Bad Luck For Russo As Hunt Just Misses Points At Thruxton It was very much a case of what might have been for AP Kawasaki at the weekend with both Freddie Russo and Leon Hunt failing to convert their practice form into race results in the latest round of the Metzeler National Superstock 600cc and 1000cc Championships. Competing at Thruxton, Hampshire, Russo was forced to retire from the 600cc race due to a smashed visor whilst Hunt came agonisingly close to the points in the 1000cc equivalent, just missing out in 16th place. Russo, riding at one of his favourite circuits, eventually qualified in 13th having placed fourth in the first session, but he was hoping to make his presence more keenly felt in the race. Wet weather meant it was a whole new ball game but a good start saw Freddie move up to ninth place, a position he occupied until lap six when he was pushed back to 11th when a stone thrown up by a preceding rider pierced his visor and due to the rain and subsequent condensation, he had no option but to retire. For team mate Hunt, it was a mixed weekend after the ups and downs of the first few rounds of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship. Having qualified in an excellent 17th place, hopes were high of scoring some more championship points in the 15-lap race although the first four laps of the race were run under the safety car. Having been in 18th at the end of the first lap, by lap seven Leon was up to 16th but a red flag brought the race to a premature end on lap 11 and he was denied the opportunity of improving upon that result, definitely a case of what might have been for the Brighton rider. Despite the frustration of the two AP Kawasaki regular riders, it was better news for Danny Buchan who was using the ZX-10R normally campaigned by Anthony Haywood after wrecking his own MSS Colchester Kawasaki last weekend. The 18 year old from Basildon claimed second place in the race to lead the championship going into the next round at Knockhill in three weeks time. Leon Hunt: “We are making progress and again I was suffering with my arms but I go in for an operation tomorrow which should fix that problem. We’re starting to benefit from working with our suspension technicians and I’m confident of scoring good points at Knockhill so hopefully I can recover quickly as I’m hoping for a good result.” Freddie Russo: “I was running strong in the rain despite the conditions and then a rider threw a stone up and smashed my visor which meant I couldn’t see where I was going so I had no option but to retire. It’s particularly frustrating as I was comfortably placed in the top ten and felt I could have gained a good result.” Alan Greig: “It was a little frustrating that Leon just missed out on the points and Freddie suffered pure bad luck but these things happen. I was delighted we could help Danny out and running him out of our truck was a pleasure and we were pleased he scored a podium and now leads the Metzeler Superstock 1000 Championship for Kawasaki.” Metzeler National Superstock 600cc race (12 laps) 1 Keith Farmer (Yamaha) 17m08.360s 2 Josh Wainwright (Kawasaki) + 5.080s 3 Connor Behan (Kawasaki) +5.284s 4 James East (Yamaha) +5.401s 5 Jake Newstead (Yamaha) +17.570s 6 Tim Hastings (Kawasaki) +18.074s 7 Deane Brown (Yamaha) +18.197s 8 Cody Nally (Kawasaki) +18.705s 9 Johnny Blackshaw (Triumph) +19.661s 10 Grant Whitaker (Yamaha) +21.237s DNF Freddie Russo (AP Kawasaki) 9 laps Championship positions 1 Farmer 75pts 2 East 44 3 Behan 43 4 Burke 41 5 Brown 41 10 Russo 21 Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship race (11 laps) 1 Richard Cooper (BMW) 15m37.068s 2 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki) +0.134s 3 Howie Mainwaring (Kawasaki) +0.261s 4 Tristan Palmer (Honda) +0.429s 5 Victor Cox (Kawasaki) +0.805s 6 Jason O’Halloran (Honda) +0.907s 7 Adam Jenkinson (Honda) +1.059s 8 Joe Dickinson (Honda) +1.524s 9 Luke Quigley (BMW) +1.785s 10 Jonathan Howarth (Kawasaki) +2.204s 16 Leon Hunt (AP Kawasaki) Championship positions 1 Buchan 81pts 2 Palmer 79 3 O’Halloran 61 4 Cooper 59 5 Quigley 30 24 Hunt 1 More, from a press release issued by Splitlath Motorsport: MIXED RESULTS FOR SPLITLATH AT THRUXTON SPLITLATH Motorsport’s Hudson Kennaugh scored a 17th place finish in a wet Race One at Thruxton today. The South African rider has now dashed across the pond to the Isle of Man to take part in tonight’s first practice session for the famous TT event. Kennaugh was flying solo