Consecutive Podiums For Uribe After Hard Fought 2nd Place At Oulton Park
After impressing with a career best 3rd position in the season opener at Brands Hatch, American teen Jayson Uribe (FPW Racing Team) went one better in the second round of the BSB Motostar Championship at the undulating Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire yesterday.
Starting 4th on the grid after mixed free practice and qualifying sessions, the patriot pup as he is affectionately known, ended the race in a superb 3rd position overall, claiming 2nd within the Moto 3 category and elevating himself into 2nd position overall in the championship standings.
Retaining his position on the opening lap, Jayson spent the duration of the 14 lap encounter locked in a titanic scrap with former Red Bull Rookies competitor James Flitcroft and his FPW Racing team mate Taz Taylor.
As the race entered the final lap the three riders couldn’t be separated and with one of his fastest laps of the race on his final circulation of the technical track Jayson moved several bike lengths clear to score his second successive podium finish with a fighting second place at the flag.
Jayson Uribe – 2nd position: “My weekend had its highs and lows. We struggled with a few mechanical issues in Free Practice and I had to pull in due to a problem with the motor which ended my session. We all worked hard and were able to resolve the issue and get back out for Free Practice 2. Unfortunately, during this session another rider collided with me which damaged my frame and resulted in a high speed low side crash. I was able to walk from the crash, but the bike was not so lucky. I am very thankful to my entire FPW Racing Team for their hard work and effort that it took to rebuild the bike so that I could eventually qualify P4. My race was great! I felt got a good start but I could feel the back end of the bike really dancing around especially in sector 1, but I knew I needed to just push through that area and charge harder in the other two sections to make up for lost time. After I lost touch with the leader, I just focused on staying ahead of the final podium place fight and at the flag was delighted to achieve another podium and my best result in BSB. It was awesome having my team mate, Taz Taylor, on the podium as well in the 125 class! Our team was very successful this weekend and I am looking forward to Round 3 at Snetterton after a short trip home to California to finish up some studies and to visit my family. Thank you to everyone for their support and I will see you back on track soon.”
BSB Motostar Moto 3 Championship Standings (top 6) After Oulton Park
1st Jordan Weaving 45 points
2nd Jayson Uribe 36 points
3rd Chris Taylor 26 points
4th Joe Irving 25 points
5th Mike Brouwers 21 points
6th Tom Booth-Amos 17 points
More, from a press release issued by FPW Racing:
2014 British Motostar Championship Race Team
Round – 2 Oulton Park
Jayson Uribe. Finished 3rd (2nd Moto3)
Jaysons didn’t have the greatest starts to his weekend with and oil leak halting his progress in FP 1 and then the mother of all crashes on the exit of Hizzy’s Chicane leaving his machine almost written off. The team had possibly its biggest ever job getting Jayson back out on track on the Saturday, essentially everything that could break had done.
In Q1 1 Jaysons battery had drained after just three laps, leaving him stranded at the end of pit lane. He pushed the bike back and a new battery was fitted that allowed Jayson to go out and end the session with some quality laps, leaving him in sixth, 2.19 seconds off pole. For Q2 Jaysons Honda Moto3 machine had a few suspension tweaks to allow later/harder braking and this help Jayson climb the timing sheets to end the session in forth with a time of 1:47.965.
After a successful morning warm up Jayson was looking calm and confident as he lined up for the race help in overcast conditions. From the lights it was the usual mad scramble down towards cascades when RS Racings Ryan ` cut through the field as he struggled to stop for the corner. The avoiding action allowed the leading three to break away leaving Jayson playing catchup with James Flitcroft and team mate Taz Taylor. Jayson seemed to of dispatched the duo but was caught and passed on lap 11 by Taz Taylor. Undeterred Jayson fought back on the final lap to take a well deserved second place in the Moto3 class.
Jayson Uribe “I really enjoyed that and it was close. I couldn’t shake off James or Taz and I knew they were close. Now I just can’t wait for Snetterton”.
Taz Taylor Finished 4th (2nd 125GP)
Taz suffered a difficult day of Free Practice with track time lost due to mechanical woes in the second session.
For Q1, Taz was on it straight from the off and although he’d lost track time it was clear he’d not been beaten. During the 25 minute session he came in for a re-jet of the carb and once back out he sat in a comfortable eight place, half a second in front of Daniel Costilla. For Q2 Taz had no issues and was seventh quickest in the session but remained eighth on combined times. After the session Taz could see that he was loosing his time in the final sector which covers from Druids to the start/finish line. Taz qualified with a time of 1:48.525.
With a cold track for warm up Taz held off on doing anything crazy and completed five useful laps to test his suspension changes for the race. The 14 lap race was a real action packed 25 minutes for the spectators. After
loosing touch with the leading trio and some way off the back of fifth place it was important for Taz to not let the leaders make and hold the break. From the second to tenth laps, Taz put in laps that matched, but mostly bettered the times of Jayson Uribe and James Flitchcroft which brought him back into contention. On lap 11 Taz made the move that had looked so inevitible. With Uribe matching ever move that Taz made to pull away it was always going to be a brave move on the Uribe to retake the position. With Taz defending everywhere but knowing he needed to maintain speed Uribe made is move and held it to the line to leave Taz chasing hard to cross the line in forth (2nd 125GP).
Taz Taylor: “I lost alot of track time during free practice but to end the weekend with my best podium position and third in the championship is great for me and the team. It was a hard weekend but the race went well”.
Daniel Hermansson. Finished 21st (15th 125GP)
Daniel arrived at Oulton only ever having seen the circuit on youtube, so Free Practice was nothing more than a very steep learning curve!! Out in Q1, Daniel learnt one of the fundamental lessons of Oulton, trying too hard doesn’t make you go quicker. Daniel was experienced enough to understand his error and concentrated on being smooth and spending as much time on track learning from the riders around him. Ending the session in 25th with a time of 1:53. 716 was a huge leap forward for Daniel. Going into Q2 Daniel was looking to take another chunk of time out of his lap and he immediately settled into his laps but became frustrated with himself as he tried to gain too much. At times he was fighting against the bike to be quick and this made no improvement to his times. By midway through his Q2 session Daniel had calmed down and was making headway. Going 1.5 seconds quicker Daniel
made a place and climbed to 24th on the grid.
During warm up Daniel tried to tag onto Taz and Milo Ward but found he was making mistakes so backed off to avoid going down unnecessarily. ! Daniel lost out to team mate Greg Greenwood on the start and ended lap one chasing down his team mate. A few little mistakes occurred in the early laps and Daniel lost a little ground on Greenwood before really getting into the grove. By lap four Daniel was almost 1.5 seconds down on his team mate before putting together some classy riding that bridged the gap and allowed him to pass Greenwood on lap seven. The two then had a close fought middle section of the race before Daniel managed to make a break and finished the race in the final points position of the 125GP class.
Daniel Hermansson: “This weekend I’d been looking for a second off my lap times with each session, I did that and I will be in a better place when we return later this year. It’s been a great weekend, I love the track and I learnt a lot, I tried to fight the bike at times but when I relaxed I always went quicker”.
Greg Greenwood. Finished 22nd (16th 125GP)
After a difficult Brands it was important for Greg to bounce back and enjoy his racing at Oulton. Greg built a solid foundation in FP from which to attack the weekends qualifying. A small crash occurred in FP1 as he lost the front going into the Hizzy chicane.
Out in Q1, Greg was pushing hard but struggling to match his times from 2013. this frustration was evident in his riding style and led to Greg making small mistakes as he attempted to improve his lap times. Gregs laps were not consistent as he overworked his Luyten Honda around the 2.69 miles circuit. For Greg though his speed trap readings were good. In Q2 Greg didn’t make the improvements he was hoping for and ended the session in 31st place with a time of 1.54.659. It was great to see Greg’s mechanic and supporters rally around him and keep him smiling during this frustrating day.
After putting the woes of qualifying behind him Greg knocked two thirds of a second of his best time of the weekend in morning warm up which was a real positive to take into the race. Starting from the 10th row Greg made a good start and made five places on the opening lap. Riding in close company with his swedish team mate Daniel Hermasson, Greg made real headway into the field and ended the weekend with a solid performance in the race. Going almost two seconds a lap quicker for most race was a real improvement for Greg and it was unfortunate Greg finished just outside of the points. !
