Six Australians were again out to beat the Brits.  Amongst them was Bathurst ace Jay Taylor trying his hand at British SuperSport aboard an ex Dean Thomas Ducati 748 as a newcomer to the series.  Chris Vermeulen, on a break from WSS duties, was also on hand to lend support to the Aussie contingent.

Glen Richards riding the Hawk / Toshiba Kawasaki was looking for another sterling weekend after a string of impressive results over recent outings, which have stirred great interest amongst the other riders and teams.

Dean Thomas, fully fit after his crash at Cadwell was looking to pilot his Dienza/Phones4U 996 amongst the leaders, while Paul Young, happy with the his efforts at Oulton a fortnight ago, was after more of the same to help finish a lackluster season by his standards.

Jason Boyle (Europcar / JB Racing R6) joined debutante Taylor in a field of 30 Supersport hopefuls, whilst Nigel Arnold, hoping to improve on his Oulton debut was out to guide the Team Discovery GSX-R 1000 towards the podium in the Superstock race.

QUALIFYING

Saturday may have been a much better day for Dean Thomas had wife Karen not dreamt the night before that he’d miss Superpole and subsequently start 16th on the grid. After two sessions of problems with the two year old Dukes, her worst fears were realised as the team frantically worked on the bike as Superpole unfolded. A provisional place within the top ten ended up as ancient history and the out of luck man from the state of New South Wales would have to battle through the pack come Sunday.

“We tried so many different things with the bike in qualifying and just when we got it close the thing breaks down and we’re 16th” shrugged a disgruntled Thomas afterwards.

While some opine that living next door to the circuit provides an advantage, others rate a machine lacking 30 horsepower as quite the opposite.  Glen Richards was unfazed by that dilemma and powered his Kwaka onto the provisional front row, with a time well under the current lap record. Superpole saw the popular Aussie moved back two places to 6th though, yet still leaving him in a prime position to challenge for the team’s first podium of the season.  “I’m happy with the fact we have a great race bike. I did 17 laps in a row on lap record pace, so things are looking good for tomorrow”

If residing next door to the track is handy, then living inside the track must provide even more benefits, and Youngy was out to capitalise in his own back yard.  Paul again made the Superpole cut, his 3rd time during the campaign and his 2nd in succession, courtesy of 14th during open qualifying. He bettered that during the one lap dash to start race day from 12th on the grid.

“Pirelli have finally given us a good tyre, but only one which I use everywhere. It was good enough for 34 laps today and the race is 30, so I’ll just try and stay on as long as I can” laughed last year’s runaway Superstock champion.

Nigel Arnold of Cessnock in New South Wales started proceedings well, impressing with a top ten result but drifted back slightly to 12th after the second timed session.  “We shouldn’t have made the adjustments to the rear shock that we did. Instead I should have just concentrated on riding harder but couldn’t” he said realistically.

While Scotsman Stuart Easton was out to clinch his first British title and hold Scott Smart at bay, two Aussies were hoping to steal some of the attention away.

25th for Jay Taylor was not the start he had hoped for, but getting used to a new bike and unfamiliar surroundings is one thing, but doing it in such stellar company is certainly another. After a whitewash of proceedings a week earlier at a Castle Coombe club day he was understandably disillusioned but realistic at his first attempt in the national arena.  “All I need is one second and I’d be 9th. The bike is fast, I just have to ride quicker” commented Australia’s multiple 125 champion.

Jason Boyle had a weekend to forget. After getting a look at the demanding track on Tuesday via an open ride day, he was feeling confident. This was until the dreaded view of grass followed by sky presented itself repeatedly as he bounced for the tyre wall and in to his view eventually became a badly bashed motorcycle. 

“I lost the front again, just like at Oulton. I’m not happy and I doubt we’ll race tomorrow given the amount of bits missing and that I think the forks are now bent,” said a very battered but otherwise unhurt Boyle.

SUPERBIKE RACE 1

With the Monstermob Ducati duo of Steve Hislop and Stuart Easton pushing hard to finalise two championships one round early, a bumper crowd under sunny skies flocked to the 1.37-mile track for race day.

Glen Richards, attempting to set the tone for the rest of his day, shadowed pole sitter Rutter during morning warm up, “I usually struggle a bit to stay with him, but I was there all session and was trying really hard. Its just through the ‘Devils Elbow section where his power is amazing”.

Dean was surprisingly upbeat after the previous day’s complications and chuckled, “We’ve only got one bike now as we made one good bike out of the two we had. Now I just have to fight through the pack.”