as the team’s only rider as the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship arrived at the Hampshire circuit for the weekend. After a difficult start, he eventually qualified his Aprilia RSV4 machine in 29th position in the dry on Sunday. But the weather changed overnight, and as the rain hit the circuit this morning it soon became clear that all of today’s races would be wet. At the start he got a clean getaway, and had made up several spots as the pack crossed the line at the end of the first lap. From there he put his head down and continued to push hard, picking off a number of riders to eventually finish the race 17th. After the Race One result, hopes were high that he could get a top 15 in the second, but as the rain continued to fall, he was forced to retire from the race when his visor misted and hampered his visibility. “I think 17th is okay, and it’s clear that the rain is a good leveller,” he said. “It’s been a hard weekend so I was happy to get a top 20 finish. It was unfortunate we couldn’t stay out there in Race Two, but we’ve got to take what we can from the results we have and move on. I’m off to the TT now and I’m hoping we can get some good results out there.” Team Manager John Dimbylow added: “It was a shame we couldn’t get two results out there today, but Hudson did a good job in the first race. To come home 17th after starting 29th is great. “The team have worked tirelessly this weekend. The boys were working on the bikes until midnight on Saturday night, and I have to thank them all for the fantastic job they have done. We are now getting ready for the TT which starts this evening, and then we’ll look ahead to Knockhill to see if we can build on our results here at Thruxton.” More, from a press release issued by Tommy Bridewell Racing: Thruxton Disappointment For Bridewell Tommy Bridewell’s hopes of a good result at his local round were scuppered when he came away from round four of the 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Thruxton without adding to his points tally. Following on from a pair of battling top ten placings in damp conditions at Croft two weeks ago, the 22-year-old from Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire was hoping for an improvement on the Tyco Honda after his superb podium placing in the opening round at Brands Hatch over Easter. Bridewell, racing at Thruxton for the first time since 2007, spent practice trying to set up the machine and was disappointed to qualify in 18th position but with the rain clouds looming on race day, he was to leave empty handed. Race one saw heavy rain start to fall and Tommy retired with a misted visor and in race two, he gamely battled against the conditions to claim 17th place at the end of the 15 lap race despite a high speed grass tracking moment at over 130mph. The next round takes place at Knockhill in three weeks time with Tommy hoping to challenge higher up the leaderboard around the tight Scottish track. Tommy Bridewell: “I never seem to have much luck at Thruxton and today has been no exception. We chased a set up during practice and I was hopeful of a good result but visibility was a problem what with a misted visor in race one and then it was hard to see with all the spray in the second race. I ended up on the grass at one point so decided just to bring the bike home rather than risking a crash. We are making progress and hopefully we can be challenging a lot further up the leaderboard at Knockhill. Well done also to my team mates Peter Hickman and Patric Muff on their podiums today, that’s one each for all of us now so that’s good for both the team, Tyco and the rest of our sponsors.” MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race 1 (15 laps) 1 Michael Laverty (Yamaha) 20m42.995s 2 Michael Rutter (Ducati) +1.281s 3 Shane Byrne (Honda) +1.333s 4 John Hopkins (Suzuki) +1.923s 5 Peter Hickman (Honda) +2.473s 6 Dan Linfoot (Honda) +3.097s 7 Sam Lowes (Kawasaki) +8.863s 8 Chris Walker (Kawasaki) +10.948s 9 Josh Brookes (Suzuki) +14.718s 10 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +17.132s DNF Tommy Bridewell (Tyco Honda) 9 laps MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race 2 (15 laps) 1 Shane Byrne (Honda) 20m07.763s 2 Peter Hickman (Honda) +10.618s 3 John Hopkins (Suzuki) +15.524s 4 Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +16.980s 5 Dan Linfoot (Honda) +17.128s 6 Josh Brookes (Suzuki) +17.983s 7 Michael Laverty (Yamaha) +22.967s 8 Chris Walker (Kawasaki) +26.881s 9 Jon Kirkham (Suzuki) +32.415s 10 Martin Jessopp (Ducati) +34.864s 17 Tommy Bridewell (Tyco Honda) +49.351s Championship Positions (after 4 rounds) 1 Shane Byrne 136pts 2 John Hopkins 121 3 Stuart Easton 89 4 Tommy Hill 70 5 Michael Laverty 69 6 Peter Hickman 68 16 Tommy Bridewell 28 More, from a press release issued by Tom Tunstall Racing: Tough Blow for Tunstall Tom Tunstall produced another strong showing in tricky conditions. He was less than a lap away from making it two podiums in a row when he was taken out by another rider at the latest round of the British Superbike Championship. The 2.35 mile Thruxton circuit in Hampshire provides a unique challenge for the riders and teams alike, with an undulating surface and fast open turns providing the fastest track on the calendar. Off the back of a debut Evo class podium at the previous round, both Tom and the Doodson Motorsport team were keen to build on the success and used the practice sessions to good effect, working towards an improved bike set-up and good race pace. Although only qualifying in 10th place Evo runner Tunstall was still upbeat heading into race day: “Qualifying didn’t really work out for us but I know 10th isn’t a true reflection of our current level. We’ve made smaller changes to the bike this weekend and we’re still heading in the right direction. My pace is very consistent, even on used race tyres, which is very important here as the track is hard on tyres which are always a factor at the end of the race. It’s a great track to race on, plenty of places to pass and I’m looking forward to both races”. Tunstall’s comments were backed up in the morning warm up session as more minor tweaks brought a confidence inspiring pace. The weather gradually deteriorated in the build up to Race One, meaning a tough call for not only the riders and teams but also the organisers who commendably dealt with staging the race in the unpredictable conditions. Once underway, and reduced to 15laps, the “Wet Race” provided Tunstall another great opportunity and despite being baulked and last out of the first corner, he’d already made up ten places 2.3 miles later. Tunstall’s pace was impressive as he continued to pick his way through the field, lapping within a tenth of the pace of the Evo leaders. By lap seven he was the fourth placed Evo bike and working to close down the two second gap that separated him from another rostrum finish. Five laps later he was on the back wheel of Swiss rider Patrick Muff and with two laps to go he made his move, passing into the ultra fast Church corner. Muff pulled alongside down the back straight but once again Tunstall out braked the Honda rider into the chicane. Starting the last lap in third, Tunstall lost the position on the start and finish straight but once again lined up the pass into the Campbell Complex. Having pulled alongside, on the inside of the corner, Tunstall was surprised to see Muff slam across the front of his BMW the impact throwing Tunstall from his machine and onto the tarmac. Winded and with the bike too badly damaged, the Yorkshireman was unable to remount. The Doodson Motorsport team worked hard to rebuild the bike for the second outing and Tunstall’s lap times placed him third on the Evo grid. The visibility was poor back in the pack. After passing Kawasaki rider James Hillier for fourth on lap two Tunstall’s front brake, which had been damaged and repaired after the crash locked on into the Club Chicane forcing him into the pits and out of the race. Understandably disappointed Tunstall explained; “It’s been a very tough day. Two DNF’s [Did Not Finish] and both out of my control… “For me it was a good race, I rode well, the lap times were good, did all the hard work but unfortunately didn’t get the reward. At least Muff apologised for his mistake. Obviously race two was also disappointing, following a crash these things can happen but it’s frustrating as we had two very good opportunities today. “There are a lot of positives from the weekend and it’s important to focus on them and move on… A few hot baths later I’ll be fine!” The next round of the series takes place at Knockhill in Scotland on June 19th. More, from a press release issued by Steve Plater’s publicist: Woodhall Spa rider Steve Plater had a weekend to forget in round four of the British Supersport championship at Thruxton when he crashed out of the feature race on Monday breaking his upper arm. An earlier spill during qualifying