Hill & Brookes share the wins at Cadwell; Title chase tightens
Tommy Hill and Josh Brookes took the victories in the ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park, while Ryuichi Kiyonari packed the points, to leave the title fight on a knife-edge.
Riding the Worx Crescent Suzuki, Hill powered out of a comparatively lean spell, first by taking pole start, and then taking that pace into the first race at Lincolnshire circuit, overcoming the early threat of HM Plant Honda rider Brookes by nosing ahead at Barn to take the victory by some five seconds.
“We are back to where we needed to be, back to where we were at the start of the season, winning,” said a delighted Hill as he celebrated his first win in 15 races since his previous success at Thruxton back in April.
“We’ve re-grouped as a team. We’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve muscled our way through. We tried various things in the last round at Brands Hatch which didn’t work and here we have gone dramatically the other way and that is working well,” added Hill.
Brookes took second from his team-mate Kiyonari with Michael Laverty fourth for Relentless Suzuki ahead of the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati of Michael Rutter as James Ellison took sixth for Swan Honda.
Alastair Seeley virtually ensured his place among the six “title-fighters” going into the final phase of the series as he finished eighth on his Relentless Suzuki, while his key rival John Laverty tipped off on the final lap amid a controversial move by Tommy Bridewell who was later excluded from the results.
Hill was eager to complete the daily double, taking an early lead but behind him Brookes, having attacked and passed Kiyonari, was pegging the leader back and looking for a way through.
Brookes leapt spectacularly over the Mountain, cresting it perfectly and then upping the power charged ahead of Hill on the twelfth lap, but Hill was full of fight, determined to hit back.
However three laps later, the race was red-flagged as James Edmeades crashed heavily, sustaining a fractured pelvis, leaving Brookes the winner by 0.230 secs.
“That was what I race for – I want wins, and I was thinking when and where to make the move, and then I thought just go for it,” said Brookes. Kiyonari took third ahead of Michael Laverty, Rutter and Ellison.
These races decided the six riders going through to the “Showdown” phase of the series, which begins at Croft on 12 September, and as they arrive there, the “title-fighters” will have had their points scores at the end of the ninth round deleted – instead, each will be credited with 500 points, plus the bonus points reflecting their performances to date.
Taking this into account, Hill and Kiyonari are level on 525 points, with Brookes on 524, leaving all to play for over the next seven races, climaxing at the Oulton Park finale on 8/9/10 October.
Liverpudlian Steve Brogan completed a winning double aboard his Jentin BMW in the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO class to take charge in the title stakes.
| SBK Race 1 | SBK Race 2 | SBK Championship |
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| 1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 525 = Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 525 3. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 524 4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles Ducati) 510 5. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 509 6. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 505 |
| SS Race | SS Points | |
| 1 Sam Lowes (GNS Racing Honda) 21m09.055s 2 James Westmoreland (Yamaha) +3.736s 3 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) +3.916s 4 Jason OHalloran (Yamaha) +3.987s 5 Ian Hutchinson (Honda) +4.418s 6 Glen Richards (Honda) +4.606s 7 Jack Kennedy (Yamaha) +10.113s 8 Daniel Cooper (Triumph) +10.907s 9 Karl Harris (Triumph) +11.147s 10 Marty Nutt (Triumph) +12.590s
| 1 Lowes (GNS Racing Honda) 171 points 2 Westmoreland 136 3 Gowland 103 4 Wilson 100 5 McConnell 99 6 Kennedy 76
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— Worx Crescent Suzuki Report
With a win and a second place at Cadwell Park today, Worx Crescent Suzuki’s Tommy Hill has finished the first nine-round stage of the British Superbikes Championship with the lead on points. And Hill’s team-mate Yukio Kagayama meanwhile took two seventh places finishes to lift his standing in the Championship to 12th.
In an exciting day’s racing Hill, riding his Suzuki GSX-R1000, was on top form and after dominating the first race, was challenging for the lead again in the second race when it was red flagged (on the 14th lap). In the first race, rival Josh Brookes had taken the early lead but succumbed to an attack from Hill on the eighth lap. Hill then maintained a constant 1:27-minute lap pace while his rivals withered, so as to take the win by a comfortable 5.116-seconds. In the second race Hill had led for 11 laps and was trailing Brookes by just 0.230-seconds after 13 laps when the race was stopped.
