Camier and Ellison take the victories
Leon Camier comfortably won the opening race of the ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli at Cadwell Park to tighten his grip in the title stakes. He crossed the line first next time out only to be denied victory for a flag infringement, with the race awarded to his Airwaves Yamaha team-mate James Ellison.
The problem for Camier began on the penultimate lap of the second race at the Lincolnshire circuit. He had opened up a lead of some six seconds, but race officials became concerned that his bike was emitting smoke. This was closely monitored and swiftly black and orange flags were displayed around the Lincolnshire circuit requiring Camier to pull off immediately.
Instead, Camier continued, taking the chequered flag, only to be told that he had been excluded from the victory for breaking the rules, something that his team manager Colin Wright accepted: “The rules are clear, the black and orange flag was shown for his and the other riders’ safety – he should have stopped. It is unfortunate but to be fair everyone is doing everything to stick to the rules but it is a real shame for Leon.”
The victory was awarded to Ellison, his third of the season, as he led the Hydrex Honda of Stuart Easton home by some four seconds with the determined Simon Andrews of the Confused.com Kawasaki taking third place from his team-mate Julien da Costa.
John Laverty took fifth for Buildbase Kawasaki ahead of Chris Walker on the Motorpoint Henderson Yamaha with Sylvain Guintoli seventh on the Worx Crescent Suzuki, ahead of Karl Harris, Gary Mason, who was completing a Mirror.co.uk Cup daily double as he finished ahead of fellow Cup rider Tommy Bridewell.
Earlier, Camier, starting from his seventh pole had overcome the fast starting Easton to take the lead on third lap, and then powered to his 15th victory of a dominant campaign.
“It is all going to plan, the bike is working so well,” said Camier after that winning ride.“Now we have to keep it all going, keep focussed and make sure that the championship is done.
“On a personal note it was so good to come back and win, finally putting to rest memories of the bad crash I had here two years ago,” added Camier who crossed the line some seven seconds ahead of the Scot with Ellison third from Ian Lowry on the Relentless Suzuki. Andrews snatched fifth on the final lap from da Costa.
Karl Muggeridge took seventh for HM Plant Honda ahead of Guintoli, Laverty and the hard riding Quay Garage rider Gary Mason. Bridewell again took second in the Cup stakes.
By the end of the day, Camier left the circuit with a sizeable 399.5-302 points advantage over Ellison with three rounds and seven races remaining, the next of which are at Croft over the weekend of 11/12/13 September.
— Supersport
Billy McConnell took a dominant race win aboard his MAP Raceways Yamaha during round nine of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire this afternoon.
He started the race in third place but put some slick moves on the competition to take the lead and sprint away with it. Thanks to the 25 points awarded for the win Billy is now just two points off the Championship lead.
McConnell said: “The MAP Raceways Yamaha team is working really well at the moment so I have to say a big thanks to all of them and wish Johnny a happy birthday. I’m rewarding his hard work with a win! I’m now just two points behind in the Championship so we’ve got that back on track. I actually felt sick as I knew I needed to claw back the points so today is a big step forward.”
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— Team Reports
— Map Raceways Yamaha
Billy McConnell took a dominant race win aboard his MAP Raceways Yamaha during round nine of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire this afternoon.
He started the race in third place but put some slick moves on the competition to take the lead and sprint away with it. Thanks to the 25 points awarded for the win Billy is now just two points off the Championship lead.
McConnell said: “The MAP Raceways Yamaha team is working really well at the moment so I have to say a big thanks to all of them and wish Johnny a happy birthday. I’m rewarding his hard work with a win! I’m now just two points behind in the Championship so we’ve got that back on track. I actually felt sick as I knew I needed to claw back the points so today is a big step forward.”
Allan Jon Venter had his best result of the season finishing in a fighting fourth place. The young South African had his work cut out as he came through the pack to tag onto the second group which he steadily picked his way through. He has finally been able to show the pace he is capable of and that he can run at the front.
Venter said: “My start wasn’t too bad but another rider ran me wide and I lost some places and my rhythm. Once I had calmed down I was able to build it up again and then just picked them off. It was sad for Lee but I’m really pleased for Billy. I’ve got to say thanks to MAP, Jason and Brad for all their help, and happy birthday to Johnny.”
Lee Johnston looked set for a top-five finish and was running in fourth place when he had a technical problem with his bike which caused it to slow. Unfortunately he was then clipped by another rider and they both crashed out.
