British Superbike Championship - Brands Hatch SuperBike Races
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It was a day of mixed fortunes for GSE Racing at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit
today as Neil Hodgson crashed out of race two after finishing sixth in the first, while Niall Mackenzie finished in eighth and fourth places
respectively. Hodgson retains his second place in the British Superbike Championship, while Mackenzie moves up to fifth in the points with two rounds
remaining.
After a sudden downpour, the first race was declared wet with championship
leader Chris Walker crashing out on the first lap. As the rain became heavier, the race was stopped on lap eight after several riders crashed into
each other at Graham Hill Bend. The re-start for the remaining 21 laps saw With Chris Walker out of the running and wet weather specialists Michael Rutter and Anthony Gobert speeding off into the lead, Hodgson knew that the most important task was to finish the race and re-gain his championship lead, so he stayed out of trouble, played it safe in the torrential conditions and came home in sixth place. "The last thing I wanted to do was fall off after I had been handed an advantage by Chris," said Hodgson. "It was bad luck for him, but I couldn't believe how fast he was trying to go on the first lap. I felt confident out on the track though because we've done a lot of work on our wet race set-up at Mallory Park last weekend, which has helped considerably. There were so many risky moves going on in front of me that I didn't want to get involved in, so I played it safe, stayed on and went for the points. I'd like to thank Niall for supporting me so well." Niall Mackenzie had good fortune on his side in race one. Having pulled into pit lane after several laps due to visibility problems, he was able to re-start from seventh on the grid after the race was stopped, and came home in eighth position: "I couldn't believe my luck when the race was stopped," he said. "I had no choice but to pull in as I couldn't see a thing through the visor I was using and it was good to have a second chance in the wet. I felt very comfortable on the INS Ducati in the rain, but wouldn't mind a dry second race." Mackenzie didn't get his wish as race two was also declared wet and was consequently reduced to 20 laps. Neil Hodgson's luck deserted him when he crashed out of contention at Coopers to remain on 377 points in the series: "I was just trying too hard and couldn't save it, but that's racing," he said. "It leaves me with a lot of work to do at Donington, but the championship's not over until the last round and there are still 50 points up for grabs." Niall Mackenzie finished race two in fourth place and moved up to fifth in the series: "The INS Ducati felt great out there again," he said. "It was very greasy on the circuit and I had to take a bit of avoiding action when Neil went down, which meant that I lost touch with the leaders, but the changes we made to the bike definitely helped and I felt much more confident as a result. I'm looking forward to making further progress at Donington Park in a fortnight's time." Marty Craggill had to sit out the round
after a big crash in qualifying. |