Leon Camier overhauled Sylvain Guintoli in the early season chase for the ViSK British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli as he took his first winning double in the top flight in a dramatic second round at Oulton Park.
Riding the Airwaves Yamaha, Camier, who had won last time out at Brands Hatch, maintained his rich vein of form by first taking his maiden pole start, and then dominating the two races at the Cheshire circuit, finishing ahead of Hydrex Honda rider Karl Harris in each, with Guintoli taking a pair of thirds aboard the Worx Crescent Suzuki.
The changeable conditions caused problems, with light rain at times, during the day, but the opening Superbike race began in the dry with Stuart Easton setting the pace from Harris and Camier, though the action was stopped on the second lap to speed aid to John Laverty who had crashed heavily, though fortunately without serious injury, at Hilltop.
Camier had an anxious moment ahead of the re-start, pulling off the grid momentarily to check a fluid leak, which turned out to be coolant from an overheating engine – he was able to continue without problem and again had to scrap with Easton and Harris, taking the lead on the seventh lap.
Harris, chasing maiden glory in the series chased hard, but had to settle for second best as Camier took the victory by a little over a second, reflecting: “The race was really hard at the begnning but then I settled into something of a rhythm and was able to pick ‘em off in front of me.”
Guintoli, racing the challenging circuit for the first time, rode strongly to take third ahead of Easton with James Ellison taking fifth ahead of Glen Richards.
Easton made a great start to the second race, but Harris was equal to that, taking over out front, but not for long before Camier was piling on the pressure and snatching the lead at Lodge on the third lap and then romping into the distance to take the victory by some seven seconds.
“We really didn’t expect to win one race, let alone two, but the team pulled it out of the bag for me,” said Camier who then warned his rivals to expect more of the same, starting with the next round at Donington Park: “We should have our new engines for them and they will give us an extra 15-20bhp which will help us particularly in the slower corners.”
Harris took second ahead of Guintoli who had overcome a poor start to carve through the pack from tenth on the opening lap to take third ahead of Ellison, Richards and Ian Lowry aboard the Relentless Suzuki.
Gary Mason, tenth and sixth overall, celebrated his 30th birthday with a winning double in the Mirror.co.uk Cup with Martin Jessopp twice second ahead of Pete Hickman and Tom Tunstall.
Next round – Donington Park 23-24-25 May
— Supersport
Billy McConnell, aboard the MAP Raceways Yamaha, took a steady 10th place and held on to his title lead at a damp Oulton Park in Cheshire today during round two of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship.
The undulating northern venue succumbed to damp conditions, which made the going extremely difficult. Race leader Hudson Kennaugh crashed out just one lap into the race bringing out the safety car. While the safety car was on track McConnell crashed on the wet track. The race was then red flagged and he was able to dash back to the MAP Raceways garage and pick up his number two machine. On the re-start he raced to 10th place and picked up six valuable points to keep him at the head of the standings.
Billy said: “Hudson crashed out first and that brought the safety car on track. I was following it and tipped into a corner and the bike just chucked me off. It was just the wet had caught me out as the bike just came round. So I had to do the re-start on my spare bike and it hadn’t quite the same settings plus I must admit I was lacking in confidence after the crash. Tenth isn’t where I want to be but it is still points, which is important. We have some work to do before Donington as we need to improve our wet and damp settings. I’ve got high hopes for Donington.”