Greg Greenwood: “I struggled with my pace to start with and became frustrated. as a result, I just tried too hard. It wasn’t until I got to the race that I felt comfortable and everything for no reason slotted into place. Im annoyed I out braked myself going into Hizzys and thats where I lost Daniel, had I not done that I think I could of raced Daniel right to the line. All in all though I’m happy with the final outcome”.
Milo Ward. Did Not Finish (Technical on lap 7)
Milo has a great attitude to life and with the help of his team is looking to make huge improvements every time he goes out. Milo has slimmed down considerably since 2013 and is looking race ready. Unfortunately for Milo
a mistake in FP1 and a crash in FP2 left him with only a few laps under his belt going into qualifying.
In Q1 Milo lost a stack of time early on in the session as the team tried to chase a fuelling issue that was causing Milos Luyten to bog down as the northamptonshire youngster attempted to accelerate. After a re-jet of the carb
the bike ran much better allowing Milo to get back out but unable to make any real impression on the leaderboard as he needed to warm up both the engine and the tyres. Clearly unhappy with how the meeting was going Milo dug deep in Q2 and in a very intelligent manner worked away with each lap and ended the qualifying with a time of 1:51.649 leaving him in 21st position on the grid.!
Morning warm-up was a great confidence booster for Milo as he clocked a time of 1:50.970, which was the 10th fastest time of the session.
Unfortunately the nerves got to Milo as he tried to launch his bike off the start. Loosing a handful of places Milo was once again having to pass people at every opportunity. Milo is great at maintaining corner speed and passing into the corners on the brakes and used this tactic to pick up places. Clearly quicker than the riders around him Milo was up to 21st place and looking to pass Asher Durham when his machine saw a rapid increase in water temp. Not wanting to cause lasting damage Milo coasted back to the garage on lap 7. This was an unfortunate end to what was clearly an enjoyable race.!
Milo Ward: “I struggled all weekend with sectors 2 and 3, Island Bend and Druids have been corners where Ive lost so much time. Had I not lost all of the time I did in FP I think I could of improved the bike and my qualifying position but this was not possible. I chipped away in Q2 and started to see the improvements in my times I was hoping for. Im gutted about not finishing the race. I made a rubbish start but I was starting to really enjoy the race when the temp rose, that was game over”.
More, from a press release issued by Repli-Cast UK Racing:
Disappointing end to a fantastic weekend at Oulton Park
6th May 2014
Scott Redding backed team; Repli-Cast UK Racing had a disappointing end to a fantastic weekend at Oulton Park, with both riders falling after showing stunning race pace during the second round of the Motul Motostar Championship.
The team conducted two long runs in the practice sessions to prepare for Monday’s race distance, with both riders improving on every lap. Qualifying day went well, both Daniel and Charlie produced even better lap times than they had done previously on the qualifying material and in the combined classification, Daniel resulted in 4th and Charlie in 6th.
At the start of the race Charlie got a solid start and was in sixth at the end of the first lap. He made up a couple of places in the early stages of the race, before getting involved in a four-way battle with Taylor, Brouwers, Hobson and team mate Costilla for the higher places. The 13-year-old battled hard on his Scott Redding backed Repli-Cast Moto3 Machine to try and make in-roads on to the podium. Charlie very bravely put in some heroic moves to gain the lead on the group and pulled out a great gap, but as the race drew towards half way distance he lost the front end of the bike, bravely trying to save it by holding it up with his knee but it wasn’t to be and the bike went down. Fantastic riding from the young man, but unlucky as his race came to an abrupt halt.
Team-mate Daniel Costilla had a race to forget after a crash at Knickerbrook left him stunned at what happened. He was comfortably within the top-four until he was pushed wide and went down hard at one of the fastest places on track. Up until then, Daniel was having a great four-way-battle during the race and with team mate Nesbitt going down on lap 7 he was looking for a podium result himself, he settled down and got in to his own race rhythm before an unfortunate mistake of being pushed wide saw Daniel go down on lap 12 of the 14 lap race.
There was some great riding during the race from both the Repli-Cast riders, they showed their true potential at battling within a group and the team has come away from Oulton Park with a lot of positives, both riders proving they are more than capable of podium results. Thankfully both riders came away unhurt, but unfortunately there’s a lot of work to do before the next round to both bikes.
Gary Dawson – Team Manager
“We leave Oulton Park with a positive outlook because, irrespective of a disappointing result, we’ve still shown great potential. The whole team and both the riders have been superbly positive, despite a few issues – and the team worked incredibly hard all weekend. It was a shame that we had both riders fall in the race, because we are sure that we could have secured podium positions with both of them, a fact that leaves the team with a feeling of what might have been.”
Charlie Nesbitt – # 86
“I had a fantastic weekend at Oulton Park; I learnt lots about myself and what I need to do on the bike now. It’s a shame I had a crash in the race as I was heading for my best result, the front end went on me and I tried my hardest to save it but I couldn’t hold on to it. I’m so sorry to the team for the damage to the bike, but still had a great weekend. Thank you so much to all the Team for their hard work and giving me a perfect bike.”
Daniel Costilla – #24
“I would just like to say thank you to the team for this weekend, it’s hard when the weekend finishes like that with all the work that’s put in and it’s frustrating. Now I’m looking forward to Snetterton to show what we can achieve.”
Don’t miss the next round of the 2014 Championship at Snetterton on 13/14/15 June.
We would like to thank all our sponsors and supporters for your continued loyalty towards our team, without you none of this would be possible.
To follow the progress of the team’s activities throughout their Championship campaign, log on to the website where we will provide regular updated news stories and images as the 2014 season unfolds. To log on visit www.repli-castukracing.co.uk
More, from a press release issued by MWR Kawasaki:
MWR Kawasaki
Round 2 – Oulton Park
www.facebook.com/MWRKawasaki
The MWR Kawasaki Team made huge improvements this weekend at Oulton Park, round two of the MCE British Superbike Championship. In the Superstock 1000 Class James Egan secured 17th place overall and Nicolas Grobler secured 28th place. Andrew Irwin in the Superstock 600 class was unfortunate to crash out of second place.
In the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship the two riders James Egan and Nicolas Grobler had a difficult qualifying session and ended up in 27th and 38th place on the grid for the scheduled 15-lap race. James had a good start and gained a place, while team mate Nic grabbed a fantastic start and made up 10 places to 28th. The safety car was deployed after the opening lap which James took full advantage of however, Nic lost his pace and rhythm for a couple of laps. The two worked hard and James made his way up 10 places to secure 17th position, just outside the points. Despite Nic dropping back to 33rd at one point he dug deep and got back through to 28th position.
James Egan – “I really enjoyed riding the MWR Kawasaki this weekend at Oulton. We struggled with set up in practice and qualifying one but fortunately found a setting I was very comfortable with for qualifying two. I managed 27th place in combined qualifying and really happy to turn that into 17th place in the race. I’m enjoying riding the bike hard now and being able to make it do what I need it to. We’re happy with the weekend overall and look forward to the next round and progress out set up even further. A huge thank you to Mark, Dan and the whole MWR Kawasaki team, plus Rocket 88, Leatt, Mum and Dad and everyone else who is supporting us.”
Nicolas Grobler – “This year will always be difficult for me as every track is new for me, Oulton is really different to anything I have ridden before but I really enjoyed it. I have to learn the circuits quickly but my race times were the best I’d gone all weekend and I made good progress through the field. I am enjoying my time on the MWR Kawasaki and looking forward to the next circuit.”
In the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship Andrew Irwin made huge steps forward this weekend at Oulton Park and in each session he was considerably faster than the previous session. He managed to qualify in sixth place for the 14-lap race. The young Irishman got a brilliant start and he led the race for the opening lap, he was pushing hard and dropped back to second but was still looking comfortable and confident for a podium finish. On lap three he was unfortunate to crash out of second position.
Andrew Irwin – “I’m happy with the weekend although I ended up crashing out of the race. In qualifying we found the pace and I managed to get into the lead group so it gave me the opportunity to go strong from the start. I got a great start and managed to get into the lead and led for the first lap, I dropped to second and maybe I was pushing a little too hard and I ended up crashing out. I’ve learnt a lot this weekend and have learnt from my mistake, so I will continue to work hard at Donington and hope for a strong result there. I must thank the MWR team for all their help and support this weekend.”
