Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar Championship Reeves and Lovelock take race wins at Silverstone; Reeves retains title Round seven of the Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar Championship took the crews to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit where they once again appeared on the schedule with the British Superbike Championship and two eventful races saw the race victories shared between Tim Reeves/Gregory Cluze and Roger Lovelock/Rick Lawrence. There was drama aplenty in the two 9-lap races and although Reeves and Cluze were forced to retire from the second race, they were still able to clinch this year’s Championship and retain the title they won 12 months ago. An eventful first 9-lap race, held on Saturday evening, saw no less than seven outfits fail to finish the lap and with Barry James/Jamie Winn crashing out, the safety car was immediately deployed. Andy Pach/Charlie Richardson were other front runners forced out, a problem with the undertray of the outfit causing them to retire but, after 2 laps, the safety car pulled in and racing resumed. It was Roger Lovelock and Rick Lawrence who led with Ben Holland/Lee Watson and John Clarke/Stuart Graham giving chase whilst Reeves was down in 5th just ahead of Scott Lawrie/James Neave. By lap 4, Reeves was up to second and immediately set about closing the gap to Lovelock who had opened up a one second lead and was in a very determined mood. Two laps later, Lovelock still led by 0.7s but on lap 7 Reeves was finally able to make his move stick and he crossed the line 0.2s in the lead. Further back, Lawrie moved up to third with Holland and Ben Bygrave/Calum Lawson right on his tail and the latter was flying as he set the second fastest lap of the race. At the front though, Reeves edged away slightly and swept home to take the win and the title, his eventual winning margin over Lovelock just 0.8s, the latter again having a great drive. The battle for third went down to the wire and there was heartbreak for Lawrie when he went out on the last lap and that allowed Holland to come through for his first podium of the year, albeit just half a second clear of Bygrave. Clarke, Stephen Kershaw, Phil Bell, Carl Parkinson, Ian Drowne and Ian Guy completed the top ten. Race two on Sunday proved to be equally eventful. Again it was Lovelock who grabbed the holeshot and he led the field round at the end of the opening lap hotly pursued by Reeves, Bygrave, Holland, Clarke and Lawrie. A lap later, Reeves took over at the front to lead Lovelock by 0.2s with Bygrave still in third although Lawrie was on the move and, with the fastest lap of the race, he moved up to fourth. However, it was all to no avail as, a lap later, he stopped with a technical problem on the Hangar Straight and there was further drama when Reeves pulled in to the pits to retire at the end of the lap, his first DNF from the 17 races held thus far this season. That meant that Lovelock was now back in the lead and with a four-second lead he was able to control proceedings and eventually took the win by over five seconds, his first victory of the season and one thoroughly deserved. The battle for second was in doubt throughout though as Holland, Clarke and Bygrave were never more than inches apart but it was Holland who came out on top for not only his second podium of the weekend but also his best result of the season. Clarke took his first podium of the year in third but there was heartbreak for Bygrave as he crashed out on the final lap. Peach was promoted up to fourth as he just held off Bell and Kershaw, Gary Smith, Craig Chaplow, Parkinson and Mark Edwards filled out the rest of the top ten positions. The final round of the series takes place next weekend at Mondello Park, Southern Ireland. More, from a press release issued by AP Kawasaki: More Points For Russo At Silverstone The AP Kawasaki team endured a tough weekend at Silverstone with just Freddie Russo scoring points in the Metzeler National Superstock 600cc Championship race. The Brentwood rider finished in 11th position but there was disappoinment in the 1000cc category with Leon Hunt retiring after the first lap and Michael Booth failing to start after injuring his back in a qualifying crash. Having qualified in ninth place around the GP circuit, Russo made a solid start to slot into eighth at the completion of the first lap of the 10-lap Superstock 600cc race and there he remained for the first six laps as he battled with Deane Brown and Cody Nally. As the race wore on, no less than six riders were scrapping it out for sixth place but sadly for Freddie, he was the one who found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time and he got shuffled back through the pack. Just two seconds off sixth place, Freddie eventually finished in 11th place which places him in sixth in the championship