Hill’s point tally from the nine rounds amounts to 287 points, three more than Brookes and six more than Ryuichi Kiyonari. However, with the Showdown phase now beginning, the championship points tally taken so far is cast aside. The championship will now be decided over the final three rounds (seven races) between the six highest points scorers so far, known as the Title Fighters. All the title fighters have their championship point tally put on an initial parity of 500, to which is added only the podium points they’ve scored thus far (podium points have been awarded as three for a win, two for second and one for third). On this basis Hill steps forward into the Showdown as joint leader with Kiyonari on 525 points apiece.
Tommy Hill: “What a fantastic weekend! To see Yuki coming good as well – it’s been all good. In that first race I just felt really-really good, I could have made the jump earlier but I was interested to sit behind Josh to see what he was doing. In the second race the pace was so fast, something like two-seconds faster than it was last year, and maybe it was that or maybe there was small issue with the rear tyre but I had a little bit of chatter to deal with. I still felt comfortable and while Josh had passed me when I made a small mistake on the Mountain I felt comfortable and was setting up to repass him when the red flags came out.
“All in all I feel overjoyed. We get to leave here having effectively won the first part of the season and having beaten the HM Plant team in their own back yard – that’s kind of a bonus. But now its crunch time and to be going into this vital part of the season with a joint points lead is a great position to be in.”
Yukio Kagayama: “Today was very good for me although for sure 7-7 doesn’t sound like a score I’d want to be happy with. But this was my first racing visit to Cadwell Park since 2004 as I missed the first round earlier this year, so I had no base settings to work from – and I set-up my bike quite different to Tommy. So no top-three for me, but I am happy that my lap times got better all weekend, and my second race today was much faster although the result was the same. And I enjoy riding the bike, my feeling for racing, for set-up, is getting better so I hope in the races to come I can challenge again for the podium.”
Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “The team are buzzing’! There’s been so much work gone into this weekend and everyone can see we’ve made a major breakthrough with our set-up and this has really boosted Tommy’s confidence. He could have had two wins today but we’ll never know. The important thing is we’re in the strongest possible position as we head into the Showdown. The GSX-R is the strongest it’s been all season and Tommy’s got all the confidence in the world.
“For Yuki, it’s been a good weekend for him as well. Having that big crash in practice couldn’t have helped him, but in the races he simply got quicker and quicker. He had to fight his way past Alastair Seeley in both races and he was mindful he needed to make a clean pass as it’s so tight here, but once past his lap time was on a par with those ahead, so he’s shown he’s getting his pace back. There’s every probability he’ll be able to fulfil the support role that’s needed as Tommy fights for the Championship.
“So it’s the best feeling for us. We’ve made the breakthrough we’ve been looking for and we even know that wet or dry we’ve a set-up that works. We won’t be resting though; we’re going to be pushing for more – as we’re sure all the other teams will be doing!”
— HM Plant Honda Report
TBC
— Rob Mac Racing Report
TBC
— Relentless Suzuki by TAS Report
Relentless by TAS Suzuki will enter the opening races of the Title Fighters’ Shootout at Croft in two week’s time with both riders impressively making the top six, after Michael Laverty and Alastair Seeley consolidated their positions today at Cadwell Park.
Michael Laverty suffered some chatter problems in race one after his tyre spun slightly on the rim, but the Relentless by TAS Suzuki number 7, finished his day at the Lincolnshire venue with a solid brace of fourth placed finishes, setting him up well for his final assault on the championship.
Alastair Seeley rode a calculated opening race, extending his lead over nearest Shooutout rival John Laverty to 18 points after finishing eighth. This gave Seeley the comfort he needed in race two, finishing ninth, and the Carrickfergus man now enters the Shootout in his rookie season in BSB.
Michael Laverty
“I was as strong today as I expected to be. The tyre spun on the rim in the first race and gave me a lot of chatter so I dropped off the pace towards the end but held on for fourth. In race two I was a bit stronger and put together some good lap times but it still wasn’t enough to match the leading trio. Two fourth places wasn’t ideal but it was only in the last two corners where I was losing time. I plan to come back stronger at Croft and put in a good fight for the championship.”