Team Manager/Owner – Mark Webster – “I’m really happy with the weekend and it’s a huge contrast compared to how I was feeling at Brands Hatch. All three riders have left here with their spirits high after a good performance. The Superstock 1000 riders need to work on their qualifying positions for the next rounds and this will give them more opportunity of stronger results in the race.
Nic has only been here once for a test last week and he was able to learn the track quickly and make huge progress in each session out on track. If James can get his qualifying sorted out he has the race pace to run up in the top ten and proved today he’s more than capable of passing other riders, with his current qualifying he is leaving himself with a lot of work to do come race day.
Andrew in the Stock 600 class did a fantastic job, he improved during qualifying and got a great start in the race taking the lead. He listens to advice given, takes it all on board and implements it whilst he’s out on the bike. He was unfortunate to crash but he has proved that he is able to run up at the front.
We made huge steps forwards this weekend compared to Brands Hatch and we hope to keep progressing like this for the remainder of the season.”
More, from a press release issued by Be Wiser Kawasaki Team:
Be Wiser Kawasaki Team
Round 2 – Oulton Park
www.bewiserkawasaki.co.uk
The Be Wiser Kawasaki team had another good weekend at round two of the MCE British Superbike Championship at the stunning Oulton Park circuit. In front of a massive crowd Joe Collier in the Superstock 600 class secured his second podium of the season with second place and his team-mate Nick Anderson in a strong sixth place finish. Josh Day was unlucky to crash out on the opening lap of the Superstock 1000 Championship race.
In the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 class Josh Day had a short race when he was caught up in an incident in the opening lap. With 40 riders battling for the same piece of tarmac Josh was pushed wide and ended up on the grass and crashed out, unfortunately his bike collected Luke Quigley as it crossed the track putting an end to the race for the pair.
Josh Day – “It’s really annoying to have crashed out of the race as all weekend my times had been improving and after morning warm up I was really ready for it. It’s always a problem when you are mid pack in a race like that, as it’s always a little messy on the first lap, everyone was trying to go for the same bit of tarmac and I got forced onto the grass. The bike went from under me and that was that, sorry to Luke for collecting him in the process. Up to that point everything was going really well and I was feeling confident for a strong top ten place but it just wasn’t meant to be this weekend so I will just ensure we are ready for Snetterton in June.”
In the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship Joe Collier once again showed his true fighting spirit and took his second podium in two races, this time moving one forward into second place. The youngster from Coalville worked hard all weekend and secured second place on the grid during the qualifying session. He struggled off the start and got boxed into the first corner leaving him with a considerable amount of work to do to move back towards the front. He made some strong passes but the leader had already bridged a gap and he was unable to catch up, he is now lying in third place in the Championship standings.
His team-mate Nick Anderson also rode a fantastic race and was locked in a very close battle throughout the race to bring the Be Wiser Kawasaki home in a very creditable sixth position. Nick was fortunate to avoid a serious incident when a rider just in front of him had a bike issue and stopped instantly, Nick’s quick actions and thinking avoided what could have been a huge crash. There was a lot of damage on his Be Wiser Kawasaki when he entered parc ferme after the race, he re composed himself and held off five riders behind to gain a great result for the team.
Joe Collier – “It’s been another really good weekend with the Be Wiser team and another solid podium. Oulton is one of my favourite tracks and I really wanted to get a good result here, we had a good set up from the test the week before so it made things easier heading into first practice. I got a really bad start in the race and was totally boxed into the first corner which pushed me back several places. I worked my way through but Andy (Reid) was already long gone and it was going to be too hard to catch him. I want to keep getting consistent results like this all season; I’m looking forward to racing at the World Superbike race at Donington in a few weeks.”
Nick Anderson – “I’m very happy to worked my way up through the pack and to get a decent race result. I had to be super aggressive as I knew I had a freight train of riders behind me. I managed to avoid a huge accident when one rider’s bike cut out in front of me and I had think fast to miss him, I clipped him but managed to stay on thankfully.”
Team Owner/Manager Alan Greig – “It was good for the team to come to Oulton Park last week for the test, despite the mixed weather conditions the riders were able to get a good base set up.
Once again all three riders improved in every session and there were big improvements from Brands during the qualifying sessions.
We were looking forward to Josh Day’s race as in warm up he showed strong potential for a good race, he got a good start but sadly everyone was fighting for the same piece of tarmac on the opening lap and Josh paid the price and crashed out. It is a shame as he’d got faster all weekend and we are sure he would have gained a top ten finish.
In the Stock 600 class Joe got a bad start and was blocked into turn one, he had to settle down into a rhythm and build up his pace. He made huge progress but by the time he made it through to second place the leader had already bridged a large gap, he rode really well and hard to secure second place and another podium for the Be Wiser Kawasaki team.
Nick rode one of the best races we’ve seen him race, he struggled a little in qualifying to get a good grid position but he worked endlessly to secure a fantastic sixth position. He did well to avoid a crash despite colliding with the rider that stopped and we realised afterwards that Nick’s bike took a big impact as the fairings were broken; he composed himself well and fought off the herd of riders behind him.
I am really pleased with the progress made this weekend at Oulton and hope this will continue as we move on to the remaining rounds of the season.”
2014 Sponsors
Be Wiser Insurance – Kais Ohlins – Kawasaki Motors UK – B&C Express – Renthal – Britool Expert – Dickies – Activ 8 – Anglia Interiors – Cups Direct – Eazi Grip – Foulger Transport – Garnell Nutrition – GR Race Graphics – GB Racing – HM Quickshifter – HM Racing – University of Lincoln – No Limits Track Days – PR Trackbike Hire – Samco – Sani Clad – Tanker & General – The Shires Inn – Venhill – Direct Distribition – SBS – Saville – Jarbtech
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service:
MACKENZIE TOP-6 IN OULTON SUPERSPORT 600
Tyco Suzuki’s Taylor Mackenzie raced to a top-six finish at the weekend’s Oulton Park British Supersport Championship opening race from row four on the grid.
The 21-year-old had struggled with set-up during qualifying but came through the pack to kick-start his season after a tough opening round at Brands Hatch Indy a fortnight ago.
The Ashby based rider, who started from 10th place in Monday’s 16-lap encounter – where he finished 10th – said: “Yeah I have to be happy with that. I made a good start but got run wide by James Rispoli early-on and dropped behind him, Luke Hedger and Callan Cooper.
“I got my head down and got into a good rhythm in the last few laps, setting my fastest lap on lap 10 of 12. We moved-up two places on the grid for Monday’s second race, so it’s a matter of getting a good start and trying to hang-on to the main group.”
More, from a press release issued by Trik Moto Kawasaki:
LAW CAN TAKE POSITIVES AWAY FROM BANK HOLIDAY MEETING AT OULTON PARK
National Superstock 600cc racer Mason Law will take the positives away from yesterday’s Bank Holiday meeting at Oulton Park in Cheshire, despite crashing out in the closing stages from seventh position on his Trik Moto Kawasaki.
Mason qualified in tenth position after struggling to get to grips with the sinuous Oulton Park track in the early sessions, but made good progress throughout the race, only to catch his foot peg on the kerbs at turn one – which ultimately ended his chances of sneaking into the top six.
Law who leaves Oulton Park holding down fifth place in the championship standings, following his second placed podium at Brands Hatch just a fortnight ago, recounted: “I knew coming into the race that it wasn’t going to be easy as it took me a while to get to grips with the track.
“I got a great jump from the line but was on the outside for turn one and got pushed a little wide. I nearly had a big crash on the first lap through Island Bend but I found my feet and started to put some good laps together going faster then I did in qualifying.
“I caught up to seventh and was itching to make a move but got a little close into turn one and was off-sighted and turned it too early and my foot peg hit the curb and spun my rear end around. Day over. All in all we made good progress, but it took me too long to get up to speed at Oulton, so I will learn from this and be stronger for the next race.”
Team Manager Andrew Pitt added: “Mason is maturing all the time and despite the no score he showed strong pace and a lot of commitment to come through the pack on his Trik Moto Kawasaki. He was a little unlucky to catch his foot peg on the kerb at turn one, but it’s happened to us all in racing. He’s still well in the title hunt in fifth and can move on to Snetterton now in a positive frame of mind.”
