VESRAH SUZUKI’S NICK MCFADDEN ON THE PODIUM IN FIRST USGPRU EAST COAST CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND AT JENNINGS GP. Vesrah Suzuki development rider Nick McFadden had a weekend of ups and downs in his first USGPRU races at Jennings GP on April 3-4. Nick finished on the podium in the MD250H final after being involved in an incident on track and being able to make the restarted race. Nick was disqualified for being under the weight limit for the Moto3 race and had a tough time in 125GP against the two-stroke machinery in that class. Mark Junge Team Owner Vesrah Suzuki “Nick making it on to the podium in his first race weekend of 2010 is great. Nick and Tray are both new to the USGPRU series and figuring their way with the rules in this series I’m confident that they will get everything figured out.” Nick McFadden #195 Vesrah Suzuki “Overall I think we had a good weekend. Tray and I spent the weekend trying out some setups and he worked with me and my bikes to get things working well for Sunday’s races. I was making progress all weekend with my times, but I was working on getting adjusted to the heat with the qualifying and racing going back to back in several cases. This is our first full season with USGPRU and we are getting adjusted to new rules and situations that are different when you race with different organizations. I weighed in light after the Moto3 race, but we had been OK on weight the day before and we have not been used to watching that from racing in WERA.” Nick commented “Tray is coming from racing and working with the bigger bikes but he is really studying the Moriwakis and working with me on my communications back to him so I can pull right in and evaluate my sessions. I am happy to have been on the podium in the MD250H class. I became involved in an accident on the track and had to get out new gear and get my bike back in shape to go back out there. I was happy to hear last night that the other rider was doing well. I would like to thank everyone for their help and support while Tray and my Dad helped me get ready to return to the race, and for everyone’s support this weekend at the track, knowing we were new to the organization. Congratulations to all my friends who had great finishes this weekend.” Tray Batey – #33 Vesrah Suzuki “Working with the Moriwakis after having only Suzuki GSX-R race bikes since 2001 has a learning curve but I’m getting there. Nick getting on the box in his first race weekend of 2010 is fantastic and we are looking forward to the next round at NJMP in May.” More, from a press release issued by Simon Low’s publicist: Hard earned point for Low at Brands Twickenham’s Simon Low put in a superb ride at Brands Hatch on Easter Monday to claim his first ever 125cc British Championship point after finishing in 15th place in the 22-lap race. The 22-year old overcame practice and qualifying sessions that were fraught with problems to move from 26th on the grid to 15th in the race to pick up his first point at just his fourth attempt and end the weekend in jubilant mood. The weekend got off to the worst possible start in Friday’s opening free practice session when, after just 4 laps, Simon got t-boned at Paddock Hill Bend and was sent disappearing into the gravel trap. With almost the entire session lost, his day then went from bad to worse when the little Honda seized due to a punctured radiator but he regrouped for Saturday’s third free practice session and some improvements to the handling saw him get some decent laps in and he felt in good mood going into the frist qualifying session. Despite the major loss of track time, Simon made good use of the dry conditions and a time of 52.299s saw him slot into 24th place out of the 39 -strong entry and he was eagerly looking forward to improving on that in Sunday’s second and final session. However, track conditions weren’t as favourable and most of the field were unable to improve their times from the previous day although two riders did push Simon back to 26th and to the seventh row of the grid. After a strong showing in Monday morning warm-up though, Simon was confident of a good showing in the 24-lap race and after a brilliant start he jumped all the way up to 14th at the end of the opening lap having overhauled 11 riders in just 1.198 miles! Briefly up to 13th, Simon was shuffled back to 15th by half race distance after first Phil Wakefield and then Sam Hornsey came by but he was still in 15th place and holding on to the final Championship point with less than four laps remaining. However, on lap 19 he was relegated to 16th place and out of the points for the first time when Andrew Reid overtook him but after all the bad luck of the first three days, fortune ultimately smiled on him on the final lap when Dakota Mamola crashed out thus promoting Simon back up to 15th for a thoroughly deserving 15th place. Speaking immediately after the race, a clearly delighted Simon said: “It might only be 1 point and 15th place but after all the problems we had in the other three days, this feels like a win to me! With so little testing time and then all the bad luck that went our way during practice and qualifying I just wanted to get a finish in the race so to get a point at the first round of the season is brilliant and I’m really chuffed. I went quicker in the morning warm-up than what I had done in qualifying so felt good coming into the race although the clutch started to slip on the warm-up lap and I started to think ‘oh no, here we go again’ but fortunately it cleared itself. I’m normally quite strong off the line although to move up as much as what I did was quite a surprise so I dug deep and hung in there for as long as I could. I dropped my pace a little bit in the second half of the race, something which I need to address, and slipped back a little bit and although I was gifted 15th on the last lap when Dakota crashed out, after all we’d been through I felt we deserved a bit of luck and that point, particularly as I’d been running there for the majority of the race. I need to work a bit on my fitness too but, overall, to get a point in the first race of the year is fantastic – I’m happy, the team are happy and we’re all now eagerly looking forward to Thruxton. I’ve never been there before so have a lot to learn in a short space of time but I’ll be giving it 110% and looking to build upon this weekend’s result.” The second round of the British 125cc Championship takes place at Thruxton, Hampshire on Sunday April 18th.