Monthly Archives: September 2018

Season’s best result for Cooper at Assen

Season’s best result for Cooper at Assen

Buildbase Suzuki’s Richard Cooper recored his best result of the season today at Assen, finishing fifth in race two at the penultimate round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.

From his eighth placed grid spot, the Nottinghamshire ace made a lightening start and was locked in the fight for the podium in the opening stages of the race. He lost touch with the lead group but took an excellent fifth, a reward for the ongoing hard work both he and the team have put into improving the setup of his GSX-R1000 superbike throughout the season.

The result was an improvement from his 12th in race one – where he was embroiled in a thrilling battle for the top-10 throughout – following a decision between races to run the harder option front tyre.

Richard Cooper,

“As a racer it’s funny, because we’ve been working hard all season and all weekend, and we’ve just achieved our best result of the season, but I’m disappointed we didn’t finish on the podium. We changed the front tyre and went harder from race one to race two and it gave us a better race pace, but I struggled initially to get into a rhythm which is what I think cost me the chance to go with the leaders. But I’m happy; to go from where we were in qualifying and race one to battling for the podium in race two shows the progress over the weekend and also the team’s ability to make the right decisions and get us the results. I want to build on this and what we’ve learned and finish strongly at Brands Hatch.”

It was a tough weekend for Showdown challenger Bradley Ray, the 21-year-old finishing outside of the points in 17th in race one. However, in another example of rider and team resolve, he and his crew worked hard between races to improve the setup of his GSX-R1000 superbike, and in race two he embarked upon a stunning ride from his 18th placed grid spot to finish seventh.

Brad Ray,

“It was a tough weekend but I can’t thank the team enough for the hard work they put in. We struggled in race one with my feeling from the bike but the team made some big changes for race two and I was able to attack a bit more. We were faster over a single lap and our race pace was better, so that was positive. We’ll try and understand where we struggled and where we can improve, and come out fighting at the last round.”

Source: Season’s best result for Cooper at Assen

Challenging weekend for Honda Racing at Assen

Challenging weekend for Honda Racing at Assen

The penultimate round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Assen has been a challenging weekend for the Honda Racing team, with bad luck and unfortunate events hampering progress.

Race one got underway in near perfect conditions at the 2.8-mile circuit with the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades lining up together on the third row of the grid with Jason eighth and Dan ninth. In the early stages of the 18-lap race the teammates stayed close and a four-way battle began with Tommy Bridewell and Michael Laverty.

Trading places the foursome enjoyed a good contest, which at one point saw Jason drop into tenth place. However ‘The O’Show’ moved back into eighth place and made a last lap lunge to cross the line in seventh -1.797s adrift from Bridewell. In the final stages of the race Dan dropped back due to tyre wear, finishing 15th.

The second race of the day saw Dan launch himself from 10th to seventh into the first corner. Looking strong and showing good pace disaster struck at the end of the second lap, when the Yorkshireman unavoidably clipped Haslam’s rear wheel and crashed out of the running. Dan was taken to hospital for further assessment for suspected pelvic injuries but all scans have come back clear.

Jason pushed hard aboard the Fireblade, he was held back in the opening stages of the race when he was forced onto the grass to avoid Dan’s incident. Pushing back through the pack from 13th place he crossed the line just outside of the top-10 in 11th place.

The team will now regroup and turn their focus to the final round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch on 12-14 October.

#22 – Jason O’Halloran

Race one was really good and I enjoyed it, I did struggle with grip and feeling a little at the start with the tyre, but once everyone else dropped off I maintained pace. I worked hard to get back to the guys ahead and made a pass on the final chicane to move into seventh. We can be pleased with the progress in the race and we also came away with a few points. The second race was always going to be difficult starting from the fourth row and then with the events that happened. The first lap was carnage and then Dan unfortunately had his crash. He’s been through the wars this year and he doesn’t deserve it, but I’m glad to hear he’s uninjured. I ran off track and into the dirt to avoid the crash, then after the safety car I’d lost temperature in the tyres and wasn’t able to push back through the pack. Focus now turns to Brands and hopefully ending the season on a high.

Havier Beltran – Team Manager

Assen is such a great circuit and brings incredible racing and we arrived here with a view to enjoy the races and leave with some strong results; both guys have done well here in the past running at the front, but sadly this weekend it’s not been the case for us. Practice was difficult, but we got into Q3 where both Dan and Jason showed potential. Race one we had two good starts but didn’t have the pace to move into the second wave. Jason fought back well to finish seventh, Dan did drop back but he showed potential in the early stages. The second race was carnage. Thankfully after scans the hospital has confirmed Dan has not broken anything, it has been a horrendous year for him and I’m gutted that his weekend ended with a crash. We now look forward to the final round at Brands Hatch where hopefully we can finish the year strong.

Source: Challenging weekend for Honda Racing at Assen

DUTCH TOP TEN FOR IDDON AND TYCO BMW

DUTCH TOP TEN FOR IDDON AND TYCO BMW

The crowds turned out in force once again for the Dutch round of the British Superbike Championship at Assen’s famous TT Circuit.