Results
Winner: Andy Reid [Yamaha]; 2nd – Joe Collier [Kawasaki] +4.868sec; 3rd – James Lodge [Kawasaki] +5.999sec
Championship Points
James Lodge 41
Andy Reid 38
Joe Collier 36
Kyle Ryde 24
Mason Law 20
More, from a press release issued by Halsall Racing:
Two top 20s for Hartley at Oulton Park – as Jack Valentine takes the reins as Team Manager
THE Halsall Biker Gear Kawasaki team has returned home from the second round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship with two strong finishes for teenage hotshot Harry Hartley – and a new arrival in the form of Jack Valentine who takes the reins as Team Manager with immediate effect.
The Bolton-based squad arrived at their local track, Oulton Park, fielding just 17-year-old Hartley as the only rider after parting company with Lee Costello last week. And it was to be learning curve of a weekend for the Burnley youngster in only his second race weekend as a Superbike rider.
After using the early practice sessions to get to grips with how his new bike handles around the Cheshire track, Hartley qualified 22nd on the grid for Bank Holiday Monday’s opening race. Getting a solid start, he picked up a couple of places in the opening few laps before slowly picking his way up to finish the race 17th.
And it was more of the same in the afternoon’s second race. This time starting from 23rd spot he got a demon start, rocketing up to 18th spot in the opening lap. A small mistake on Lap Five dropped him back to 22, and he spent the rest of the race picking his way back through the order to eventually finish 17th once more.
“It wasn’t too bad, but I just kept making mistakes,” he said. “I kept running off at Hizzy’s and then I had to spend the rest of the time trying to make up for it. I had the pace to run with Josh Waters and people like that but I just couldn’t make it perfect.
“I’m happy though because I was a lot faster in that second race and it shows that we are in a good place. It’s still only my second race on the Superbike and if I look at my times, I can’t be too disappointed. If it hadn’t been for my mistakes we could’ve easily had two points finishes there.”
Hartley is expected to get more testing in during the six week break before the next round, as the team today comes under the regime of Jack Valentine. Valentine joins as Team Manager and is looking forward to pulling the team into shape – his way.
“Martin and I have been in touch a lot over the last few months and he asked me to come on board as Team Manager,” he explained. “What he wanted and was offering worked for me. It’s the chance to come into the team and give them the benefit of my experience, working and doing things my way to get the best out of everyone.
“I spent time with them at Oulton and I’ve been impressed with how they work. The crew are great and Harry is looking like he has the talent needed to become a top Superbike rider. I’m really looking forward to getting started with the team. I’m probably going to move myself into the unit early this week and then plan some testing ahead of Snetterton, so we can get Harry feeling more confident before the next round.”
Team owner Martin Halsall added: “It’s been a superb weekend, and I know Harry was a bit disappointed not to get in the points this time but he’s worked hard and he’s still learning as he goes. I’m happy with his results, he’s making great progress and we’re sure it can only keep getting better and better, especially now Jack is on board.
“I’ve brought Jack in as Team Manager and I’m looking forward to him getting us all into order and doing things his way. He brings with him many years of experience and knowledge and I believe with Jack at the helm we can really start pushing further and further towards the front. I’m delighted to have Jack with us, and it’s all looking great for the remainder of the season.”
More, from a press release issued by Tsingtao Kawasaki:
SECOND SUCCESSIVE TOP STEP FOR BUCHAN WITH OULTON VICTORY
Danny Buchan maintained his one-hundred percent record in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship with a convincing five second victory at Oulton Park today – aboard his Tsingtao Kawasaki.
After dominating free practice, qualifying and the aforementioned race action, the Essex lad, who celebrated his 21st birthday just last week, also set a new class lap record – posting a 1min 37.177sec effort on the fifth lap of thirteen.
With a perfect score of 50 points from the opening two races Buchan now leads the championship by ten points from Jason O’Halloran, with Adam Jenkinson holding third place a further 16 points adrift in third.
Big Danny said afterwards: “We had great pace all weekend. We tested here a couple of weeks ago at the official BSB test, so taking that into account the Tsingtao Racing ZX-10R Kawasaki just worked awesome straight from the off.”
“We knew we could do the times on the old tyre, so the plan was to get out there; get the head down and do as many quick laps as we could at the start. I actually ran on at the end chasing my own tail and thirty-six second laps, as I had it in my head all weekend.
“But I calmed down and concentrated on those twenty-five points. To come away from the opening two rounds with two wins is awesome and I can’t thank the team and my personal sponsors enough.”
Results
Winner: Danny Buchan [Tsingtao Kawasaki] 22min 04.038sec; 2nd – Jason O’Hallaoran [Honda] +5.150; 3rd – David Johnson [Kawasaki] +5.514sec; 4th – Adam Jenkinson [Kawasaki] +5.670sec; 5th – Glen Richards [Honda] +7.638sec; 6th – Lee Jackson [BMW] +9.531sec
Championship Points
Danny Buchan 50
Jason O’Halloran 40
Adam Jenkinson 24
David Johnson 22
Filip Backlund 21
More, from a press release issued by Mar-Train Racing:
SEELEY BOUNCES BACK FROM CRASH TO SECURE PODIUM AND LAP RECORD
Mar-Train Racing’s Alastair Seeley recorded a pole position, two fastest lap; a class lap record and a second place for his efforts at Oulton Park this Bank Holiday weekend in Cheshire.
He now holds third place in the British Supersport Championship standings after two rounds on 61 points. Double winner McConnell leads the series on 76 points with Glenn Irwin second on 63.
The weekend wasn’t without drama though, with the Carrickfergus man crashing out of Sunday’s Sprint race, whilst battling for the lead with eventual winner Billy McConnell.
And despite some unplanned extra work for his crew overnight to rebuild his Mar-Train Racing Yamaha R6, Seeley repaid their efforts with second place in today 16 lap encounter. Despite having led into the final turn only to lose out by 0.286sec to Aussie McConnell, the 34-year-old remained upbeat about his performance.
Alastair Seeley:
“It was a typical Supersport race with no holds barred and we were rubbing fairings and bars, and coming onto that last lap I thought I had it defended well enough. But I started backing in and I didn’t want to run in too deep and lose a position that way. Billy showed me a wheel and I tried to hold him off and lay on top of him but he pushed me off with his knee. I’d like to thank my Mar-Train Yamaha team as they did an immense job after that crash yesterday as the bike was in bits. We’ve scored more good points and got our championship back on track and now it’s time to look ahead to the North West 200.”
Tim Martin – Team Principal:
“It was certainly an eventful weekend and yesterday’s race wasn’t what we were looking for in terms of our championship aspirations, but what a race that was today. Billy and Alastair must have passed each other a dozen times or more. We are obviously a little bit disappointed to lose out after coming so close and Alastair rode a faultless race, but fair play to Billy he really was on the money this weekend. it’s a long season and races like those will not be good for the heart, but we’re well in the mix and can go the North West 200 now and do our best to tick off another box in terms of our season aspirations.”
British Supersport Race 1
Winner: Billy McConnell [Triumph] 19min 48.318sec; 2nd – Luke Stapleford [Triumph] +5.278sec; 3rd – Glenn Irwin [Kawasaki] +7.095sec
Fastest Lap – Alastair Seeley [Mar-Train Racing] 1min 37.563sec [new lap record]
British Supersport Race 2
Winner: Billy McConnell [Triumph] 26min 22.012sec; 2nd – Alastair Seeley [Mar-Train Racing] +0.286sec; 3rd – Graeme Gowland [Triumph] +0.427sec
Fastest Lap – Alastair Seeley [Mar-Train Racing] 1min 37.918sec
Championship Points
Billy McConnell 73
Glenn Irwin 63
Alastair Seeley 61
Luke Jones 52
Luke Stapleford 50
Graeme Gowland 36
More, from a press release issued by Quattro Plant Kawasaki:
Linfoot and Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s fine season start continues
The Quattro Plant Kawasaki team’s strong start to the 2014 MCE British Superbike Championship season continued at Oulton Park over the Bank Holiday weekend with Dan Linfoot scoring a brace of top eight finishes, including a best finish of sixth, to move himself up into a fine eighth place overall after the first two rounds.