left the Padgett’s Honda rider in the unusual grid position of 14th for the sprint race on Sunday but he got his head down and reeled in the riders ahead to cross the finish line in eighth position to pick up eight championship points. “I was struggling to get a fast lap in during qualifying and came in to put a soft tyre in with 12 minutes of the session remaining. I went back out and did a really good first split but then another rider ran off line in front of me and I had to shut off to miss him. That spoilt that lap so I went round again hoping for a fast time but like a novice I hit the engine case on the kerb at the last chicane and went down. I ended up 14th on the grid which is never going to be easy. At the start of the race I got away ok and got my head down but it’s really fast here at Thruxton and it was difficult to get through the traffic. I ended up eighth but was right on the back on the riders in sixth and seventh so not too bad a result.” On Monday Plater’s chances of bettering Sunday’s results were at least improved by the fact that he was a bit further up the grid and a solid start put him in seventh place after the first lap in the afternoon drizzle. A determined effort got him up to fifth and the start of a race long tussle with Christian Iddon and a hard-charging Billy McConnell. On lap 12 McConnell had got the best of the group and Plater moved past Iddon. As the television viewers watched Jack Kennedy slide out of second place, unseen at Church Plater had had the mother of all highsides causing Iddon to bail out as well and bringing out the red flags. Iddon was ok, but the unfortunate Plater suffered a broken upper left arm in the incident. The Woodhall Spa rider will now undergo surgery to plate the arm and is anticipating and early discharge from hospital. Speaking to him after the accident he said: “I have no idea what happened, the bike just highsided for no apparent reason. It’s the same section of the track that Michael Rutter fell so maybe there is a bump in the track that we both hit.” Plater should have been on a plane to go directly to the Isle of Man TT races where the TT Legends team of John McGuinness and Keith Amor began their practice on Monday evening but he is hoping to join the team on the Isle of Man as soon as possible. More, from a press release issued by sorrymate.com Honda: Linfoot revels in the rain at Thruxton Dan Linfoot and the sorrymate.com Honda team enjoyed their best weekend of racing so far in the 2011 MCE British Superbike Championship with 5th and 6th place finishes at Thruxton on Bank Holiday Monday. After overcoming set-up issues in practice, Dan and the team worked hard in qualifying to find the set-up they needed to allow them to challenge at the front and although rain on race day meant a new challenge, two superb rides by Dan saw them rewarded with two top six finishes and a 21-point haul to move up to 12th in the Championship table. Free practice on Saturday saw Dan down in uncustomary 15th and 21st positions caused by electrical problems, the legacy of the crash at Croft last time out, but changes to the bike saw the handling and grip improve considerably and in Sunday’s final free practice session Dan was able to lap almost two seconds quicker. A lap of 1m15.762s gave him the 10th fastest time, just 0.6s off first place, and put him and the team in a lot better frame of mind going into qualifying. Indeed, he improved further still in qualifying and a brilliant lap of 1m15.202s saw him comfortably make the final stage where he eventually placed 10th for a third row start. After dry weather throughout the first two days, race day saw rain hit the Hampshire circuit but a superb start saw Dan slot into 5th place at the completion of the first lap. A lap later Michael Laverty pushed him back to 6th but by lap 6, Dan was asserting himself on the race and was up to 4th having overtaken both John Hopkins and Michael Rutter. Circulating less than a second off the race lead, Dan was putting in the best ride of his BSB career and although Laverty was beginning to edge away at the head of the field, the rest of the podium positions were up for grabs. Indeed, Dan moved up to 3rd on lap 10 although he was soon under intense pressure from acknowledged rain master Rutter and on lap 12, he was pushed back down to 4th. Championship leader Shane Byrne and John Hopkins then relegated Dan to 6th and it was here where he finished just 3 seconds off the race win, a