 24.13.121 5 – Leon Camier – Honda – Honda – 24.14.325 6 – Gregorio Lavilla – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 24.14.519 7 – Tommy Hill – Yamaha – Virgin Media Optoma Loans – 24.18.611 8 – Cal Crutchlow – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki – 24.21.527 9 – Chris Walker – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki – 24.28.395 10 – Tommy Bridewell – Suzuki – Team NB – 24.28.692 11 – Michael Rutter – Kawasaki – Isilon MSS Discovery Kawasaki – 24.30.603 12 – Simon Andrews – Yamaha – Jentin Racing – 24.38.085 13 – Karl Harris – Honda – Hydrex Honda – 24.40.208 British Superbikes – Snetterton Race Two Result 1 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 26.56.071 2 – Jonathan Rea – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 26.56.696 3 – Shane Byrne – Honda – Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport – 26.56.991 4 – Tom Sykes – Honda – Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport – 27.00.311 5 – Leon Haslam – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 27.00.383 6 – Leon Camier – Honda – Honda – 27.01.721 7 – Tommy Hill – Yamaha – Virgin Media Optoma Loans – 27.02.147 8 – Scott Smart – Kawasaki – Hawk Kawasaki – 27.06.601 9 – Chris Walker – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki – 27.06.791 10 – Ollie Bridewell – Suzuki – Team NB – 27.09.945 11 – Aaron Zanotti – Yamaha – SMT Yamaha/Zanotti Racing – 27.10.297 12 – Hudson Kennaugh – Yamaha – Virgin Media Optoma Loans – 27.10.321 13 – Dean Thomas – Suzuki – Samsung Superbike Team – 27.12.694 14 – Chris Martin – Honda – Red Viper Racing – 27.15.986 15 – Karl Harris – Honda – Hydrex Honda – 27.29.869 National Superstock – Snetterton Race Result 1 – Glen Richards – Yamaha – Embassy Racing – 20.33.540 2 – Hudson Kennaugh – Yamaha – Raceways Yamaha – 20.33.705 3 – John Laverty – Ducati – Buildbase Ducati – 20.37.782 4 – Lee Jackson – Yamaha – Krystal Racing/Space Air – 20.37.901 5 – Adam Jenkinson – Suzuki – Rocket Centre Racing – 20.39.764 6 – Steve Mercer – Yamaha – The Bikeshop Faversham – 20.41.755 7 – Jon Kirkham – Yamaha – Jon Kirkham Racing – 20.42.215 8 – Steve Brogan – Honda – Tengo Honda Racing – 20.42.472 9 – Kieran Murphy – Suzuki – Goldstar Suzuki – 20.45.263 10 – Allan Jon Venter – Honda – Hydrex Honda – 20.54.280 More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki: Progress for Hawk Racing Hawk Racing made huge progress this weekend at the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship as Scott Smart managed to score his best result of the season so far as he took a strong eighth place in the second race at the super fast Snetterton Circuit. The two Superbike riders had a mixed weekend, 20-year-old Peter Hickman gained a 17th place in the first race but slipped off at the Esses in the second race whilst holding a good points position. 31-year-old Scott Smart gained 14th place in the first 22-lap race after suffering front tyre problems throughout the race and fought his way to his first top ten position in the second race and the highest scoring Kawasaki rider of the weekend. Commenting he said “I kept losing the front end in the first race and couldn’t work out what the problem was, we later found out that it was the tyre. I used the same compound in the second race and the bike felt fine. We are finally making progress and hopefully that will continue as we head to Mondello, the circuit where I took my first Superbike win for Hawk in 2004. I feel we are moving in the right direction now and hoping that things will continue moving forward for the rest of the season.” Hicky commented “I’ve had a bad run of form of late and had more crashes than I’ve ever had in one year. I felt happy in both races and I was running in a fairly high position in the second race when I had a small high-side coming out of the Esses. I’m a bit gutted as I’ve not scored points for a while and I wanted to get things back on track. Hopefully I’ll be able to be back up there at Mondello.” The two Hawk Junior riders both suffered misfortunes in their respective races. Jak Wright running in the Supersport Cup had a strong qualifying session, qualifying in sixth position in the Cup and 29th on the grid, the 18-year-old got caught up in a second lap crash and was briefly knocked out but was later discharged from the medical centre with no further injuries. David Hallett running in the Metzeler National Superstock Cup qualified in 23rd position, his highest position so far this season and also crashed out of the race on lap 12 of 14 whilst in a points scoring position. More, from a press release issued by Tom Tunstall Racing: Podium and Points for Tunstall Superbike rookie Tom Tunstall tasted the champagne once more at the latest round of the British Superbike Championship but a tyre issue in the second race prevented the Yorkshireman making it two podiums on the day. The latest round of the ever popular British Superbike Championships was held at the ultra fast Snetterton race track in Norfolk over the weekend. And Hardinge Ice Valley racer Tom Tunstall was keen to turn his fortunes around after a run of bad luck, which had seen him fail to score points in the last four races. Tom’s progress in adapting to the high powered superbike machines was evident, as he topped the Superbike Cup times after the initial practice sessions. In the single qualifying session the Huddersfield rider improved his times further with an average lap speed of 103.52mph, but was nudged back to fourth. However with the times being so close, he was very much in touch for the following day’s races: “It’s been the first time I’ve started a race weekend with the bike feeling like mine. My confidence and the feedback I’m getting from the bike is strong. I’m not too bothered by the qualifying position as we’re all close on race tyres”. In race one Tunstall held his position off the line, but despite lapping at a strong pace the three riders ahead managed to pull a gap giving Tunstall a fairly lonely race. However the battle ahead took its toll, with Tristan Palmer crashing out on the final lap promoting Tunstall to third place and back onto the podium. “It’s been good to taste the champagne again. After the last few races without a finish due to situations out of my control I was happy just to see the chequered flag. I got caught up with Dean Thomas and Chris Martin early in the race and the time I lost meant I missed the boat, and couldn’t get a tow on the back of the leading group”. In the second race Tom looked to be struggling from the off with his lap times over two seconds a lap slower. At the end of lap four Tunstall pulled into the pits and the team quickly changed the rear tyre before he rejoined the field desperate to salvage any points he could. Tunstall crossed the line in sixth and picked up ten points and third position in the championship standings. Disappointed, Tunstall remarked: “Straight from the start I was struggling it was dangerous; I had no grip at the rear. The back end was coming round on every corner. Initially I just thought the tyre didn’t have enough heat in it. But I had to pull in before it threw me off. When the team swapped the tyre it was perfect again. Still I got it back in one piece and some more points which is definitely better than the last few races” The next round of the championship takes place across the Irish Sea at Mondello Park near Dublin on June 17th.