Along with Glen Richards, Paul Young, Dean Thomas and Simon Crafar in the Superbike class, we were again represented by Jason Boyle in his first year of Supersport racing. In another of the support classes 19 year old David Johnson would be hoping to get a win in the Junior Superstock category whilst consolidating his excellent 3rd position in the standings to date.

Also on hand to witness the Aussies in action was my good mate Damien Cudlin with girlfriend Amy. Damien has taken his outstanding resume of successes in Australia to the other side of the world in an attempt to procure a ride in the British Superbike Championship. I wish him all the best!

Qualifying

Qualifying for the Superbike class on Saturday saw the usual protagonists near the top of the qualifying sheets. The surprise result from the first session was that of Glen Richards, who managed to put his 'Hawk Kawasaki' on the provisional front row. His time of 1 minute 27.8 was a mere 1 second from the pole and lap record equaling time set by Sean Emmett on the more competitive 'IFC Ducati'. "There's no way we can do those times on race rubber," he told me. "We need a softer rear race tyre and we just keep wreckin' fronts" he added.

The second session was used to dial in the bike using race tyres and this saw Glen move backwards in the standings to 8th. Further tyre problems and a disappointing Superpole meant that he would start from the 3rd row in 9th position.

Glen was not the only person suffering from a lack of good rubber. Dean Thomas (Dienza/Phones4U) was also having chatter and blistering issues with the Dunlops that were on offer to the BSB paddock (leftovers from the British WSB round earlier in the year and designed for the colder weather and longer straights of Silverstone). Riding the lesser powered 'ex Niall Mackenzie' bike from the 2000 championship, Dean performed well in qualifying with a 1.27.542, out pacing the newer Ducatis ridden by Steve Hislop, Shane Byrne and Paul Brown, but was later relegated from an excellent 4th place on the provisional grid to 6th after Superpole.

"Although we're having troubles with the tyres and setting it up, I'm happy with our result and to equal our previous best qualifying result was great", said the 'Dienza Ducati' pilot, looking and sounding confident for Sunday's races. "If I get away well. I think I can finish near the front".

Simon Crafar would start from 13th on the grid after dropping two positions during Superpole. He was hoping to do a great deal better in Sunday's races after struggling with setup on the 'Virgin Mobile R1' that he described to me as " a fantastic road bike but a long way from being a race one".

Paul Young had a qualifying day to forget on-board the 'Grafters Recruitment/Pirelli' GSXR1000. "It just won't handle" were his words after 1st qualifying. A session that also resulted in a black flag and disqualification due to a fairing irregularity. Crashing in the second session after the Suzuki's clutch locked on his approach to 'Druids' hairpin was certainly not the outcome he had hoped for. Paul looked understandably dejected by the end of Saturday . However, after describing his get off to me as "just a small one", I hoped, and suspected that Sunday would be a better day for the extremely talented, and down on his luck South Australian, and that an improvement on his 23rd qualifying position was imminent.

In the 600~Supersport class, Jason Boyle (Australia's 250GP runner up in 2000), once again displayed maturity and skill in improving his lap times considerably with every session. This has been a commendable trait of the Sydney-sider's this season as he continues to learn daunting and unfamiliar tracks and follow on with the good form he showed at Snetterton.

The 'Europcar-Yamaha R6' would start from 32nd at Brands Hatch. A position not overly familiar to Jason but one that would no doubt provide him with another eagerly awaited challenge come race day.

Adelaide's David Johnson was again gunning to be Australia's highest placed finisher at these championships, and started off well. During the opening timed session on Saturday his bike was clocked fastest in the speed trap at 139.8mph. This news brought a smile to the face of Roger, (David's team boss and owner of 'Revolution Racing'), known for the fast engines they supply to front running competitors in the National Thunderbike Championship 'Down under'.

David certainly upped the anti for the second Junior Superstock qualifying session and was 6th fastest with the top 6 being covered by merely half a second. Johnson was clearly disturbed afterwards and was very clear in his appraisal of another rider's lack of skill when exiting the pits. "He just came out of the pits in front of me. He held me up and I still managed the time I did. Who knows what time I could have done?"

Race day

Superbike Race 1: 20 laps
The starting grid on Sunday was a buzz with excitement. The weather was beautiful and twenty thousand spectators had turned up to see a full day of racing action. As I navigated myself between bikes, pit crews, brolly girls and other members of the press, I noticed 'Virgin' owner Sir. Richard Branson showing a keen and active interest in both of his 'Virgin Mobile' sponsored riders.

Simon Crafar told me how he was looking to improve on earlier results and that "having the boss there was a bonus".

The race was underway shortly after, and everyone got away well. Everyone except for pole sitter and local hero, Sean Emmett that was. Emmett's bike expired in the first turn and his race was over. Australia's Dean Thomas was performing well and was holding down 6th place. By mid race distance Reynolds (Rizla Suzuki), Plater (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) and Rutter (Renegade Ducati) were providing the crowd with a fabulous battle for the lead and had left the rest of the field in their wake.

Championship leader Steve Hislop was not even in the top ten, but rather languishing in 12th position, a long way behind Dean Thomas in 6th, Simon Crafar 7th and Glen Richards in 8th. Richards by this stage was taking metres out of the pack in front of him, whilst Thomas and Crafar were staging a two man war for 6th place. On lap 10 Crafar went through on Thomas into Paddock Hill bend at the end of the main straight and was out after Paul Brown (IFC Ducati) who was maintaining down a lonely 5th place some 4 seconds behind Shane Byrne (Renegade Ducati) in 4th.