| Superbike Race One | Superbike Race Two | Superbike Championship |
| 1 L Camier Airwaves Yamaha 2 K Harris Hydrex Honda +1.062s 3 S Guintoli (FR) Worx Suzuki +5.378s 4 S Easton Hydrex Honda +5.485s 5 J Ellison Airwaves Yamaha +14.763s 6 G Richards (AUS) HM Plant Honda +15.145s 7 I Lowry Relentless Suzuki +19.939s 8 J O’Halloran (AUS) SMT Honda +20.261s 9 G Mason Quay Garage Honda +25.040s 10 J Brookes (AUS) HM Plant Honda +25.494s |
1 L Camier Airwaves Yamaha 2 K Harris Hydrex Honda +7.326s 3 S Guintoli (FR) Worx Suzuki +11.792s 4 J Ellison Airwaves Yamaha +11.908s 5 G Richards (AUS) HM Plant Honda +12.295s 6 I Lowry Relentless Suzuki +15.447s 7 G Mason Quay Garage Honda +17.702s 8 S Andrews MSS Colchester Kawasaki +19.420s 9 C Walker Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha +19.535s 10 J O’Halloran SMT Honda +25.749s |
1 L Camier 88 2 S Guintoli 77 3 G Richards 52 4 K Harris 50 5 J Ellison 44 6 S Easton 42 7 G Mason 33 8 J O’Halloran 26 9 C Walker 22 10 S Andrews 22 |
| Supersport Race | Supersport Championship | |
| 1. Daniel Cooper Honda 25:59.417 2. Dennis Hobbs Yamaha +16.679 3. Ben Wilson Kawasaki +24.109 4. Dean Hipwell Yamaha +32.765 5. Craig Fitzpatrick Yamaha +34.652 6. Tom Grant Honda +36.639 7. Marty Nutt Yamaha +39.617 8. Kev Coughlan Honda +45.124 9. James Westmoreland Triumph +46.880 10. Billy McConnell Yamaha +54.249 |
1. Billy McConnell Yamaha 31 2. Daniel Cooper Honda 29 3. Steve Plater Honda 25 4. Craig Fitzpatrick Yamaha 20 5. Dennis Hobbs Yamaha 20 6. Dan Linfoot Yamaha 16 |
|
| Superstock 1000 Race | Superstock 1000 Championship | |
| 1. Alastair Seeley, Suzuki 2. Steve Brogan, Honda, 1.3 3. John McGuinness, Honda, 10.7 4. Scott Smart, Ducati, 20.7 5. Luke Quigley, Honda, 24.9 6. Howie Mainwaring, Kawasaki, 29.1 7. Cam Donald, Suzuki, 33.1 8. BJ Toal, Suzuki, 43.3 9. Marshall Neill, Honda, 54.3 10. Conor Cummins, Yamaha, 58.3 |
1. Seeley 50 2. Brogan 36 3. McGuinness 27 4. Smart 21 5. Cooper 20 6. Quigley 20 7. Toal 15 8. Hillier 13 9. Jenkinson 10 10. Mainwaring 10 |
SMT Honda advance further up BSB Championship table
SMT Honda enjoyed another profitable weekend in the British Superbike Championship on Monday when Jason O’Halloran put in two superb rides at Oulton Park. The Australian ace took 8th and 10th in the two 18-lap encounters and the results have moved him up to 8th overall in the Championship table after the first two rounds of the series.
Despite never having raced at the undulating 2.69-mile circuit before, the 21-year old soon got to grips with the track and it was only a flying last lap by fellow Australian Josh Brookes that knocked him out of the final stages of the Swan Combi 50 ‘Roll for Pole’ qualifying. Nevertheless, 11th place on the grid meant a third row start and hopes were high going in to race day although the fine weather of Saturday and Sunday was replaced by grey skies and drizzle on Monday.
O’Halloran suffered on the opening lap of the first race and slipped back slightly to 13th but, with a clear dry line forming on the track, he soon got in to his stride and proved, once again, that overtaking was no problem. By lap 5 he was up to 12th and that became 11th on lap 7 whilst a pass on Gary Mason three laps later saw him move in to the top ten for the first time. With further successful overtaking manoeuvres on Brookes and Chris Walker, Jason slotted in to 8th and only just missed out on overhauling Ian Lowry for seventh by 0.322 seconds.
In the second race, problems surfaced as early as the opening lap when the rear tyre spun on the rim and with chatter affecting both the front and rear of the bike, Jason was unable to move forward or lap at the pace he would have liked. Another determined ride though saw him take 10th at the chequered flag for six more solid Championship points.
