ANOTHER STRONG POINTS HAUL FOR O’HALLORAN AT BRITISH SUPERBIKE FINALE AT BRANDS HATCH Rd 12, 2008 British Superbike Championship Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, Kent, England 10 – 12 October 2008 Jason O’Halloran completed his three-round guest appearance for the SMT Honda team in fine style as he again put the privateer team in the points with a 15th and 12th place finish in the final round of the British Superbike Championship held at the Brands Hatch ‘Indy’ circuit last weekend. As with his visits to Croft and Silverstone, the Brands Hatch ‘Indy’ layout was another first time race appearance for O’Halloran. The short 1.198 mile (1.929 km) circuit offers few overtaking opportunities and coupled with margins between riders measured in the hundredths of seconds qualifying is crucial to determine a grid position that allows for an impact on race results. The SMT Honda team worked hard during the three practice sessions, but were unable to squeeze the best out of the softer rear tyre during the all-important three-tiered qualifying session and missed moving to the second stage by a mere 0.03 of a second and having to settle for the 21st fastest time and a row six start. The opening 30-lap race saw O’Halloran slip to 26th by the end of the first lap, but a spirited charge through the field saw him claw his way back into the points and claim a very respectable 15th, finishing just one position behind Suzuki’s two-time Japanese champion Atsushi Watanabe. Race two saw a much better start from O’Halloran and found himself in a point scoring position by lap nine. His persistence was paying off as he moved past more rivals dicing for eleventh on the track and closing in on the two-rider battle for ninth. With a top ten finish in sight, he recorded his quickest lap of the weekend on lap 26 with a 1:47.230, 1.1 seconds off the fastest time recorded for the race. At race end, he crossed the line side by side with Chris Burns to take 12th, with the pair just 2.4 seconds after of the battle for ninth. The experience gained from racing in the final three rounds of the British Superbike Championship, coupled with being included in Moriwaki Honda’s line up for the Suzuka 8 Hours event in Japan earlier in the year have greatly added to his accomplishments during his maiden Superbike season. O’Halloran will fly back to Australia this week as he prepares for the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship this weekend at Sydney’s Eastern Creek Raceway. Currently fourth overall in the series, O’Halloran has a mathematically chance of taking the title, but will be aiming for a more realistic top three series finish to cap off his rookie Superbike season. Jason “First of all I must thank Robin Croft and his SMT Honda team for inviting me across to England to compete in the final three rounds of the British Superbike Championship. This championship is held in very high regard around the world, so to be able to come here and take the opportunity that has been provided and turn them into some very good results has been pleasing for all of us. As for the weekend, the short and tight ‘Indy’ circuit layout made it very tough. The track may look simple on the map, but to find those fractions of seconds that count is tough. We were again in the mix with the leading privateer group during practice, but our qualifying wasn’t the best as were unable to get the soft compound rear tyre to work in the session and it cost us. However we knew we had a good set up for the race and all I had to do was put my head down and take whatever breaks came my way. So to finish with a 15th and a 12th after starting from position 21 on the grid is a great result.” “As for my 2009 plans, nothing has been agreed to yet, but we have had a number of teams talk to us in recent weeks. My focus now is on the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship this weekend at Eastern Creek. After that meeting we’ll be able to sit down and take stock of where we are and what direction next year will take.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha sweep the board at the 2008 UEM Road Racing European Championships Yamaha dominated in style at the finale of the UEM Road Racing European Championship last weekend. The formidable YZF-R1 and YZF-R6 have proved again this year to be the ultimate track weapons for racing success. The top four riders in the Superstock 1000 class where all riding Yamaha YZF-R1 machines. Carmelo Morales and Javier Del Amor (Team L’Oreal Men Expert LGS) took first and third respectively on their Yamaha machines whilst Bernat Martinez (Team Bernat) took a well deserved second on his YZF-R1. Fourth place went to Yamaha Motor Germany’s top rider, Jorg Teuchert. For the Supersport race it was rider Angel Rodriguez (Team L’Oreal Men Expert LGS) aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6 that took the chequered flag. The next placed Yamaha rider was fourth position David Salom (Team Yamaha Spain). In a field of 36 riders there were no less than 24 Yamaha YZF-R6 Supersport machines competing, six of which made the top ten at the finish. Loris Baz proved the competitiveness of the R6 earlier this month, winning the European Superstock 600 Championship in Magny-Cours on 5th October, the final race seeing all podium finishers riding the unbeatable Yamaha. The World Superbike Championship heads towards its final round in Portugal next month. In the hands of riders Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser the R1 sits in second and third place respectively, making it the top performing 4cyl 1000cc bike in racing. The 2008 Women’s Road Racing European Champion Nina Prinz led her class all year, taking the championship comfortably aboard her Yamaha YZF-R1 with strong support from Yamaha Motor Germany. “It’s an unrivalled accomplishment,” said Laurens Klein Koerkamp (Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Division Manager). “The results across the board clearly show the Yamaha Superbike and Supersport machines are designed to win on track. We’ve shown not just at the European level but also in MOTOGP, WSB and World MX and AMA-SX that our machinery is at the top spot throughout. We’re confident that we are going into 2009 with strong teams at all levels of racing to repeat more of the winning success we’ve shown in 2008.” More, from a press release issued by Conor Cummins’ publicist: Cummins ends season with strong showing Conor Cummins finished his 2008 short circuit season in fine style when he placed 12th in the final round of the National Superstock Championship held at Brands Hatch on Sunday. The Manxman fought his way through from 23rd in qualifying to claim four more championship points and end the year on a high note. Riding the Team Blackhorse Yamaha for the second successive meeting, Conor struggled to find an optimum set-up in the two qualifying sessions and, with the bike continuing to run wide on the exit of the corners, he found himself down in 23rd on the grid and on the sixth row. However, the team worked hard overnight and found a better setting in morning warm-up and Conor was hopeful of making strides forward in the race. After the original start was red flagged due to a start line incident, the race was re-started over 18 laps and a superb start saw Conor up to 17th almost immediately. Lapping quicker than a number of riders in front of him, he made steady progress throughout the race and was rewarded at the end with a fine 12th place, a tremendous effort given his qualifying position. The four championship points earned also meant he finished 12th overall in the series despite missing 4 of the 12 rounds. Speaking later, the 22-year old said: “Given where I was on the grid, I’m really happy to have finished inside the top 12 and I really enjoyed the race. I was struggling in practice but we sat down on Saturday night and talked through the problems and the changes we made paid dividends. The experience of the team – Ian, Martin and David – was paramount and I’m really grateful for everything they’ve done for me in the final two rounds of the season.” “It was my first full season on the big bikes on the short circuits and although there were a few ups and downs along the way, I’m satisfied with 12th in the championship and I’m sure if I hadn’t missed those 4 rounds, I could have been a fair bit higher. I’ve got to say a big thank you to all my personal sponsors for their assistance throughout the year and, hopefully, I’ll be in a strong position, on both the roads and the circuits, for 2009.” Conor does have one more ride in 2008 and he will be campaigning the AIM Yamaha Superbike at the Macau Grand Prix on November 15.