Johnston said: “I’m gutted as I felt confident for a good result. It would have been mega to have all three MAP Raceways Yamahas in the top five but it wasn’t to be. I know I had the pace and I had felt good, it’s just a shame my bike broke.”
The tenth round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport championship will take place at Croft in North Yorkshire on the 11th – 13th September.
— Worx Crescent Suzuki
Sylvain Guintoli rode his Worx Crescent Suzuki to two strong top-10 results today at the ninth round of the British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.
In difficult circumstances – his first ride back from injury on a tight and technical track he’d not raced before – Guintoli again impressed the Worx Crescent Suzuki team, as well as the fans, as he fought hard to finish eighth place in the first race and seventh in the second.
Sylvain Guintoli:
“I could feel I was race-rusty in that first race as three times I was on the grass when trying to make passes early in the race. I had to ease off and that actually helped as I got faster. At the end, I was catching Karl Muggeridge very quickly, but it was right at the end and I ran out of laps and corners to make the pass.
“With less mistakes in that second race I was a lot closer on time to the leaders but I had to be careful how hard I could ride as for sure this is not a good time to fall again on my leg. As it is, I can really feel it now and I’m glad I get two more weeks to rest my leg before the next round at Croft.
“For me it was still a good weekend and I’m really excited to be back. I’ve got back into the racing and I’m looking forward to being more competitive still when I get to Croft.”
Jack Valentine – Team Manager:
“It would be easy to get carried away as to what was possible this weekend. As it was, Sylvain gave a very strong account of himself and we feel very happy as a team and very positive about what’s yet to come.
“I think it’s typical of Sylvain that he rode so hard today. He can’t yet be 100% bike-fit and there’s no question he’s riding in pain with his leg, but there he was on this tough tricky track, pushing on, trying to make passing places where they don’t exist – it’s no surprise he went grass tracking!
“All the same, we’re delighted that Sylvain could ride so well so soon and he’s clearly very happy with the bike. We’ve two solid results under our belt and now Croft to look forward to – a track that should very much suit Sylvain.”
— McGuinness
Morecambe’s John McGuinnss put in a brilliant ride on Bank Holiday Monday when he took his Padgetts Honda to second place in round 9 of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship, his best finish of the short circuit season. The podium finish, his fourth of the year, saw him consolidate his fourth place overall in the Championship table whilst he also closed the gap to third placed Richard Cooper.
Riding at one of his favourite circuits, John was on the pace all weekend on the Superstock machine and he ended qualifying in second place, just 0.04s behind the dominant Alastair Seeley. A solid start in the race saw him settle into fourth place but he was soon promoted to third after teammate Steve Brogan crashed out at the hairpin on the first lap. Sitting behind second placed Adam Jenkinson for the first part of the race, John eased by at half-race distance and once he had clear track in front of him, he was able to pull away from his fellow Honda rider. At the end of the 15 laps, John was 5 seconds adrift of new champion Seeley but a similar distance ahead of Jenkinson and it was another excellent podium for the former British Champion.
In what was a busy weekend for John, he also deputised for Josh Brookes on the HM Plant Honda in the premier British Superbike class. Having qualified in a fine 11th place, just 0.07s shy of the top ten, John took a solid 12th in the first 18-lap race for four hard earned championship points. A good start in the second saw him occupy ninth but after the intervention of the pace car, he out-braked himself at Park Corner, running on to the grass and he pulled in to retire a couple of laps later.
Speaking later John said: “I’m well chuffed with the podium in the Superstock race and I keep proving to people that I’m a strong Championship runner. Some people would have said it’s just an extra ride on top of my road race commitments but it’s anything but that and it’s very important to me so to keep racking up the podiums is very pleasing. I made a slight mistake on the first lap and dropped back to 4th and it took me a while to get by Adam so if it hadn’t been for that, I might have been able to run the pace of Seeley. Second is still a great result for me and fair play to Alastair, with nine wins from nine he deserves the title!”
“I enjoyed my Superbike outings and I’ve been a bit hard on myself about how I did over the course of the weekend. I was agonisingly close to the top ten in qualifying but had a solid ride in the first race for 12th so it was a bit disappointing to run off in the second. I got a huge slipstream and arrived for the corner way too quick and went even quicker when I went on the grass! It’s not easy joining a series at round 9 but I was running a similar pace to that of the 6th-10th placed riders so I shouldn’t be too hard with myself.”
John’s next outing comes in two weeks time with round 10 of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship taking place at Croft from September 11-13.