In the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock race, conditions were at their worst with a wet track making the surface extremely slippery but fellow team member Adam Jenkinson made a perfect start from his 6th place on the grid and completed the opening lap in a brilliant third place. However, hopes for a debut podium for the team were dashed two laps later when he slid off at Shell Hairpin, the treacherous conditions catching out no less than 11 of the 40-strong field.
Speaking afterwards, team owner Robin Croft said:
“We’re so happy with Jason’s performances and he’s been a breath of fresh air ever since he joined the team. The feedback he’s giving the mechanics and his appetite for success is allowing us to move forward all the time and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s a superstar in the making. He’s proving that the factory teams and riders can be beaten and we’re edging closer all the time. We’re only a small team and are operating on a very limited budget but we’re making our presence felt and I’m sure if we could secure a bit more financial support we’d be running in the top six on a regular basis.”
“He put in a storming ride in the first race and it was only the tyre problem that prevented him from repeating the result, if not going better, second time around. Adam had been in excellent form all weekend, overcoming the loss of the first free practice session to run comfortably in the top six, and a podium looked very much on the cards. The weather made it a bit of a lottery and one minute he was peeling in to the corner, the next he was down. It was just one of those things that can happen in the wet but he’s perfectly alright and we’re now all eagerly looking forward to the next round at Donington.”
The third round of the Championship takes place at Donington Park, Leicestershire over the weekend of May 23-25.
— Rob Mac Racing
The Rob Mac racing teams were left battered and bruised from a weekend of racing at the 2nd round of the British Superbike Championship held at Oulton Park near Chester.
Graham Gowland riding the Motorsport Henderson’s Yamaha blue team came off worse suffering a broken collarbone after a crash in pre race qualifying. Graham had a good feeling with the new bike and was consistently running in the top ten throughout the weekend. Youthful exuberance let him down and lack of patience with a cold tyre caused Graham’s crash. Hopefully his injuries will not take too long to heal and with a couple of weekends off he may not miss out on the next round at Donington Park in 3 weeks time.
Classic Bank Holiday weather played a big part of the race day programme and many races suffered with crashes and tyre gambles. A gamble that did not pay off was the one to go with dry tyres for the Supersport race and for Dan Linfoot on the NW200 Coca Cola Zero Yamaha. After a sensational qualifying session which saw Dan miss out on pole position by the narrowest of margins in the dying seconds his bad luck continued into the race.
Dan blasted through to second position after a steady start only for the race to be stopped, the weather then turned and a tyre gamble had to be taken, Dan chose dry tyres which was the choice of the front row of the grid. For the first few laps Dan rode with supreme confidence, taking the lead initially then letting Steve Palter (HM Plant Honda) take over as the weather started to turn, with both riders on dry tyres patience was always going to play a part Dan decided to take the lead and paid the penalty two laps later. With track conditions changing every lap there was never going to be a right tyre choice. Dan’s pace was too hot for the dry tyres on the wet track and he paid the penalty crashing out without injury.
After two crashes earlier in the weekend you could forgive Chris Walker from team Motorpoint Henderson’s Yamaha for being a little cautious for the two races today.
The slippery conditions caught Chris out, he survived a couple of slow crashes over the weekend with nothing but a few bruises. Come race day he dug in to bring home the new Yamaha R1 in strong points scoring positions and with vital data to contribute to the development of the new bike.
Michael Rutter from the NW200 Coca Cola Zero team struggled all weekend to find a race set up with the new R1. His experience has been invaluable towards the development of the new bike but he has yet to find a set up that suit him and gives him confidence.