table with just one round remaining. Brighton’s Hunt again qualified inside the top 15 and after placing sixth in the morning warm-up, hopes were high of a good top ten finish in the 11-lap race but it all went wrong on the first lap and he was forced to retire with gearbox problems. Meanwhile for Brough rider Booth, the weekend started well when he placed tenth in Friday’s free practice session but that was as good as he got as he crashed out in the opening qualifying session later in the day, damaging vertebrae in his back and ruling him out of the action for the rest of the weekend and possibly the final round at Brands Hatch in two weeks time. Freddie Russo: “I made a really good start to the race but was just lacking a bit of track knowledge. I was fine through all the quick corners but weak around the slow corners and that’s where most of the overtaking takes place. I’d move forward and then I’d drop back and that was pretty much the story through the whole race. The group behind caught up and then I dropped back a bit further so the race didn’t quite go to plan but we got a finish and some more points. We head to Brands Hatch next which is a circuit we know well so we’ll look forward to getting back towards the front there.” Leon Hunt: “Qualifying went well for me and, to be honest, I felt really strong all weekend as the bike was working well and I felt really confident. I was fourth for most of qualifying only to get bumped back down the order in the last couple of minutes but had a good morning warm-up when, despite the quickshifter not working, I equalled my qualifying time. We fixed the quickshifter before the race only for it to play up again and when I tried to change gear manually, the bike just wouldn’t go into gear smoothly so rather than risk the gearbox locking up and damaging the machine, it was best to pull in. It was a disappointing end to what looked like being a good weekend and I’m just not having any luck at the minute.” Alan Greig: “It’s been a tough weekend, probably our worst of the season. Silverstone’s a circuit that should have suited Freddie but for whatever reason, he never gelled with it and couldn’t string a decent lap together. 11th wasn’t disastrous and it was more valuable points so he’ll head to his local Brands Hatch circuit where he should go well. Michael had a huge crash in qualifying, destroying the bike and sustaining a stable fracture of one of his lower vertebrae and although he was walking about and keen to ride, it just wasn’t possible for him to race. It was a real shame as he was looking forward to the weekend and riding well but it was just an unfortunate incident. Leon qualified reasonably well and had good pace but suffered an intermittent technical problem in the race and had to pull in. Like I say, it was a disappointing weekend so all we can do is put it behind us and look forward to finishing the season positively at Brands.” Metzeler National Superstock 600cc Championship (10 laps) 1 Keith Farmer (Yamaha) 22m39.327s 2 Glenn Irwin (Kawasaki) +0.028s 3 Josh Wainwright (Suzuki) +14.299s 4 Johnny Blackshaw (Triumph) +16.313s 5 Alex Olsen (Triumph)+16.426s 6 Ben Burke (Yamaha) +25.458s 7 Deane Brown (Yamaha) +25.470s 8 James East (Yamaha) +25.684s 9 Cody Nally (Kawasaki) +26.217s 10 Dominic Usher (Yamaha) +26.268s 11 Freddie Russo (AP Kawasaki) +26.684s Championship positions (after 11 rounds) 1 Farmer 202pts 2 Irwin 129 3 Behan 119 4 Brown 111 5 Blackshaw 96 6 Russo 95 Metzeler National Superstock 1000cc Championship (11 laps) 1 Luke Quigley (BMW) 24m22.249s 2 Tristan Palmer (Honda) +0.054s 3 Howie Mainwaring (Kawasaki) +0.160s 4 Taylor Knapp (Kawasaki) +0.491s 5 David Johnson (BMW) +2.007s 6 Richard Cooper (BMW) +2.109s 7 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki) +2.139s 8 Joe Burns (Kawasaki) +2.681s 9 Adam Jenkinson (Honda) +8.809s 10 Victor Cox (Kawasaki) +11.135s DNF Leon Hunt (AP Kawasaki) DNS Michael Booth (AP Kawasaki) Championship positions (after 11 rounds) 1 Cooper 190.5pts 2 Buchan 144 3 Quigley 130 4 Palmer 116 5 Mainwaring 104 6 Jenkinson 93.5 15 Booth 28 21 Hunt 13 More, from a press release issued by Marty Nutt’s publicist: Cruel luck for Nutt at Silverstone Coleraine’s Marty Nutt was cruelly denied a top ten finish at the latest round of the British Supersport Championship at Silverstone at the weekend when he crashed out of ninth place on the final lap of Sunday’s feature race. Riding the Padgetts Motorcycles Honda for the first time, Nutt took 12th in Saturday’s first race and worked his way brilliant into the top ten on Sunday when he lost the front end with the chequered flag almost in sight, a cruel end to what had been a strong weekend. Problems with his usual Suzuki meant that Marty came into the meeting having agreed to ride the Padgetts Honda and a solid qualifying performance saw Marty take 16th on the grid with a time