Alastair Seeley
“Pressure off as they say. I’m delighted to get through to the Shootout and have to thank the whole team as they played a very important part. There were no heroics today from me and I’m in a position a lot of other riders would love to be in. Now we can take our GSX-R1000 to the final three circuits, have fun and hopefully mix it with the title favourites. No one will be expecting me to win the championship, but then no one expected me to be on the top step of the podium at Brands. I’m really enjoying my first season in the BSB series with Relentless by TAS Suzuki, so let’s see if we can deliver some more big results in September and October.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager
“Our objective at the start of the season to get both riders into the top six has been achieved; now we’re heading into the business end of the season, but a big thanks to Suzuki, Relentless and everyone who has been part of the success story – part one.
“As a team we are glad to see the end of Shootout qualifying pressure, as it has been a testing time for everyone, not least the riders. As I’ve said before, Alastair Seeley has earned his place quite rightfully in the top six and it’s a tremendous achievement for his rookie season in BSB. Especially with the championship being so strong with at least ten riders capable of podiums.
“Michael probably didn’t get what he wanted from Cadwell this weekend but his lap times in the second race showed he has the pace to run with the front men. We will now go away and see where we are and try to find those extra tenths. In saying that we have found improved performance with our GSX-R1000 Superbikes and with the final three tracks better suited to our bike and riders, we should find ourselves in the mix for honours again.
“Only two teams have both riders in the top six and we are one of them. Suzuki can also boast fifty percent of the Shootout with three riders in it, making them the leading manufacturer. Now we will re-group as a team and come back refreshed for the 2010 season – part two.”
— SMT Honda
TBC
— CAME Yamaha
TBC
— John McGuinness Report
John McGuinness’ run of points-scoring finishes in the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship continued on Bank Holiday Monday when the Morecambe star finished in 13th place in the latest round at Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire. The Padgetts Honda rider fought his way through from a sluggish start to pick up 3 more Championship points, although the result did drop him back to 9th place overall in the Championship table.
A solid start to the weekend saw John take 11th place in Saturday’s free practice sessions and a few improvements to the bike enabled him to improve by almost a second in the afternoon’s opening qualifying session, despite it being affected by the rain, to move up to tenth overall. Sunday saw more inclement weather and although it was dry for the second and final qualifying session, strong winds meant it was very difficult for riders to improve their times. John was one of those who couldn’t improve and his time from Saturday remained meaning that he lined up in 13th place on the grid.
Conditions were dry for Sunday’s 14-lap race but a languid start saw John down in 17th place at the completion of the first lap and with a lot of work to do just to get in to the points. He was up to 16th on lap 2 and then moved up to 15th and in to the points on the sixth lap having overhauled former champion Lee Jackson. The next two laps saw him climb up to 13th as first he overtook Sam Warren and then Luke Quigley crashed out. He promptly pulled away from the group he was dicing with and by lap 12 was almost four seconds clear. However, he was also five seconds adrift of 12th placed Steve Plater and he had to settle for a somewhat lonely 13th place at the chequered flag.
Speaking afterwards, a frustrated John said: “It was another tough race and I left myself an awful lot to do after firstly a so-so qualifying performance and then a distinctly average start. I managed to battle my way by a few of the boys but the front group had already gone by then and it’s quite disheartening when you see them away in the distance and know you can’t get any higher up. I haven’t been 100% happy with the handling of the bike these last few rounds and the set-up I’ve been running is something that hasn’t quite worked for me. I was following what my team-mates Glen and Hutchy have been running but I haven’t been able to replicate the times I set 12 months ago so we’re going to go back to the fork set-up we had a year ago for the next round. I won at Croft 12 months ago and I’m just going to set up the bike exactly like that for practice and qualifying and get back to the feeling I’m comfortable with. The team have been doing a mega job again this weekend and I just want to repay their faith and hard work with a good result.”
— Jason O’Halloran Report
Jason O’Halloran secured a fantastic result at round nine of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Cadwell Park this weekend. O’Halloran was locked in an exciting battle for second position with James Westmoreland, Ben Wilson, Ian Hutchinson and Glen Richards, eventually gaining a stunning fourth place.
Jason has been running strongly all weekend on the East Coast Racing Yamaha in both the wet and the dry conditions and was ready for every eventuality. Having his best qualifying position on the Yamaha of eighth place the young Australian was eager to gain a good start and run with the front runners.