Another spectacular showing from Christian Iddon saw him battle for two top ten finishes whilst still nursing the after effects of a broken collarbone.

A particularly heroic effort from the Stockport rider during an incident packed race two, saw him work his way through the pack to fourth place from a P11 grid start.

Unfortunately a broken sensor during lap 15 saw him drop back and he eventually crossed the line in tenth.

Christian currently sits just nine points shy of the Riders’ Cup leader with three races remaining at the final round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch GP 14th – 15th October

Team-mate Michael Laverty showed great pace in race one but tyre wear issues in the latter part of the contest saw him drop back and finish up in 11th pace.

Once again the Northern Irish rider suffered further bad luck in race two after being clipped by another rider in the opening lap causing him to crash out at turn four.

Thanks as always to Tyco and BMW Motorrad for their matchless support and the Dutch fans for making it a special weekend.

Philip Neill – Team Manager:

“Another difficult Superbike round for Tyco BMW this weekend. Michael is having a run of bad luck after crashing in race two following a coming together on track and once again his lap times in race one warranted a better result than 11th.

Christian is to be commended once again for returning to the track only a few weeks after his collarbone break and without surgery. Again his pace and effort deserved a better result in both races and without the few problems he encountered I’m certain he would be fighting near the front. Thanks to all our partners and to our guests who joined us over the weekend”

Christian Iddon – #21 British Superbike:

“I struggled quite a lot throughout free practice sessions with my broken collarbone. I underestimated how difficult it would be, it was actually way worse than Silverstone.

So it was a nice surprise that when qualifying came around the bike was good and I didn’t feel too bad. As always it’s super close and we were towards the front of the group which meant I got a good start position for the first race. Fifth was the target for race one and was looking entirely possible, but with a few laps to go I really struggled with tyre wear and dropped back to eighth. I was a little bit further back on the grid for the second race but I made my way through to fourth, I was pretty confident that was where I going to finish up, but towards the end of the race I suffered a broken sensor which knocked me right back to tenth. The bike had been great all weekend and the points do not reflect this or the effort put in, I’m just looking forward to Brands Hatch now and to finish the season as strong as possible.”

Michael Laverty – #7 British Superbike:

“I was having a good race one, I made my way through to 8th and felt a top six was possible, however, my front tyre had tore around 2/3rd race distance and I limped home in 11th losing the front in most corners. My race two ended on lap one after making a decent start I got tagged by my mate Christian in turn three and ended up on the ground. It was a frustrating end to a weekend that showed promise”

Source: DUTCH TOP TEN FOR IDDON AND TYCO BMW

No easing off for the champion: Rea makes it a double in France

No easing off for the champion: Rea makes it a double in France

Eighth consecutive win for the KRT rider who matches best WorldSBK winning streak since 2006

The champion is not taking an early vacation just yet: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) roared ahead to grab a phenomenal double at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship shut up shop for Round 11 and the European season. The Northern Irishman has now made it eight consecutive victories in a row, matching the best WorldSBK winning streak since Troy Bayliss did the same back in 2006.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) started from second on the grid and immediately grabbed the holeshot, powering away from Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), while Race Two polesitter Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) quickly fell down the order. But inside just half a lap Rea had already managed to climb into third position and set his sights on the race lead, eventually managing to outpace van der Mark at the Imola chicane in lap 3.

Davies leading, Rea in hot pursuit – the same scenario we’ve witnessed countless times across the years, and as recently as Race Two in Portimao. Even with an unassailable margin of points separating them in the standings, the pair fought as fiercely as ever. Rea singled out the Adelaide hairpin as the point to make his pass, but lap after lap the moment didn’t come, the Welshman forcing his Ducati in front on the exit every time, with the Kawasaki rider twice running in too hot. But then Davies opened the door in lap 12 through turn 9, and Rea emphatically put his foot in, flying into the race lead. With an open track ahead, the KRT rider was just too strong to match, with Davies crossing the line in second and van der Mark putting his R1 onto the podium again in third.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) couldn’t return to the rostrum after his P2 yesterday, but the move he put over Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) with one lap on the clock did net him P4 in Race Two, with the Italian following behind and completing the top five.

Savadori managed to steady his pace after a few dubitative opening laps and claimed sixth place, closing off his best weekend of the season. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) crossed the line in seventh and saves some points from a mostly disappointing weekend, with Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) in eighth and as the top independent rider.

Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) returns to the top ten for the first time since his injury in July, leaving Magny-Cours with a P9, with hometown boy Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) closing out the top ten. Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) crossed the line in 11th, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in 12th.

That’s a wrap in France! WorldSBK now leaves Europe behind until 2019, but there’s still two rounds more to come: Round 12 kicks off at the brand-new San Juan Circuit in Argentina in just two weeks’ time.

Source: No easing off for the champion: Rea makes it a double in France