of 2m13.619s. A good start in Saturday’s 9-lap ‘Sprint’ race enabled him to slot into 15th at the end of the opening lap and this became 14th on the third lap when fellow Honda rider Gary Johnson slid off. A lap later Marty was up to 13th as he overhauled the Triumph of Josh Day and, lapping half a second quicker than the group of riders in front of him, Marty gradually began to catch the group battling for the lower end of the top ten. With moves on successive laps on Jimmy Hill and Luke Stapelford, he was up to 11th with one lap remaining but although Ben Wilson crashed out on the final lap, briefly promoting him up to 10th, problems with the gearbox meant that Day and Stapelford were able to fight back and so Marty had to settle for 12th at the chequered flag. His pace in the opening race had been very strong though and so Marty lined up in the advanced position of 12th and the third row for Sunday’s feature 12-lap race. A slightly sluggish start saw him slip back to 15th at the end of the first lap and here he remained for the next four laps as he found himself part of a six-rider group battling for tenth. On lap 5 he moved past Johnson to take 14th and a lap later this was 13th as he also overtook David Jones. Lapping considerably quicker than the riders in front of him, the demise of Sam Warren and Wilson meant that he was dicing for 8th with just two laps to go and he duly moved up into 9th on the penultimate lap when he overtook AJ Venter and John Simpson. However, just as it looked like he’d secured another top ten finish, he lost the front with less than half a lap to go and although he almost saved it, he crashed out, not at all the outcome his race deserved. Speaking later, Marty said; “I’m gutted the way the weekend finished as it’s not at all the way we deserved it to end. It took me a bit of time to get used to the bike but it was a lot more consistent than I thought and the brakes were very strong whilst I could also carry some really good corner speed. I had a small tip-off in qualifying when I lost the front on the bumps but I ended up with a half-decent starting position for the first race and it was all going well up until the last lap. I’d just worked my way up inside the top 10 only for the bike to start jumping out of gear and dropping those couple of places on the first lap took the shine off what was otherwise a really good race.” “A good lap time put me a row further forward for Sunday’s race and we opted to run the hard rear tyre and it really came into its own in the latter half of the race. I didn’t make the greatest of starts but chipped away and gradually moved forward and with the tyre working really well, I looked all set to take a good ninth place. However, about three corners from home, the bike bobbled and although I held it the first time it went, it did it again almost immediately and it was enough to dislodge my hand off the handlebar and down I went. Ninth would have been a strong result so it was frustrating for it to end so close to home and not at all what I felt I deserved. I learnt a lot though this weekend and it was a good comparison exercise between the Honda and Suzuki so I’m sure I’ll be able to put it all to good use next time out.” The final round of the 2011 British Supersport Championship takes place at Brands Hatch, October 7-9. More, from a press release issued by Splitlath Motorsport: ENCOURAGING WEEKEND FOR SPLITLATH PAIR SPLITLATH Motorsport riders Karl Harris and John Simpson had an encouraging weekend as the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship and Mirror.co.uk BSB-Evo Championship entered its penultimate round at Silverstone. Both riders scored solid results in both of today’s races at the fast Arena circuit, with Harris grabbing two sevenths while Simpson took a 10th and a ninth. After two weeks of extensive work, the bikes were running new and improved engines and both riders had to get to grips with the changes. Harris started Race One from 23rd overall and fifth Evo, and got enjoyed a steady race to cross the line seventh. It was more of the same in Race Two, and the Sheffield rider was happy enough with the results at a track he knew would be difficult. “This was always going to be a hard one for us as we just don’t have the power of the rest of them on those big straights,” he said. “We were able to catch them up in the corners but once we hit the big straights they were just gone. “The bike is definitely better and the team have worked hard it’s certainly heading in the right direction. This track was always going to be difficult but now it’s out of the way we can look forward to the last round where we should be much more competitive.” Simpson’s day was a hectic one, which started with his first ever British Superbike race this afternoon. Getting a good start from 31st on the grid and 12th in Evo, he made up several spots to