great result for all concerned. With the 6th fastest lap of the race, Dan lined up on the second row for the second race and he was able to consolidate this position in the early laps. On lap 5 he moved up to 4th as he overhauled first race winner Laverty and when Alex Lowes crashed out on lap 7, he was again up to 4th and on the verge of a podium position. This almost became a reality when he moved up to 3rd on lap 13, Rutter crashing out at Church, but Hopkins and Tommy Hill managed to squeeze by in the final one and a half laps, Hill passing him at the final chicane and he had to settle for fifth place. Speaking afterwards, a delighted team boss Robin Croft said: “I’m really happy with the weekend and am chuffed to bits with the results particularly after the problems we had in free practice. We had no electronic aids on Saturday due to damage to the electronics from Croft so FP1 and FP2 were practically lost and it wasn’t until FP3 that we’d sorted everything out. Once we did, Dan and the team found a good set-up and it allowed us to get really stuck in for qualifying, something Dan did to great effect getting us through into the top ten.” “With race day being wet it was a bit like Croft in terms of uncertainty but Dan worked well in the short bit of practice the riders had and to end up with 21 points from the two races is brilliant. The whole team has picked themselves up after Croft and we came out fighting. We were fighting it out for the podium and to be third with just two laps to go in race 2 had us all on the edge of our seats. We lost out due to the other riders having a bit better tyre life but it’s been a brilliant weekend. Dan rode bravely but he also rode maturely and he put in two faultless races. We can now look forward to Knockhill and look at continuing our good form there.” The next round of the British Superbike Championship takes place north of the border at Knockhill on June 17-19. More, from a press release issued by GBMoto Racing: Rain Cuts Short GBmoto Racing’s Thruxton Challenge A disappointed GBmoto Racing left Thruxton after the fourth round of the 2011 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 championship, with only a handful of points to show for their efforts. A rain affected race was red flagged after just 11 laps, six of which were behind the safety car, leaving the team deflated after a weekend of hard work. Tristan Palmer finished in fourth place and David Johnson in twelfth. GBmoto Racing arrived at Thruxton riding high after back to back wins by Tristan Palmer in the previous two rounds. Palmer was leading the championship with a five point gap over his nearest rival, MSS Kawasaki Colchester’s Danny Buchan. David Johnson was also determined to improve on his early season results now that his broken elbow, sustained in pre-season testing, had healed well. Thruxton is not known for its Mediterranean climate. Cloudy, windy, with the constant threat of rain seemed to be the order of the day. Saturday morning’s Free Practice session was dry, and the Global Reach Partners’ sponsored riders set about putting in solid laps, providing feedback throughout the session to assist with bike setup. After this first 30 minutes on track, Tristan sat in sixth position and David in tenth, both posting times in the 1:20 second region. Later the same day, worse weather rolled in and rain started to fall just minutes before Qualifying Practice 1. The team debated switching to wet tyres, but decided to sit tight for the opening minutes of the session to see which way the weather would turn. Fortunately, the rain was just a passing scud, with the track drying within minutes due to the strong winds. Gearing changes after Free Practice, saw both riders shave more than 1 second from their lap times. Tristan was now on provisional pole, posting a 1:18.8 lap time, and David was also on the front row with the fourth quickest time of 1:19.5. Qualifying Practice 2 was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The weather didn’t improve much, but at least remained dry. Everyone significantly picked up the pace for this session, and the times tumbled. Both Tristan and Dave struggled to find some clear track for a really quick lap. The Superstock 1000 grid is still a busy place. Finally, Tristan finished third quickest, bringing his time down to 1:18.193, just 0.174 seconds from Padgetts Honda’s Jenkinson on pole. David was frustrated after encountering a slower rider in the last chicane on