The weekend got off to the perfect start for Dan and the team when he qualified in an excellent fifth place for Monday’s first race and with a good start, the Knaresborough rider slotted into sixth place at the completion of the opening lap. Enjoying a good dice initially with Stuart Easton, Chris Walker and Tommy Bridewell, Dan found himself locked in battle with Richard Cooper for the second half of the race and, having sat behind his fellow Kawasaki rider for a number of laps, he made his move on the final lap to take an excellent sixth place at the chequered flag.
The second 18-lap encounter saw Dan line up in the slightly lower starting position of tenth but a strong start saw him move up to eighth and running in close company with Bridewell, Easton and former Champion Ryuichi Kiyonari. As the race wore on, Dan was involved in a five-man battle for sixth place and he ultimately crossed the line in a good seventh to take a solid haul of 19 points from the two races and subsequently move himself into eighth place overall in the Championship table.
Dan Linfoot: “It’s been a good weekend with some good results and, given how everything unfolded in qualifying, the two race finishes are probably where I expected to be. I’m slightly disappointed not to have matched the pace of Stuart Easton and Tommy Bridewell throughout the race and I need to adapt my riding style to get the best out of myself and the bike for the entire race distance. If I can make progress in that area, I’m confident I’ll be closer to where I want to be. The bike’s working well and the motor’s really strong so if I can keep banging in the top six, top seven finishes, hopefully grabbing a fourth place here and there, we won’t be a million miles away come the Showdown. It’s early days at the moment and there are plenty of races still to go but it’s been a very solid start to the season so a big thanks to all the team.”
Pete Extance: “With Howie (Mainwaring-Smart) not 100% fit yet, we arrived at Oulton with one rider and determined to build on the results Dan achieved at the opening round. He started really well in the first free practice session and continued that form all weekend, going on to post his quickest ever lap of Oulton in the final segment of qualifying. It meant he was in a great position for the first race and, with a good set-up with the Kawasaki ZX-10R, he took that form into the races, starting off with an excellent sixth place in the opening race.”
“For the second race, he had to start from the fourth row, which obviously gave him a bit more work to do, but he opted to go with the harder compound tyre and came away with a good seventh place and more solid points. He’s run consistently inside the top eight all weekend and it’s been a good meeting for the team with a good haul of points and a healthy looking position in the Championship table. We’re all now looking forward to the International road racing season, firstly the North West 200, where James Hillier will be firmly challenging for the race wins.”
The next round of the BSB series takes place at Snetterton, Norfolk on June 13-15 when Mainwaring-Smart will be back in action, but the team now head to Northern Ireland for the International North West 200 road races with the meeting, held on the 8.9-mile circuit linking the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush getting underway on Tuesday May 13.
MCE British Superbike Championship Race One – 18 laps
1 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)
2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)
3 James Ellison (Kawasaki)
4 Tommy Bridewell (Yamaha)
5 Stuart Easton (Kawasaki)
6 Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki)
MCE British Superbike Championship Race Two – 18 laps
1 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)
2 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)
3 James Ellison (Kawasaki)
4 Stuart Easton (Kawasaki)
5 Tommy Bridewell (Yamaha)
6 James Westmoreland (BMW)
7 Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki)
Championship standings (after two rounds)
1 Byrne 95pts
2 Brookes 65
3 Ellison 64
4 Easton 44
5 Walker 31
6 Bridewell 40
8 Linfoot 32
More, from a press release issued by Smiths Triumph Racing:
Double Top For McConnell At Oulton Park
The Smiths Triumph Racing Team enjoyed an excellent second round of the 2014 Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park this Bank Holiday weekend with Australian ace Billy McConnell taking a resounding double victory to take over the championship lead.
And to add to the team’s celebrations, team-mate Graeme Gowland overcame a crash in Sunday’s Sprint race to take a podium in today’s Feature race to maintain his championship challenge for the Gloucester-based 2012 British champions.
Having qualified on the front row for Sunday’s 12-lap race, McConnell and Gowland, aboard the factory-supported Triumph Daytona 675Rs, were ideally placed to take the challenge to rival Alastair Seeley and that’s exactly how the scenario unfolded. Positions were exchanged regularly at the head of the field before 27-year-old McConnell from Adelaide seized the lead on the fifth lap and from that moment on he was never headed.
However, his task was made easier when Seeley and 28-year-old Gowland, from Allandale in Northumberland, crashed at Druids on the seventh lap fortunately escaping injury. McConnell, unaware of the incident, pressed on and went on to take his first win of the season by eight seconds.
Today’s longer 16-lap race saw a no-holds barred contest between the Smiths Triumph pairing and Seeley once more but on this occasion it went all the way to the chequered flag. It was Gowland who held sway in the early stages but on the fourth lap, McConnell hit the front for the first time before Seeley edged ahead as the race entered its final third. But with a superb move at Lodge corner, Billy wasn’t to be denied the double and crossed the line in front to complete a superb weekend double.
Gowland was only half a second adrift of his team-mate in third and the results now mean that McConnell leads the championship by 13 points with Gowland in sixth courtesy of his two podiums in the first four races.
Billy McConnell: “What can I say, it’s been a great weekend for myself and Smiths Triumph and a big thanks to the team, especially my crew chief Jason Jones and John Trigger. Together with the guys at K-Tech suspension and Tim Seed working his magic with the electronics, I’ve got a great package beneath me and everything’s working really well. The speed of the motor has come on in leaps and bounds and the hard work everyone is putting in is paying dividends. I was unaware Alastair and Graeme had crashed in Sunday’s race so kept chipping away and was then able to ease off in the closing stages whilst the second was tough all the way to the end. We come for race wins so to have taken them both is superb. We’re all pulling together and I’ve got a great feeling with the bike so a big thanks to the whole team for their effort and commitment.”
Graeme Gowland: “After injuring my shoulder at the opening round, the last thing I wanted was to have another spill but there was no warning in Sunday’s race and before I knew it, I was down on the ground. I did a bit of damage to the other shoulder but I dug deep in the second race and got rewarded with a good podium. I could see Billy and Alastair were having a real tussle and thought it could end in tears but Billy took a good win and with my third place, it’s been a good meeting for the team. I’m looking forward to the break now so I can get myself 100% fit and then really go for the race wins from Snetterton onwards.”
Rebecca Smith: “We had a good test here at Oulton Park just over a week ago and knew we’d be strong in both the wet and the dry and we’ve shown how strong we were all weekend. We were confident of some good results and, more importantly, so were Billy and Graeme. The first race crash for Graeme was unfortunate but he fought back well to take a good podium whilst Billy really showed how confident he is at the moment. He’s found a really good feeling with the bike and took two excellent wins so we couldn’t be happier right now. We’ve only had two rounds though so we’ll keep our feet firmly on the ground and look to build further at the next round at Snetterton.”
The next round of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship takes place at Snetterton over the weekend of June 13/15th.
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race One (12 laps)
1 Billy McConnell (Smiths Triumph)
2 Luke Stapleford (Triumph)
3 Glenn Irwin (Kawasaki)
4 Luke Jones (Triumph)
5 Jake Dixon (Yamaha)
6 Taylor Mackenzie (Suzuki)
DNF Graeme Gowland (Smiths Triumph)
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race Two (16 laps)
1 Billy McConnell (Smiths Triumph)
2 Alastair Seeley (Yamaha)
3 Graeme Gowland (Smiths Triumph)
4 Luke Stapleford (Triumph)
5 Glenn Irwin (Kawasaki)
6 Luke Mossey (Triumph)
Championship standings (after two rounds)
1 McConnell 76pts
2 Irwin 63
3 Seeley 61
4 Jones 52
5 Stapleford 50
6 Gowland 36
More, from a press release issued by Jake Dixon Racing:
Jake Dixon – Oulton Park Round 2
www.facebook.com/JakeDixonRacing
Jake Dixon riding on the Appleyard Macadam Doodson Yamaha had a strong weekend at round two of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at the picturesque Oulton Park Circuit. Dixon had two good races and gained a fifth and eighth place respectively in the two races.
Jake finished his season in 2013 at Oulton Park after breaking his scaphoid at the technical circuit so he was weary of returning here, he rode well during qualifying and put in a solid time that saw him sit in eighth place on the grid for race one. He got a good start and was setting some strong and consistent lap times slowly moving his way through the field. He finished the 12-lap race in fifth position.