cross the line 10th in class. Race Two was held just minutes after he won the Fuchs-Silkolene Supersport Cup Championship onboard his T3 Racing Triumph. Without a chance to spray the champagne as newly-crowned champ, he jumped onboard his Splitlath Aprilia RSV4 and rode a solid race to finish ninth. “It’s been a great day and amazing for me to start my first ever Superbike race,” he said. “I think riding both has made me a better rider in many ways, and even though it was hard out there I loved it. “The difference between the two championships is unreal, but I’ve really enjoyed it. Now I’ve got the Supersport championship done I can really look forward to the last round. I had thought I’d be quicker out there but I know we can make amends at Brands Hatch in a fortnight and I can’t wait to get back out there.” Team Principal John Dimbylow was happy with the results. “It has been an encouraging round and we’ve made some great progress with the bikes,” he said. “It was a fabulous performance from John securing the Supersport Cup title and then running straight from the podium and jumping onto the Superbike. He had two strong, races and in that second race achieved his fastest times of the weekend. “Karl also did a fantastic job with two solid results. He has also come a long way in helping with the development of our new bikes and everything is building up very well for a strong start to the new season.” More, from a press release issued by Muench Racing Team: E-mobility racing: the global benchmark comes from Germany! MUENCH Racing secures FIM e-Power and TTXGP European championship prior to the 24 hours MOTO of Le Mans By securing both, the FIM e-Power International championship and TTXGP European Championship titles during the final race last Friday, the German MUENCH Racing Team achieved yet another sensational success. With their success in Le Mans, MUENCH engineers proved that German engineering belongs to the state of the art. E-mobility from Germany can definitely compete with the best in the world. MUENCH secures with this success the popular FIM constructors’ title. The last part of their way to success began on Wednesday. During the open practice, MUENCH driver Matthias Himmelmann set another record for the fastest lap time improving the old record by more than 25 seconds. But that’s not all there is! During the qualifying round on Thursday, he was able to improve his record by another 4 seconds. With a sensational time of 1’25″939 he came in first on Bugatti Circus 4 seconds ahead of his competitors. Obviously, Matthias Himmelmann started then from the pole position at the final race on Friday afternoon. With no sign of a threat from his competitors, he achieved another great start-to-finish victory. “We were able to increase our lead over the chasing pack even further. On the last laps, I was even more cautious, and took less risk to avoid running out of power. I was really surprised with the 34-second lead we had at the end. Each development stage we’ve gone through in the last weeks has definitely helped position us ahead of the pack. Today’s victory and the win of both championship titles could not have been achieved without our fantastic team. I am truly happy”, stated Matthias Himmelmann after the race. As the winner of the European TTXGP championship, the MUENCH Racing Team can now join the world championship and can compete with the world’s best electric motorcycle teams in October. The European TTXGP teams will then meet up with the North American (and their winner- Steve Atlas, Brammo) as well as the Australian teams. “We’re going to show our best at the world final”, says Team Manager Thomas Petsch, “a big thanks to all our sponsors. Their support played a crucial role in our victory and with SCHOTT Solar as the main MUENCH sponsor, we are going to get the solar energy much closer to the racetrack in 2012.” “žWe are full of great and bold ideas for the future and we are still looking out for partners to embark with us on this thrilling e-racing challenge”, so Thomas Petsch in a short final prospect. Results in short: – Matthias Himmelmann wins the race in Le Mans ahead of Alessandro Brannetti (CRP Racing, Italy) and Ho Chi Fung (Zongshen, China) – Matthias Himmelmann is the new champion of the FIM e-Power International Championship with 80 points out of 100. He is followed by Alessandro Brannetti (56 points) and Steve Rapp (25 points) – MÃœNCH Racing Team secures the constructors title of the FIM e-Power International Championship once again – Matthias Himmelmann becomes the 2011 TTXGP European Champion totalling 100 points out of 125 More, from a press release issued by Paul Bird Motorsport: Sykes Just Misses Imola Podium Round 11 of the World Superbike Championship saw Tom Sykes take his Paul Bird Motorsport-prepared Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R to within a whisker of