As the race progressed, the leading trio extended their dominance over the remainder of the field, and were taking turns at leading as much as 5 times per lap. Dean Thomas meanwhile had been relegated to 11th in the fight for the minor places, being passed firstly by Crafar and then by Richards. For the remaining laps, the pair staged a monumental battle for 6th with both riders leaving huge black lines on the exit to 'Coopers' as they powered onwards toward 'Surtees'.

New Zealander and ex 500GP winner Crafar, won the titanic battle with Richards, and acknowledged him afterwards in a gesture of sportsmanship by saying "Thanks for pushing me hard Glen, that was a lot of fun out there."

In the end it was John Reynolds who was ultimately victorious in Race 1, followed by Plater and Rutter. Brown was promoted to 4th courtesy of last lap mechanical woes for Byrne, which meant Richards and Crafar also inherited a spot. When I spoke to Richards, dripping with sweat, he could only muster " There's gotta be an easier way to have fun than that" Later he told me that for race two he would be using a harder tyre.

Thomas battled on with tyre problems to finish 10th, 2 places and 7 seconds in front of Steve Hislop on the factory supported 'Monstermob Ducati'. Youngy finished 22nd after various battles throughout the race with Jamie Robinson, Lee Jackson and Shane Norval.

Superbike Race 2: 20 laps
Another clean getaway as the field of 30 roaring Superbikes, led by Sean Emmett rushed for the first turn watched by thousands on top of 'Paddock Hill Bend'. This time his bike made it around a full circuit and there were no signs that race 2 would be as tragic as it's predecessor.

This time Hislop had faired better in the opening laps as well and was challenging Emmett and Reynolds for the lead. In the meantime our Aussie and Kiwi hopefuls were battling further down the field.

On lap 5 John Crawford (ETI Racing) high-sided at turn 3 and the pace car was introduced. As the pack condensed, Richards (Hawk Kawasaki) was in 8th and although he had been pushing Paul Brown very hard for 7th before proceedings slowed, I could see that he now had the perfect chance to capitalise and gain a position. Crafar (Virgin Yamaha) was directly behind in 9th and Paul Young (Grafters Recruitment/Pirelli) had worked hard to be in 18th. Dean Thomas was nowhere to be seen, so I grabbed a member of his team to ask why.

"His bike just wouldn't go on the line so we had to withdraw him" was the answer. A disappointing way to end a weekend that began in such a promising way for Dean and the 'Dienza Ducati' team.

Within two laps of the restart Richards had lost touch with Brown and was slowly falling into the clutches of Crafar, Dean Ellison (D&B Racing) and past World Superbike regular, Giovanni Bussei, deputising for the injured Karl Harris in the 'Rizla Suzuki' squad. Further back Paul Young was having a close race with Jason Davis of 'Team shark'. As Richards fell further back, Crafar and Bussei continued to wrestle for 8th. It was a great battle to witness and even better to be involved in if Simon's face afterwards was anything to go by. He still wasn't happy with the settings on the R1 but confided that, "We are going forward, they have started to listen to me now and my teammate Plater was a direct recipient of my changes and look how well he went today".

Crafar didn't get the better of the Italian by the end, being beaten to the line by a mere .005 of a second but was very satisfied with his weekend's efforts. Up front things were definitely frantic as 6 bikes fought dramatically for the number 1 spot. In the end Emmett got the better of Hislop and Rutter respectively, with Reynolds being barged back to 4th after having lead going into the final set of corners.

Glen Richards struggled to finish 11th with what I found out later to be a problem tyre that somehow, during the pace car period, managed to go out of balance. Paul Young finished the weekend with 19th in the second race. I spoke to one of Paul's team afterwards and they were glad the weekend was finally over. "Paul's efforts in race two were great and we're happy to be going home in one piece and with some improvements made."

Supersport Race: 16 laps
The Supersport race was a heart stopper. Perhaps not for those watching 17 year old Scotsman Stuart Easton (Monstermob Ducati) win by 14 seconds whilst never being challenged. The part of the race I was watching was the one Jason Boyle was in. Jason never threatened the points scoring positions but provided myself and the 'Europcar' team, in particular girlfriend Anna, with the race of the weekend. After starting from 32nd, he proceeded to better all previous lap times for the weekend and muscle his way up to 24th by the finish. Aggressive and skillful passing manoeuvres on the fast back section of the track were the highlight of his good performance. Jason was thrilled with his result and said "I can't wait for 2003. Every time we learn a track, we go quicker and it puts the Europcar team in a better position for next season".

Junior Superstock: 16 laps
The Junior Superstock race which featured South Australia's David Johnson was an anti climax. David managed to start the race with vigour, challenging the leading group during the opening laps, but after running wide out of 'Coopers' (Turn 3) and onto the grass, he settled for an easy 7th place and was never challenged. David did manage to remain 3rd in the championship standings, albeit 47 points behind 2nd place.

The show moves to Rockingham next weekend for Round 7 and I'm certain that our guys will turn on more exciting and breathtaking action for the massive crowds that follow this series.

I look forward to again providing you with my up close accounts of all the thrills and race action as well as all of the quotes from the riders as they happen.

Richard Kemp 67