Rob Mac – “That was a real tough weekend, Oulton Park always pushes the teams and riders. The weather seems to play a part every year as well as it being a difficult circuit for set up. The new bike is suiting some riders better than other and is taking time to fathom out. Graham got caught out with a cold tyre and was unlucky to suffer a broken collarbone, this was a real set back for him and the team as he was really making progress. Dan was flying and let his confidence get ahead of himself and paid the price although he got away with no injuries and will definitely be on the top step very soon. Michael cannot get comfortable on the new bike and with the track in treacherous condition self preservation kicked in. Chris Walker proved why he has such a great fan following and is one of the top Superbike riders in the world. Chris dug deep and worked hard with the new bike, although the results were still a long way from what we expect. The information gathered from two strong finishes really gave the team inspiration and data to work with. We move on to test this week and look forward to Donington, our next round”
Graham Gowland – ” I am totally gutted, I had a great feel for my bike and was getting more confidence with every track outing. However I got too confident with the tyre and the bike snapped and fired me over the bars! I thought I had got away with no injury but I was not that lucky, hopefully some treatment over the next few weeks will see me make a full recovery for Donington”
Dan Linfoot – “That was frustrating, I had great pace all weekend and love riding at Oulton. The weather did not really bother me and I was pretty confident with my tyre choice. I thought that the weather may change and tried to go hard while the track was dry, my plan backfired and I got caught out when the rain came heavier. It is disappointing but we know we have good package and with some of the others having problems the championship is wide open”
Chris Walker – “We are far from where we want to be at the finish line but I feel we have made some great steps forward today. This has been a tough weekend with a couple of crashes not helping my guy’s have had to be on top form and I thank them for that. We have turned the corner with the new bike, a bit of time now before our next race will let us take in all we have learnt today.”
Michael Rutter – “I cannot get comfortable on the new bike, both Chris and Graham’s style seem to cope with the power from the new bike but I do not have the confidence just yet. I think what we learnt in the last race was very encouraging and I need next weeks test to work well.”
— Superb podium position for McGuinness
John McGuinness put in a superb ride at Oulton Park on Monday when he took third place in the second round of the Metzeler National 1000cc Championship. Riding the Padgetts Honda, McGuinness was in great form all weekend and led the race in the early stages before settling for third and 16 points, a result that also moved him up to an excellent third place in the Championship standings.
The Morecambe ace signalled his intentions in the first qualifying session when he placed second behind Richard Cooper but he was unable to improve his time in the second session when he repeatedly got baulked by slower riders and subsequently slipped back to fifth on the grid. Nevertheless, it was a confident McGuinness that lined up for the 15-lap race.
The fine weather of qualifying had been replaced by damp, tricky conditions but a brilliant start saw John immediately up to third and by the end of the opening lap he was up to second, right in the wheel tracks of team-mate Steve Brogan. The gap was down to just 0.001seconds as they started their third lap and John seized the lead for the first time on the run along Lakeside. Brogan regained the lead two laps later but there was little between the pair and, at two-thirds race distance, the gap was still less than half a second.
However, first round winner Alastair Seeley was coming up on the duo rapidly and he overhauled them both in the final stages to claim the win leaving John in a strong, and happy, third place, his first short circuit podium since finishing second at the same venue in the Supersport class in July 2007.
Speaking afterwards, it was a delighted John that said:
“I’m over the moon with today’s result and although I felt strong enough in the dry to challenge for the win, I was equally comfortable in the wet and I cannot fault how the bike performed, it was perfect. I got the best possible start and tucked in behind Steve but I felt I could go quicker if I got to the front and made my move early. I opened up a bit of a gap only to suffer a big slide and it was enough to let him by again.”
“I just sat on his rear wheel for the next few laps but then Seeley came by and we ran into the backmarkers and it was enough for me to lose that little bit more ground. Conditions were really tricky so I just concentrated really hard in the final laps and brought the bike home for a great podium finish. The team have worked really hard as always so it’s great to reward them with a strong result and it puts me in a great frame of mind as we begin to head towards the road race season.
John’s next meeting comes at the International North West 200 road races in Northern Ireland with practice taking place around the 8.9-mile circuit on Tuesday May 12th and Thursday May 14th and the races on Saturday May 16th.