a podium finish at Imola as the Penrith-based team continued their good form following on from their victory in the previous round. Yorkshireman Sykes was on great form from the outset of race weekend and led race one for four laps after making the most of his front row grid spot. In hot conditions, Tom worked hard to get a dry weather podium and he was in third place right until the final lap when championship leader Carlos Checa got past and held off Tom in the final corners by only a few tenths of a second. Spanish team mate Joan Lascorz had been forced to start from 18th on the grid after missing out on a Superpole place but recovered as well and battled hard to finish the race in tenth place. In race two Sykes was on course for another podium but a technical problem saw him lose places to other riders and he eventually retired as Lascorz battled to a fine eighth place finish. In the points table Tom holds 12th with Joan only one place and two points adrift in 13th going into the penultimate race of the season at Magny-Cours in France this coming weekend. Tom Sykes: “We got a fourth position in the dry weather, just missing the podium, and I feel we would have been able to take a podium in race two as well. I had a little bit of a negative feeling with the brake and it was a massive call to pull out but apart from that we have found some speed in the dry and I’ve been riding well. We are still working very well as a team and been consistently in the top five all weekend, which is very positive. We are building on our positives and looking forward to France.” Joan Lascorz: “I had several big fights with other riders but for me it was very difficult to pass them because I did not feel good on the brakes at this particular circuit. We had some of the same problems as we had in practice but we improved them a little bit in race two. In race one I did not get a good start and it was difficult. In the first lap in the second chicane of race two I went straight but I lost time. My pace was good in the second race, so that is a positive to take away.” Paul Bird, Team Owner: “Tom was unfortunate to miss out on the podium in race one but to be up there battling at the front again in the dry is where we need to be. It’s amazing what a victory does to the team and the confidence has returned so we plan on taking this momentum into the final two rounds of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Trickbits Racing: Simpson takes British Supersport Cup in superb style John Simpson clinched the British Supersport Cup in superb style at the weekend when two more wins at the 11th round at Silverstone gave him an unassailable 130-point lead with three races remaining. The Trickbits/T3 Racing rider was in imperious form around the Grand Prix circuit and not only did he take his 8th and 9th win of the Cup campaign, he also scored more points in the Championship proper, a brilliant 10th overall in Sunday’s feature race the best of his two results. Having qualified once more inside the top 15, John was comfortably the quickest Cup rider being over a second quicker than his nearest rival David Paton and a solid start to Saturday’s 9-lap ‘Sprint’ race saw him slot into 16th at the completion of the first lap. Moving up to 15th two laps later, John was again battling it out with some of the main Championship runners and part of a strong six-rider group battling it out for 10th place. At the end of the 9 laps, John finished in 14th place to take another Cup win and, such was his pace, he was only 4 seconds off finishing 9th! Indeed, with the 10th fastest lap of the race, John was able to start from the advanced position of the third row of the grid and he fully utilised this start position to run on the edge of the top ten for much of the race. This time, he found himself dicing with a group of riders for 7th spot and although the other riders had considerably faster machines, John’s racecraft and skill was there for all to see as he continually hassled and harried the opposition. Riding an impeccable race, he was duly rewarded with an excellent 10th place and, with the result being his 9th Cup win of the year, he wrapped up the Championship in fine style with one round and three races still remaining. In what was an extremely busy weekend for the 21-year old, John also had made his race debut in the premier British Superbike Championship races where, riding the Splitlath Aprilia, he took two solid finishes of 9th and 10th in the mirror.co.uk BSB Evo competition. Speaking later, the jubilant Antrim rider said: “I’d say this weekend is the best I’ve ever ridden the Triumph and I felt on fire from start to finish! We found a good set-up with the bike straightaway so stayed with it all weekend and the only thing we had to alter was the gearing. I was able to carry good corner speed and although the other bikes had better top-end