He got the good start that he needed and was lying in seventh place after the opening lap, two of the front runners crashed early on in the race, fellow Australian Billy McConnell and Graeme Gowland allowing Jason to gain two places. He was then locked in a 12 lap scrap up until the race was red flagged on lap 14 leaving Jason in a good fourth place. However, the race could have gone any way in the final two laps but after it was cut short he had to settle for fourth.
Commenting he said “It was a great race I’m gutted to have not been able to put it on the podium as this is my main sponsors’ Arkpro, Lucas Machinery and AKP, local round and I would have liked to have stuck it on the podium for them all, so close! At least now we are running with the front runners and the chance of a top three result is getting nearer and nearer, I have three rounds left to try and get it sorted! The Yamaha worked mega once again and Spider and GP James pulled out all the stops to make sure that everything ran smoothly and it did. The race was so close and really good fun having the battle out there with the boys and I really want to get in that top three at one of the last rounds to say thanks to everyone that’s worked so hard.”
His team-mate Pat McDougall struggled throughout the weekend at a track he is not overly comfortable at and finished the race as sixth cup rider but still leads the Supersport Cup by 21 points from Max Hunt . He said “I’m a bit gutted with how the weekend went and I’ve struggled here all weekend, it’s not my favourite track and I’ve never really gelled with it but it wasn’t through lack of trying. We had set up problems throughout the sessions and never really found the direction that we needed to be going in. I just want to move on from here and get my head down for the final three rounds, roll on Croft I say.”
Team Manager Phil Reed said “It’s been a mixed weekend for the boys, Jason’s result was once again fantastic and we’re really pleased for him. He’s been running a good pace all weekend and proved in the race he could fight it out at the front. We know the podium is there we just have to find it, they have worked exceptionally hard all weekend and it’s another great result for the team. Pat has always been a little weary at Cadwell and despite the changes we made he was still struggling. However he is still leading the Cup Championship so that’s a good thing and we’re looking forward to some good results in the closing rounds of the series.”
— GNS Racing Report
Sam Lowes and GNS Racing’s march towards the 2010 Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship took another major stride forward today when the 19-year-old from Lincoln dominated the race at Cadwell Park.
Competing at his local round and in front of many of his loyal friends, sponsors, and family, Sam was in imperious form all weekend which culminated in him taking victory to restore his 35-point lead in the title table.
However, after brilliantly claiming his first pole position of the season in qualifying, Sam and the team’s day got off to an inauspicious start when problems in the morning warm-up session limited him to just one lap but with the problem soon rectified he came into the race in confident mood.
In front of a bumper bank holiday crowd, Sam hit the front after passing fellow Lincolnshire rider Ben Wilson early on and gradually extended his lead as rivals Graeme Gowland and Billy McConnell crashed out.
With the race only at a quarter distance, Sam had a healthy 2.3-seconds lead and by lap 11, his lead was at 4.4 seconds and he was able to ease off in the closing stages, and with the race ending prematurely due to an accident on the penultimate lap, he comfortably took his third win of the season.
The win gives Sam a 35-point lead in the Championship table but with main rival James Westmoreland fighting his way through to second in the race, there’s still plenty to play for in the final three rounds. With 75 points still available, Sam can’t afford to ease up and will be focusing on more of the same next time out at Croft on 10th-12th September.
Sam Lowes: “I’m mega, mega happy to win at Cadwell Park, my local circuit. To get my first pole for the team and to turn that into a race win is fantastic. This track is where I grew up and first raced my bikes so it’s very special to me. We had a problem this morning but all credit to the team, we got it sorted. Also I had a bit of arm pump in the race, but that’s not an excuse but it is something I need to work on. We’re leading the championship with three rounds to go so I just need to use my head, keep improving my consistency and my racing and keep on it!”
Gary Stubbington, team owner: “It’s been quite a weekend as we’ve had a bit of everything. Sam slid off in practice on Friday, then he had a really good qualifying session yesterday and got pole position, then this morning we had a problem with the bike and we’ve ended up getting the win! I’m especially pleased for Sam with it being his home track. The team has worked hard as always and Sam has put the icing on the cake. We wouldn’t be where we are without the effort and money put in by the sponsors and the help that has gone on behind the scenes, so it’s a big thanks to them, this one’s for you, you know who you are!”
— Conor Cummins Report
TBC