He placed eighth again on the grid for race two on Monday and he was eager to get some more strong points. He struggled off the start and was unable to keep up with the front runners and had to settled with an eighth position.
Jake Dixon – “I can’t say I was looking forward to the weekend at Oulton as this is where my season ended last year. I knew I wanted to get two solid results under my belt and move on to Snetterton. I was really pleased with my race one result of fifth place, I was adamant I wanted and needed a solid finish. The team worked well but we made some changes overnight for the second race on Monday and the bike just didn’t handle as I would have hoped in race two. I really fought and did the best I could during the race on Monday but I just wasn’t able to put in the lap times I wanted. I am pleased to have got two top ten results from here and now we have a base setting for when we come back later in the year. I am looking forward to getting to Snetterton and hopefully get a solid set-up early in the weekend and I’d like to be running top six every weekend. I would like to thank the Appleyard Macadam Doodson Yamaha team for all their hard work over the weekend and hope we can make progress and move forwards at the next round.”
2014 Personal Sponsors
Shoei – Daytona – RetroGravity Clothing – Feridax – anyone wishing to sponsor Jake this season with product or funding please get in touch – [email protected]
Team Sponsors
Appleyard – Macadam – Doodson – Yamaha
Facebook – www.facebook.com/JakeDixonRacing
Twitter – @DixonJake
More, from a press release issued by Luke Mossey Racing:
Luke Mossey – Oulton Park – Round 2
www.facebook.com/LukeMosseyRacing
Luke Mossey finally got his season underway at Oulton Park in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship. After dislocating his right shoulder in qualifying at Brands Hatch, Luke was keen to start his season at Oulton. Things did not go to plan in race one when he crashed out uninjured but he secured a solid six place in the main race on Bank Holiday Monday.
The first Motorpoint British Supersport race was another disaster for the youngster from Cambridge. His weekend at Oulton Park was going well and he qualified the Teccare Profile Triumph in a strong fifth place on the grid for the opening Sprint race. He got a good start and was able to stay with the leading pack but was unfortunate to crash out on lap four at Shell corner landing on the shoulder he dislocated at Brands Hatch.
For the main race on Monday he was in fifth place on the grid for the 16-lap race, Luke was eager not to push too hard and just get to the flag. It has been a challenging start to the season for the talented youngster but he knew he had to work hard today to ensure he got some Championship points. He got a good start and was sat in fourth place after lap one but dropped back a couple of places. Luke struggled in the closing stages of the races with shoulder pain but was able to make a pass on the last lap and secure sixth.
Luke Mossey – “This has been a nightmare start to my season really, I was one of the very few people injured at Brands Hatch the other week and I was desperate to kick start my season at Oulton this weekend. I was feeling good and the medics and physios strapped up my shoulder well and I was careful not to push to hard during qualifying and practice and just do what I had to do. I felt good in the opening race and didn’t feel I was pushing too hard when I lost the front going into Shell, I crashed and landed on my shoulder and was worried I might have done further damage. I had a quick check and all felt ok which I was pretty relieved about to be honest.
I knew for the race today I had to finish, there was no other option. I was a little worried about crashing and it’s something I’ve never thought during a race before but I just wanted to dig deep and keep pushing on. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay with the pace of the front runners as I am still experiencing some pain in my shoulder. I made contact with Luke Jones on the last lap into the last corner as my arm had near enough given up on me, I apologised to Luke as it certainly wasn’t intentional. I am quite looking forward now to the break between now and Snetterton, I can have further treatment and physio and get back to a track I really enjoy racing. I would like to say thanks to all the Teccare Profile Triumph team for all their help and support this weekend, plus my Dad and all my other personal sponsors.”
Personal Sponsors 2014
Sidi, Shoei, GB Racing, SMV, Teccare, Motul, Hel, Samco, Brembo, Gi Moto, Doodson, Sabre Sport, K Tech, JMC
Twitter – LukeMossey12
Facebook – www.facebook.com/LukeMosseyRacing
More, from a press release issued by Buildbase BMW Motorrad:
Westmoreland finds his pace at Oulton Park.
James Westmoreland delivered two outstanding rides, securing a sixth and an eighth place finish at Oulton Park. Westmoreland rode from sixth place on the grid to finish sixth in a nail-biting race two, but it was during race one that he really showed his potential with an incredible battle to get from 27th to eighth place.
British Superbike rider Ryuichi Kiyonari had an extra dose of bad luck, with an electrical fault ending his first race. The Japanese rider had secured a front row start for the second fixture thanks to an impressive lap time, but shortly after the start of race two, rider Jon Kirkham spotted a small oil leak on Kiyo’s bike and gestured to him, which prompted him to retire.
Westmoreland had to evade a crash on the very first lap of the initial British Superbike race, swerving onto the grass and rejoining the track in 27th place. However, Westy responded with a Herculean effort and fought his way back to overtake almost 20 riders, finishing in eighth position and securing his third top-ten finish of the season.
Despite the incidents in the first race, both riders were able to set impressive lap times and secure promising places for race two, with Kiyonari starting from third place on the front row and his team mate Westmoreland in sixth place on the second row. James went on to finish sixth, taking a second vital points-scoring position that leaves him in seventh place in the MCE British Superbike Championship standings.
In the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race, Lee Jackson improved from a tenth place start and finished in sixth place. The race was red flagged when rider Victor Cox had a huge crash which initially looked very serious, but thankfully seemed only to have left him with a broken finger and suspected concussion.
James Westmoreland said: “A sixth and an eighth place – if somebody had offered me that yesterday I’d have bitten their hand off. I didn’t have good pace or feeling in qualifying, but today it all came together. I don’t want to finish sixth and eighth now, I want to be winning races. I’d say this was a tough weekend, and even so we’re so much stronger than we were this time last season. It makes me feel very confident going forward.”
Lee Jackson said: “That was a good race. Qualifying tenth wasn’t where I wanted to be – I got held up on my fastest lap so should really have been much better than that. The race started okay, but I wheelied off the line. A few riders passed me and I said ‘no way I’m letting that happen’, got my head down and caught them up by the time the red flag appeared. Big thanks to everyone on the team for their help.”
Stuart Hicken, Team Owner, said: “Two positives to take from this weekend are James’ fantastic ride, where he carved his way through the field, and Lee’s solid pace. Both riders did very well and were a pleasure to watch. Unfortunately, Kiyo had some real bad luck, getting an electrical fault and an oil leak on the same day. However he’s very upbeat and rightly says it’s only round two, with plenty of time to race for the Championship title. We’ll be testing at Knockhill later this week and raring to go at Snetterton in June for the next racing.”
The third round of the 2014 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship takes place at Snetterton on 13-15 June 2014. Tickets can be purchased on the gate and for more information visit www.snetterton.co.uk or call 0843 453 9000.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, race one result:
1. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)2. Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.105s3. James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +6.183s4. Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +8.781s5. Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +13.285s6. Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +19.139s7. Richard Cooper (Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki) +19.226s8. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW Motorrad) +23.030s9. Jon Kirkham (Tsingtao WK Kawasaki) +23.878s10. Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +25.509s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, race two result:
1. Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha)2. Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.118s3. James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +4.892s4. Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +11.841s5. Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +14.145s6. James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW Motorrad) +21.606s7. Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +23.506s8. Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +20.894s9. John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +29.872s10. Jon Kirkham (Tsingtao WK Kawasaki) +30.862s
More, from a press release issued by Gearlink Kawasaki:
Gearlink Kawasaki
Round 2 – Oulton Park
www.facebook.com/GearlinkRacing
It was a tough weekend for the Gearlink Kawasaki team at round two of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park with their rider Ben Wilson, who secured 15th and 16th place respectively in the two races. In the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship the two riders, Glenn Irwin and Luke Hedger had a very contrasting weekend to each other. Glenn gained a solid third place in race one and fifth in race two; Luke was unfortunate to not finish either race due to a technical problem.
Ben Wilson struggled all weekend to find a set up in his Gearlink Kawasaki and he was unable to repeat his fantastic performance at Brands Hatch only a few weeks ago. The team have no technical data or set up for any circuit for the powerful Superbike and around the difficult Oulton Park track it was a tough challenge for them. Ben lost a lot of time in the opening practice sessions and this relayed into qualifying and the races. Despite improving his time drastically in both races he had to settle for 15th and 16th place.