The opening race saw Paul Young as high as 8th in the opening stages, managing to hold at bay the likes of Simon Crafar, Ellison and Thomas. By the end of 30 laps Ellison had moved his DB Racing Ducati past as had Crafar and John Crawford which meant Youngy filed home in 11th spot.

Glen was with the leading bunch and riding the wheels off of the Hawk 750. In front, Michael Rutter and his Renegade Ducati team-mate were fighting furiously with outgoing champion John Reynolds on the Rizla Suzuki and a Virgin Yamaha duo of Emmett and Plater. As Steve Hislop watched his only championship rival Sean Emmett battle for positions he struggled with bike problems and came under attack from Richards. By mid race distance and after passing Hislop it was the five combatants for the lead that he needed to catch, and given more laps he may well have done so, but with the race ended and with Reynolds crashing out, 5th was the best he could muster.

Dean rode gallantly on a bike clearly performing well beneath his and the Dienza team’s liking to finish 12th behind the early race impresser Young.

The pointy end saw the lead exchange owners relentlessly until a last lap charge by Steve Plater resulted a win for the likeable Yamaha man, ahead of satellite team mate Emmett who did his championship chances a favour with Hislop finishing a distant 6th. 

I was there to witness the helmet throwing tantrums in the Monstermob garage post race and a furious Hizzy appraising his machine in no uncertain terms by saying “It just wont steer and it chatters everywhere”, before disappearing to the sound of more projectile tools and fading expletives.

Dean Thomas found a more diplomatic way of describing his steed by saying, “The bike is just old and fatigued. There wasn’t a lot more I could do out there”.

Glen Richards was happy with his bike, only wishing that the race had had several more laps to run, as he’d finally caught the tail of the leading pack only to see the flag.

SUPERSPORT RACE

With Jason Boyle out of action and watching from atop his race van, it was down to 23 year old Jay Taylor to battle with the locals, and after getting a shocking start things looked less than promising.

A pace car helped the pack regroup mid race however, and Jay quickly tagged on to the riders battling for minor places. By the end of a steady ride he managed18th. With Scott Smart ending the day with mechanical failure, Stuart Easton waved to the crowd in jubilation as he brought his Ducati home safely to claim the title.

Jay was naturally unhappy with the result which was well below his usually high standards, but as Jason Boyle has demonstrated this season, it takes more than Aussie titles to adapt to the tracks in England. It also takes time.

SUPERSTOCK

Unfortunately due to political reasons out of his control, Nigel Arnold was unable to race on Sunday leaving him to lament what might have been.  “I was looking forward to running near the front today, it’s just a shame I can’t. I suppose these things happen and I’ll have to do my best at Donington, a track I rode during my time in World Superbikes on a Honda.”

The race was eventually won by the Suzuki of Chris Burns after series leader David Jefferies crashed heavily exiting the fast esses section, which leaves the championship up for grabs at the final round in a fortnight.

SUPERBIKE RACE 2

Once again the heavens offered no reasons to be alarmed and the battle got under way cleanly with all wet weather tyres packed away in the sheds.  Rutter took the ascendancy into the fast sweeping turn one, a position he seemed to relish and built on his lead to eventually run out victorious by over three seconds.

The scrap for the remaining podium steps was fierce, with all the usual protagonists involved. This time however, Hislop was in a mood not to be messed with and the 40-year-old Isle of Man resident looked determined to regain the hold he once had on the title.

He wasn’t to have it all his own way though, and during a series of aggressive moves both Emmett and Plater moved through with Byrne looking menacing.

Glen Richards got a bad start, which left him a lot of work to do.  A brave move coming on to the start/finish straight got him past Reynolds, but with a two second gap to the leaders he was made to settle for 6th.  “My tyre in the first race was awesome but it was harder work that time. I had heaps less grip on the rear for some reason. Once we’re up and going the other guys have got so much more power as well. That was hard work,” he puffed.

Dean again battled for points and came home 14th, disappointed with his Mallory experience, while Youngy came out the victor in his race long dice with the Padgetts bike of Irishman Adrian Coates to finish 12th with more richly deserved points.

Emmett fought to a well deserved runner up finish ahead of Plater, Byrne and Hislop.  This means the title race will go to a final round showdown at Donington Park in two weeks. Hopefully Dean, Paul and Glen will again be amongst the bigger points and with things going to plan, Steve Hislop will be lifting a well deserved Championship Cup, but when do things ever go to plan?

Kempy #67