his final fast lap, but still finished in eleventh and a 1:18.959 lap. The top 11 riders for Monday’s race all qualified in the 1:18s. A final couple of setting changes for Monday’s warm-up session and both riders left the track happy with their bikes. Tristan was unconcerned with third on the grid, as his two main championship rivals, Buchan and HM Plant’s O’Halloran were back in eighth and ninth respectively. David knew he had some work to do in the first couple of corners, but he was confident of a solid race pace. As the bikes moved to the grid for race start, a light misty rain started falling. On lap one, West and Fagan had a coming together, which resulted in the Safety Car circulating for six laps. Once the race was back on again, a front bunch of 12 broke away from the remaining riders. It was very close racing at the front, with positions constantly changing. After only 11 laps in total, and the rain falling heavier, the race was red flagged. As two thirds distance had been completed, a result was declared. Tristan finished in fourth less than 0.5 seconds from Cooper, the eventual winner, and David in twelfth. Tristan is now second in the 2011 Metzeler National Superstock 1000 championship, two points behind Danny Buchan. GBmoto Racing heads to Knockhill for the next round in two weeks time, hoping the notorious Scottish weather smiles on everyone for a dry weekend’s racing. Tristan Palmer, Rider: The weekend had been going really well, we worked consistently on the setup of the bike. Qualifying was really close and there wasn’t much in it between the top 11. I never got the best of laps in QP2, but I knew I had race pace and just needed to get comfy on the bike. We made a few changes for morning warm-up today which worked great, making the bike a bit smoother and easier to ride. Going into the race I thought I had a good chance of winning it. The track was dry at race start with just a bit of drizzle on my visor, I got into a battle, but thought I’d just sit on the leaders because at the time I wouldn’t have been able to gap them. I wanted to save my rear tyre, as everyone has had grip issues here. I could see the others starting to spin their rear wheels quite a lot and was getting ready to start picking the front guys off when the rain came in and they red flagged it. It’s frustrating and I wish I’d gone for it from the start – but that’s easy to say in hindsight. I am disappointed but still banked good points for the championship. Although I think I could have won today if it had of gone the distance. I’m really focused and looking forward to Knockhill now. David Johnson, Rider: The weekend started off well and we’ve made more progress with the bike. We were at the front of the time sheets almost straight away. Unfortunately I started 11th on the grid again, after a not ideal QP2, were I was held up on my fast qualifying lap. I was very confident I was on for a front row start until then. The race was a bit drizzly, I didn’t get an awesome start and I got mugged by a few desperadoes in the first chicane. The race plan was to be in the mix in the early laps, conserve our tyres and go for it towards the end. After just one lap, the safety car came out for what felt like an eternity. When racing started again, the lead group was 12 bikes, and I was planning my moves as the tyres came into their own. I was a lot quicker than the guys directly in front of me, but then the race was red flagged. I was extremely disappointed the race was stopped short, as I know I had the pace to be up on the podium. It really didn’t go our way this weekend. On a positive note, I’ve made good headway with the bike, so I am looking forward to being on the pace again at Knockhill. Mark Smith Halvorsen, Team Principal: The team has worked extremely well throughout the weekend and measurably improved our bikes, to a point where the riders were extremely confident of first class results in the race. By focusing on the balance of our set-up between speed, feeling and managing tyre wear, I feel we were in a great place however the crashes early on in the race and the subsequent stoppage due to the rain falling, meant our potential was not capitalised on. We will move on and learn as we always do and look to bounce back to top form at Knockhill, where once again we expect the Hondas to work well. Follow us on our official website, Facebook and Twitter: http://www.gbmoto.com http://www.facebook.com/gbmoto http://www.twitter.com/gbmoto