Ben Wilson – “Oulton Park is a really difficult circuit to master and we had a problem with getting the bike stable and set up for my riding style around here. I’m a little disappointed but it’s tough having no testing here and having to start fresh in every first practice session. The team worked really hard but I had a couple of problems in both races and I just wasn’t able to push any harder to improve my result. I like Snetterton and hope we can start on a good foot there and improve as the weekend progresses.”
Motorpoint British Supersport
In the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Glenn Irwin had a successful opening race in the Sprint race and took a solid third place which saw him leading the Championship as he headed into the main race on Monday. Luke Hedger had struggled all weekend with technical gremlins after a big crash at Brands Hatch; he was unfortunate to DNF the race with an electrical issue.
Glenn also had a successful main race and once again he showed the pace to run with the front boys and put in a very good performance finishing in fifth which now sees him lying in second place in the overall Championship standings. Luke once again had a disappointing weekend and was forced to pull in with a mechanical fault.
Glenn Irwin – “It was another good weekend for myself and the Gearlink Kawasaki team, the whole weekend we made improvements and each time I was out on the bike my times improved. It is the fastest I have ever gone round Oulton Park and I am really pleased with the progress we have made in such a short time. Both races were difficult and to run up at the sharp end certainly isn’t an easy feat, I pushed hard and had to fight off several challenges. I suffered at Brands and here with arm pump so I will look into now getting that fixed up before Snetterton. I must thank all of the Gearlink Kawasaki team for working so hard this weekend and all my personal sponsors and everyone who has helped me so far. I hope we can continue this form and stay up at the front end. I’m looking forward already to getting to Snetterton.”
Luke Hedger – “I’m really disappointed about this weekend, something must have happened internally in the crash at Brands that has upset my bike. I have to praise the Gearlink team for working so hard to try and fix my bike. On a plus note every time I did manage to get out on track I improved my times and just want to move forwards to Snetterton now and put this down as a bad weekend.”
Team Manager Michael de Bidaph – “This weekend has been really disheartening and things have been bad from start to finish except for Glenn’s results. Ben was struggling during all the practice sessions with an instability problem and we lost a lot of precious time trying to fix that. Come race day we still had a few set up issues and race one was ok but in race two we suffered with brake problems again. I am disappointed for Kawasaki Motors UK and all our team sponsors for this weekend and hope we can improve the situation at Snetterton.
I’m so pleased with Glenn in the Supersport class, he has really matured over the winter and has proved this weekend that he can run at the front with very experienced Supersport racers. He was riding hard in both races and secured a great podium on Sunday and showed on Monday he could run at the front again and made some confident passes and moves. He is now in second place in the Championship and if he can remain consistent like this all year he will have a very good season.
With Luke, it is very difficult with the Supersport bike as it is very fragile and with the big crash Luke had at Paddock Hill at Brands, something has gone wrong that we have been unable to find. We will have to strip the bike down before Snetterton and find out what was causing the issues this weekend and get him back out on track, the times he managed were good and he was placed in good positions when he was forced to retire.”
2014 GEARLINK TEAM SPONSORS
AKRAPOVIC – B & C EXPRESS – CN TRADING (GLENN) – DAYTONA (BEN) – DAMEN LEATHERS – DBR – GALFER – GB RACING – GEARLINK LTD – GOODRIDGE – JAMES JAMIESON CONSTRUCTION (GLENN) – JOHNY WILLS PHOTOGRAPHY – K-TECH – MARK TALBOT (GLENN) – MEGASTORE247 (GLENN) – MET HEALTHCARE (GLENN) – MWR AIR FILTERS – NGK SPARK PLUGS – OCTANORM – PERFORMANCE PARTS – PERFORMANCE FRICTION BRAKES – PRO CLEAN – PRO-BOLT – R & G RACING – RENTHAL – ROCK OIL – SAMCO SPORT – SHARK HELMETS – SHOEI HELMETS (LUKE) – SIDI (LUKE) – SIGMA PERFORMANCE – SINNIS – SKIDMARX – SOLO SIGNS – TIM TODD SURFACING – TSUBAKI – VALE LIVESTOCK – WWW.1STCHOICE-FLOORING.CO.UK (LUKE)
More, from a press release issued by SMT Racing:
Backlund battles through the pain barrier to claim top eight finish
SMT Racing’s Filip Backlund battled through the pain barrier at OultonPark on Bank Holiday Monday to claim a hard earned eighth place on the Kawasaki ZX-10R at the second round of the 2014 Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship.
Riding for the Skelmersdale-based team, the Swedish ace suffered a spill at the Britten’s chicane towards the end of the opening qualifying session and with ankle ligaments torn in his left ankle, it meant he faced an uphill battle for the rest of the weekend. With a best lap of 1m39.013s in the second qualifying session he lined up back in 18th place and on the sixth row of the grid for the 15-lap race.
However, the 24-year old dug deep and made superb progress throughout, continually lapping quicker than the riders in front of him and, subsequently, moving forward throughout. Having gained two places on the opening lap, Fililp posted a best lap almost three quarters of a second quicker than what he had done in qualifying and, with consistent laps, he had moved up inside the top ten by two thirds race distance. With a top six finish within his grasp, the race ended on the penultimate lap after an incident involving Victor Cox and with the result taken after 13 laps, Filip was duly awarded eighth place and eight Championship points. It sees him occupy fifth in the table after the opening two rounds.
Filip Backlund: “To come through to finish eighth after everything is pleasing and whilst it’s not where we want to be, it’s only the second round and the points could be crucial. The ankle was causing me considerable discomfort as I couldn’t put any pressure through it which affected the way I was changing gear. However, we found a good setting with the bike and I was able to lap consistently fast, moving forward all the time.”
“If I’d have made a better start the result could’ve been better still but I was happy with my race and with the feeling I had with the bike. The whole team are working really hard, doing a great job, and we’re making good progress so we’ll use the break before the next round to get my foot 100% and come back stronger. I’m feeling positive and confident and can’t wait until Snetterton.”
Robin Croft, Team Owner: “After what Filip went through in qualifying, the race was very much a salvation job but for him to come away with a fine eighth place is very satisfying to say the least. The crash was at one of the slower parts of the course and whilst there wasn’t much damage to the bike, the ligament damage to Filip’s ankle made it very difficult from there on. The MSV medical staff did a great job but he was hindered when changing gear whilst starting from P18 was a tall order.”
“However, Filip fought bravely through the pain barrier and the pack to haul himself into the top ten and his pace was really strong. He couldn’t have been more complimentary about how well the bike was working during the race and whilst other riders were slowing as the race wore on, Filip was getting stronger. It just shows how determined he is and whilst we’ve had a slight mishap this weekend, there’s no panic in the SMT Racing camp and we can’t wait until Snetterton to really show what we can do.”
The next round of the Superstock series takes place at Snetterton on June 13-15 but the team now head to the Isle of Man TT races where Dan Stewart and Tim Reeves/Gregory Cluze will line up in the solo and sidecar races respectively. Practice gets underway around the 37 and ¾ mile course on Saturday May 24.
More, from a press release issued by Milwaukee Yamaha:
MILWAUKEE YAMAHA CLAIM FIRST VICTORY OF THE SEASON AT OULTON PARK
The Milwaukee Yamaha team celebrated their first victory of the 2014 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season at Oulton Park this afternoon as Josh Brookes claimed his first win for the team to follow up his second place in the opening race.
In the opening race of the day Brookes got off to a flying start to shadow championship leader Shane Byrne and despite his best efforts was forced to settle for second. The Australian’s blistering pace during the race broke the existing lap record set in 2006 and put Brookes on pole position for the second race. Tommy Bridewell had a hard-fought race to charge up the order to claim fourth position as he continued to make up ground on his rivals.
Race two was a different story as Brookes led the race from the start and despite a move from Byrne early in the proceedings he instantly attacked back to reclaim the position. Brookes held the advantage despite the growing pressure to claim his first win for Milwaukee Yamaha as he moved second in the overall standings. Bridewell had been pushing forward and was battling for fourth position when he got caught in traffic and had to settle for fifth, elevating himself to fifth in the overall standings.