and were able to pull away from me along the straights, I could make up time through the technical section and that enabled me to run with a lot of the main Championship riders. Two more Cup wins was fantastic and it was pleasing to have such good winning margins, 23 and 26 seconds, and run with people like AJ Venter, Jimmy Hill etc.” “It’s been a hectic weekend for me with the BSB races as well and although we had a few issues with the Aprilia, my fitness and stamina were really good so the only issue I had jumping from bike to bike was having to adjust my braking points and the like. I learnt a lot on the big bike which is what it’s all about at this stage and, hopefully, we can put that to good use at Brands where I’ll be even busier with 6 races to get through! Overall, it’s been a really good meeting for me – two more Cup wins, a top ten finish overall and, of course, winning the Cup Championship. Sitting here now as a British Champion isn’t something I thought I’d ever be saying so now the title’s won, the pressure’s off and I can go out and really enjoy myself at Brands. I’ve got to say a big thank you to everyone especially Tony Scott of T3 Racing, everyone at Trickbits Racing, Dave Harris, Keith Brown and Shark Helmets.” Paul Jinks, Team Manager of Trickbits Racing, added: “I’ve been with John since he was 16 so to be with him now as the British Supersport Cup Champion is just reward for all of our hard work over the years. He’s had a pretty faultless season and that can be seen in the fact he’s got a 130-point lead and managed to wrap up the title with 3 races still remaining! He’s also been making a good impression on the Championship proper so we really couldn’t have asked for a better season. I’d just like to thank all of our sponsors who’ve made it happen especially Tony Scott of T3 Racing, Trickbits, 100% Suspension and Richard Brendish from Harris. T3 Racing have built us a reliable engine whereby we’ve had no breakdowns and that’s been a major contributor to our success.” The final round of the British Supersport Championship takes place at Brands Hatch in two weeks time on the weekend of October 7-9. More, from a press release issued by Chris Burns’ publicist: BURNS SECURES THIRD IN ROOKIE DUTCH SUPERBIKE SEASON CHRIS Burns secured third overall in his rookie season of the ONK Dutch Superbike Championship after a tough weekend at Assen. The Newcastle-upon-Tyne rider crossed the line in fifth spot at the famous Dutch track on Sunday afternoon after a difficult race where he suffered chatter and rear grip problems. Although his nearest rival Danny de Boer finished third, the Geordie had enough points in hand to take the coveted third place. He also ends the season as top Honda rider and top Dunlop runner. Burns and the GS Racing team had been feeling confident after a successful test at Assen last Thursday, but came down to earth with a bump on Saturday when they hit tyre troubles. With the rubber lasting little over eight laps and with a 15-lap race ahead of them, they worked hard into the night to try and rectify the problem. Despite his tyre woes, Burns managed to qualify seventh with de Boer just ahead in fifth. “I was struggling when the race started and was up to fifth when it was flagged because of a big crash,” he said. “We had a full restart from our original grid spots but just over five laps. I was concerned because I knew I had problems and I wasn’t sure how we’d make up the ground with so few laps. “At the restart I got away well and was up to third at the first turn, but I was having all sorts of chatter and grip troubles. They’d had to change the settings to get around the tyre problems, so it meant the bike wasn’t handling as well as it normally does, but it had to be done to get us to last the race. “I dropped back to fifth and I could see him up in second challenging for the lead. I knew if he won I had to be third and at that point I thought it was all over. It wasn’t until the last lap when someone got past him and I just had to hope he didn’t get it back. He didn’t, and it was enough for me to get the third place by five points. It’s not how I wanted it to happen, but I’m happy to take it.” Burns is now back in the UK and looking at his options for next year. He is hoping to secure another season with the GS Racing team. “I would like to thank Gijsbert Spilt and everyone at GS Racing. They’ve given me a great bike all season and worked all day and night to get it sorted out enough for me to give it a go. ” It’s been a fantastic season in The Netherlands and I’m hoping we can reach an agreement for another shot at it next year and this time I’ll be going out there to win it. “I’d also like to thank all of my sponsors V Racing Products, David Lloyd Leisure, Alpinestars, Arai, Alan Lattimer Sports Massage and Dallas Carpets for all of their help in getting me on the grid this year.”