British SuperStock Championship - Round 9 - Cadwell

Sanyo First National Honda rider, Glen Richards, stormed to his second British Superstock championship win of the year in the ninth round encounter at Cadwell Park today, setting a new lap record in the process.

The Yamahas of Matt Llewellyn and David Jefferies finished second and third with Richards’ fellow Australian team-mate, Chris Vermeulen, fourth.

Starting from third place on the grid, Richards settled into fifth place while his younger compatriot took the holeshot and led for the opening three laps. Richards passed the Kawaskai of Gary Mason as Vermeulen dropped to second and then third.

The Sanyo First National pairing swapped positions at Park Corner on lap six and Richards then shadowed Llewellyn and Jefferies until the latter stages of the 16-lap race, passing Jefferies on lap twelve and Lewellyn two laps later. The 26-year-old Aussie held both at bay for the final two laps, taking victory by 0.253 seconds.

"I got a bad start," said Richards, "but I knew I had a good race tyre from Dunlop so I wasn’t too worried. I waited for the others’ tyres to go off and took my chance when they came."

Richards continued: "Although we’re down a bit on engine capacity, the FireBlade was much better on the brakes and on the tighter sections of the circuit. I had to pass a few good riders to get to the front so that makes the win that much better."

Vermeulen struggled with an injury to his left hand sustained during a practice crash on Saturday. The 18-year-old, who will ride for the Castrol Honda World Supersport team for the final three rounds of this year, had to have a pain killing injection in his hand before racing today.

"I’ve got a screw in the little finger from a previous crash," said Vermeulen, "and it was pretty painful and swollen. After I took the lead, I thought it wouldn’t be long before I started to struggle but at least I managed fourth, although I’m now only one point ahead of Glen in the table."

Results (Cadwell Park – 2.173 miles, 16 laps): 
1 Glen Richards (Sanyo First National Honda) 24m00.903s, 
2 Matt Llewellyn (Yamaha) +0.253s, 
3 David Jefferies (Yamaha) +0.470, 
4 Chris Vermeulen (Sanyo First National Honda) +4.668, 
5 Gary Mason (Kawasaki) +16.072, 
6 Jamie Morley (Suzuki) +17.222, 
7 Rob Frost (Yamaha) +26.519, 
8 Steve Brogan (Honda) +26.651, 
9 Jago Chapman (Yamaha) +31.177, 
10 Gus Scott (Kawasaki) +34.153.

Championship points after nine of 12 rounds: 
Llewellyn 168, 
Jefferies 155, 
Vermeulen 138, 
Richards 137, 
Frost 66.

Next round: Mallory Park, 17 September.