Brookes said: “I am delighted with how we have finished today with the win. In the first race I didn’t get a great start and then we had the safety car and that always breaks my rhythm even though it was on the first lap. When we did get going I thought I had a really good run onto the straight on Shakey and then next thing I knew James was there and I couldn’t turn into the corner. I wasn’t too bothered at that point, but then I saw Shakey starting to get away and I thought I needed to go with him. At that point I wasn’t too comfortable to push and I couldn’t match the times from earlier in the weekend but then as the race went on I was more confident; unfortunately it wasn’t enough to catch Shakey but we changed that in race two.
“It is a great feeling to win and what we all push so hard to achieve, so to get it is quite rewarding but it was so difficult. There is always a dog fight in BSB to get to the result so I tried not to make mistakes and set my pace quite strong and consistent. In the early laps Shane got passed me and I thought I can’t let him get into that robotic stage where he is in the zone so I pulled a really cool, aggressive move to get back ahead. I had some really big slides and moments at the end of the race and I thought come on let’s just keep it all together and bring it home so I was really pleased to finally see that chequered flag waving.”
Bridewell said: “I felt I rode well today and had two good races although we were still a bit away from where we need to be to push for the podiums. In race one I hung in there and a fourth place was much better but in race two I was disappointed as I got stuck in traffic. I knew I had the gap behind me and that I was stronger than Stuart (Easton) at certain points of the circuit but the backmarkers held me up and it cost me the position. I know we still have more to do at Snetterton because we want to be fighting for wins but I rode as hard as I could today to get these results, especially after coming back from the missed time on Saturday. I am happy enough but want to be fighting for podiums when it comes to Snetterton.”
Team owner Shaun Muir concluded: “I am delighted with this weekend and Josh’s win today was his just rewards for the hard work he has put in since joining the Milwaukee Yamaha team. This has traditionally been a good track for us and although the first race didn’t quite go to plan with the safety car and he had to settle for second to Shakey, he definitely made up for it in race two with that performance. In the second race he soaked up a huge amount of pressure from Shakey which was fantastic. Tommy this weekend has been brilliant too, he didn’t get the results he was expecting at Brands Hatch but he picked himself up and was back out fighting. He lost some time, but proved that he is ready to push at the front.”
More, from a press release issued Pirelli:
Pirelli breaks records in the British Superbike Championship and wins the first races of the German and Dutch Superbike national championships and Alpe Adria
Oulton Park BSB lap record for Josh Brookes on standard DIABLO™ Superbike SC1 tires, while current standings leader Shane Byrne said: “Impressive job by Pirelli!”
The Italian tire manufacturer has monopolized the podium in both the IDM Superbike (with Xavi Forés, Max Neukirchner and Markus Reiterberger) as well as in the ONK Dutch Superbike Championship (with Arie Vos, Nigel Walraven and Kervin Bos)
Milan (Italy), May 6, 2014 – This weekend Pirelli dominated national Superbike championships all over Europe. The 2014 motorcycle competition season has only been running for a couple of months but it has already given Pirelli many successes and satisfaction. This has been achieved not only in the international arena and in the control tire championships such as the World and British Superbike Championships but also in competitions that involve the participation of different tire suppliers such as the Alpe Adria Championship and the 24 Hours endurance competition of the Bol d’Or- which was won by Pirelli for the third consecutive year, plus various national Superbike championships.
The icing on the cake for a perfect weekend for Pirelli arrived yesterday in the British Superbike series, where Josh Brookes, on his Yamaha Milwaukee machine equipped with Pirelli standard DIABLO™ Superbike SC1 tires, logged a 1’35.411 time breaking the lap record of the track on the 17th of 18 scheduled laps. The current championship leader Shane Byrne also expressed his appreciation at the end of the races for the new Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike 17-inch tires, this year also available for the British championship, by declaring: “My riding style is evolving thanks to the new 17-inch tires, and you’re constantly trying new things. We look at people like Marquez and what they’re doing, and try and use that to better ourselves and be the best we can be. I remember some things from circuits, and how we used to go through corners; when you think what we’re doing now, it’s incredible! Places where you used to have to roll through are now just brake and then ‘go’! – there’s no middle bit any more. It’s really impressive, the job that Pirelli have done!”
This highlights records and success in what many consider the most spectacular superbike national championship in the world, as well as in those championships where competition between tire manufacturers is more alive than ever.
With regard to the Alpe Adria Motorcycle Road Racing Championship, the first race of the season was held over the weekend, at the Adria Raceway circuit, and Pirelli achieved success in all classes (Superbike, Supersport, Superstock 1000 and Superstock 600), obtaining a full podium in Race 2 of Superbike and Superstock 600.
In the first round of the IDM Superbike, the German national championship held at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz circuit on Sunday, Pirelli again monopolized the podium in the Superbike class with the Ducati 3C-Racing Team riders – Xavi Forés and Max Neukirchner – who on the 1199 Panigale R shod with Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tires achieved first and second places in both Race 1 and Race 2 respectively. The third step of the podium in both races went to another Pirelli rider, Markus Reiterberger from the VanZon Remeha BMW team. Xavi Forés is now the leader of the overall standings with 50 points, followed by Max Neukirchner with 40 points, Markus Reiterberger with 32 and Michael Ranseder with 22. With four riders in the top four positions of the overall standings from three different motorcycle manufacturers, this demonstrates the versatility and perfect adaptability of Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tires.
On Sunday in Holland at the Hengelo track, there were also three riders who chose Pirelli tires leading the overall standings after the first two rounds of the ONK Dutch Superbike Championship. This included Arie Vos, who set a new track record at Hengelo a full second faster than the previous record; Nigel Walraven and Kervin Bos, the latter a wildcard in the Superbike World Championship at Assen just a week ago.
More, from a press release issued by Gavin Hunt’s publicist:
Fine Oulton display gives Hunt first points of the season
Manxman Gavin Hunt put in a fine performance at Oulton Park on Bank Holiday Monday to finish in 13th place and claim his first points of the season in the 2014 Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship.
As per the opening round, the competition was intense and qualifying times tight around the 2.69-mile Cheshire circuit but a lap of 1m39.163s enabled the NEI Motorsport rider to qualify in 23rd place and just half a second off a top ten position.
That put him in confident mood for Monday’s 15-lap race and the Douglas rider made the perfect start to complete the first lap in 17th place, an immediate gain of six places. The pace car was soon deployed due to an accident but when racing resumed on the fourth lap Gavin made steady progression, continually closing the gap to the riders in front. Indeed, lapping half a second than what he had done in qualifying he was ultimately rewarded with 13th place and three hard earned Championship points after the race was stopped on the penultimate lap. The quality of his ride could be seen in that he was only five seconds adrift of sixth place.
Gavin Hunt: “It’s nice to get inside the top fifteen and pick up some points so early in the season and I’m really pleased with how I rode. We made a bit of a gamble with the set-up of the bike for the second qualifying session and it made the bike a bit of a brute to ride so we reverted back to our original settings for the race. I felt a lot more comfortable with the bike during the race and it enabled me to lap consistently throughout.”
“I made some good ground in the early stages and although my pace dropped a bit when I was behind Karl Harris, once I got by I kept an eye on my pit board and put in some really strong, consistent laps. I was catching the riders in front of me and felt confident that if the race had gone full distance I could have sneaked into the top ten but I’m happy enough with the result. It shows I can run with these riders and I’m really looking forward to the next round where I’ll be firmly aiming for a top ten finish.”
The next round takes place at Snetterton on June 13-15 but, prior to that, Gavin will make his second appearance at the Isle of Man TT Races with practice around the Mountain Course getting underway on Saturday 24th May.
Picture by Glynne Lewis
Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship result – 13 laps
1 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki)
2 Jason O’Halloran (Honda)
3 David Johnson (Kawasaki)
4 Adam Jenkinson (Kawasaki)
5 Glen Richards (Honda)
6 Lee Jackson (BMW)
13 Gavin Hunt (NEI Motorsport Kawasaki)
Championship standings (after two rounds)
1 Buchan 50pts
2 O’Halloran 40
3 Jenkinson 24
4 Johnson 22
5 Backlund 21
6 Elliott 20
16 Hunt 3