Motorcycle Blog

Virgin Media Yamaha rider BJ Toal made his comeback to the Fuchs-Silkolene British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire today (25 August).

Having broken his wrist after a heavy fall at Round 7 at Oulton Park, BJ felt that he was strong enough to get back in the saddle to make a late charge for his Championship campaign. BJ clearly struggled to get back to his true potential, qualifying in a very uncharacteristic 20th position, he had a lot of ground to make up to put his Virgin Media Yamaha in the points.

Although BJ made up a few places at the beginning of the race, he failed to make any real progress and tired quickly finding himself back in 20th position with a very sore wrist at the end of the 14 lap race BJ will continue to work on getting his wrist strong to make a comeback at Round 10 of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Croft on 12-14 September.

BJ Toal: “That’s not the kind of results that we are looking for. My wrist hasn’t felt too bad through practice and qualifying but it has really shown in my results. I’m really sore now and need some more time to get it strong. I’ll work on my fitness before Croft and hope to be back up in the mix of it all then.”

Rob McElnea, Team Principal: “BJ’s results are disappointing but at least we know that it is because he is still struggling with his wrist. I’m sure we will see a different BJ in a few weeks time when he’s had some more time to heal.”

Race Result 1. Plater (Yamaha), 2. Richards (Triumph), 3. Webb (Honda), 4. Kennaugh (Yamaha), 5. Westmoreland (Honda), 20. BJ Toal (Virgin Media Yamaha)

Championship Standings 1. Richards - 177, 2. Kennaugh - 140, 3. Lowry - 128, 4. Westmoreland - 92, 5. Brogan - 85, 11. BJ Toal - 40 points

Derby’s Jon Kirkham extended his Championship lead as the ninth round of the Henderson Yamaha R1 Cup suffered two red flag incidents at Cadwell Park (25 August).
Kirkham muscled through from his seventh pole position to claim the holeshot ahead of the determined Ben Wilson and Sam Warren at the start of the 12 lap race. As Kirkham looked to extend his lead over Wilson, Gary Mason capitalised with superior drive out of Charlies to claim third from Sam Warren. Edging a clear section of tarmac behind him, Mason settled into a rhythm while Warren continued to hold off the constant pressure from Adrian Coates, Connor Cummins and Dan Hegarty.
With his lead up to almost three seconds, Kirkham was left with it all to do again as a Yaron Salinger spill at the Chicane saw first the safety car, then the red flag deployed on lap 4. The re-start would see proceedings settled over 8 laps with grid positions determined as of the culmination of lap 2.
Kirkham lined up on pole once again onboard the blue liveried Metzeler Championship leading R1, with Wilson and Mason rounding out the front row. Wilson made a hard-fought start from the lights stick for the holeshot into Coppice, but could not prevent Kirkham moving round for the lead mid-way through Chris Curve on the opening lap.
Sam Warren made a better start to the re-start, holding third until Gary Mason drafted past along the fast Park Straight on lap 5 Adrian Coates, Dan Hegarty and Connor Cummins battled throughout the race, jockeying for position into the chicane. Coates ran deep allowing Co-ordit Racing’s Hegarty through for fifth. As the front runners rounded Barn for the start of lap six, a Stuart Wilson crash at the Chicane brought the red flag out for the second time, offering Jon Kirkham his sixth victory of the year.
Darren Bellworthy, the newly crowned Derby Phoenix Club champion, made an instant impression on the series. The club racer finished in 8th ahead of a host of R1 Cup regulars, gaining 8 points. Bellworthy was joined by nine other new riders including two Hungarian riders, bringing an added international flavor to the series.
Although Jon Kirkham extends his overall lead in the series, Ben Wilson retains top slot in the Autumn Cup. The tenth round of the Championship moves to Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire in three weeks time (12-14 September).

Jon Kirkham: “Ben is just awesome on his starts, I don’t know how he does it! I managed to get past him on the re-start and get away again. I’m chuffed after my disappointment at Knockhill where I made a schoolboy error in the wet. I’ve got a good chance of picking up the Autumn Cup now but I still remain committed to the overall championship which looks good.”

Ben Wilson: “Jon has been on the pipe all weekend, he’s just on form at the moment. I’ve just got to try and keep winning and keep the focus on the Championship. I’m leading the Autumn Cup and I’m still in the running for the main Championship.”

Gary Mason: ”Adrain Coates helped me there cause he ran wide and I managed to get my head down and kept pushing. It helped having a re-start as it gives me more time on the R1, jumping off the Superbike onto the R1 and back on the Superbike is hard work but I’m really enjoying my racing.

Rob McElnea, Team Principal: ”Jon has ridden a faultless race today, he’s really picked his game up after the mistake he made at Knockhill. Another great result from Ben Wilson who is hungry for the Autumn Cup win. and the overall Championship. We have seen lots of new names come into the Henderson Yamaha R1 Cup this weekend and some impressive rides along the way. Stu had a pretty heavy crash which necessitated hospital treatment for an arm injury, our thoughts are with him for a speedy recovery.”

Race Result
1. Kirkham, 2. B.Wilson, 3. Mason, 4. Warren, 5. Hegarty, 6. Coates, 7. Cummins, 8. Bellworthy, 9. Cringle, 10. Rowbottom

Autumn Cup Standings
1. Wilson - 65, 2. Kirkham - 56, 3. Mason - 52, 4. Coates - 36, 5. Warren - 29

Overall Championship Standings
1. Kirkham - 175, 2. B.Wilson - 152, 3. Warren - 121, 4. Mason - 121, 5. Coates - 96

Reliant on a good start from his fourth row qualifying position, Joe fought hard for the duration of the 14 lap race with TT Champion John McGuinness and a gaggle of Supersport regulars. It was all he could do to maintain his 13th placed position in the mammoth battle that ensued amongst the seasoned riders that surrounded him.

The Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport race was shortened to a 14 lap race after an incident involving David Paton and James Dye that brought a race stoppage on the first lap. The race was re-run after a long interlude to enable James to be transferred from the circuit for further treatment.

Round 10 of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship takes place in three weeks time at Croft, North Yorkshire(12-14 September).

Joe Dickinson: ”I’m a bit frustrated if I’m honest, I had a really good race with McGuinness and the guys around me but McGuinness was so strong on the brakes, every time I got past him he just came back on me. The bike felt great but I just couldn’t get out of the pack to get to into the next bunch, we caught them up but ran out of time to make any inroads on them.”

Rob McElnea, Team Principal: ”It’s another frustrating race from Joe if I’m honest, we know that the package is capable of consistent top ten finishes, so to finish outside of the top 10 is a tough call for us. Let’s hope for more at Croft and showcase what we know we are capable of.”

Race Result
1. Plater (Yamaha), 2. Richards (Triumph), 3. Webb (Honda), 4. Kennaugh (Yamaha), 5. Westmoreland (Honda), 13. Joe Dickinson (Trucklinks Yamaha)

Championship Standings
1. Richards - 177, 2. Kennaugh - 140, 3. Lowry - 128, 4. Westmoreland - 92, 5. Brogan - 85. =17 Joe Dickinson - 16 points

2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Rounds 17 & 18 - Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire
24th/25th August

Hydrex Bike Animal Honda riders James Ellison and Guy Martin qualified in sixteenth and seventeenth place respectively following on today’s historic new F1 style knock-out qualifying at round nine of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship held at Cadwell Park today.

Now segregated into three qualifying sessions, the pair made it into Q2 but couldn’t progress any further for various reasons.

Ellison, who has scored in every round of the Championship to date had been previously injured in a training accident and was suffering with torn ligaments in his right wrist meaning he spent a minimal amount of time on the Shaun Muir Racing Honda Fireblade and despite bravely battling on, had to settle for sixteenth at the end of the session.

Meanwhile Guy Martin showed a resurgence of short circuit form to qualify for Q2 and at one point was running on the verges of the final ten Q1 positions, but by the end of the session he had slipped to seventeenth and will line up on the sixth row of the grid.

However, Ellison will take no further part in the weekend’s proceedings as he has been declared unfit to race so will now concentrate on getting fit for the next round at Croft in three week’s time.

Ellison’s withdrawal now means that Martin is left to uphold honour whereby the rider from nearby Kirmington is hoping to impress at his local circuit.

In the Metzeler Superstock 1000cc category, Kieran Clarke qualified 21st for tomorrow’s race whereby he will be looking to add to his points tally from his last two outings.

James Ellison:  “I injured my hand when I was training in Spain last week and whereas I thought it would be OK, having ridden the bike around a demanding track as Cadwell, it’s proving to be a bit of a problem and it’s just getting worse and worse.  I wanted to get into the top ten and then I could have made a decision tomorrow.  But really the only way I can get ready for Croft is by resting it and hopefully it should be healed in around 7 to 10 days. I have to think about the rest of the season, and I’m chasing third in the Championship so I don’t really want to miss a round, it’s just really disappointing.  The guys in the team have worked so hard and I’m just disappointed for them too.”

Guy Martin:  “The weather hasn’t helped the job, I’ve still got loads of harvesting to do and my combine blew up last night!  I’m happy on the bike side of things though.  We’re at the point where we’re making just a little change each time and we’re getting faster each time so it’s building my confidence up with the team and with the bike.  We’re finding that the settings are more like a TT bike now.  I don’t think we’d be cheeky in asking for a couple of top ten places tomorrow, that would be mint.”

Shaun Muir (Team Owner):  “We have taken the decision to withdraw James so he won’t be riding tomorrow so I’m just disappointed really, especially for the team who have all worked so hard.  BSB is our priority so we need to consider the bigger picture and get James back up to full fitness in time for Croft. We need Guy to pull a rabbit out of the bag for us now so we’re looking for him to score a good result for us, like we are Kieran in the Superstock race.”

The first of the two 18-lap Bennetts British Superbike races gets underway at 1.45pm on Sunday with the second at 4.30pm.  The Metzeler Superstock 1000 race is scheduled for 5.20pm.  The British Eurosport 2 live broadcast window is 1.30pm to 6.30pm.

Superbike Qualifying
1, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 1m27.495s, 2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1m27.716s, 3, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 1m27.870s, 4, Leon Haslam (Honda) 1m27.917s, 5, Leon Camier (Ducati) 1m28.428s, 6, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 1m28.502s, 7, Karl Harris (Yamaha) 1m28.844s, 8, Atsushi Watanabe (Suzuki) 1m28.860s, 9, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 1m29.000, 10, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 1m29.228s. 16, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 1m30.514s, 17, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 1m30.520s.

Round 2 - 18th/20th April - Thruxton, Hants
Round 3 - 3rd/5th May - Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 1 - 10th/11th May - Brands Hatch GP, Kent
Round 4 - 24th/26th May - Donington Park, Leics
Round 5 - 13th/15th June - Snetterton, Norfolk
Round 6 - 27th/29th June - Mallory Park
Round 7 - 18th/20th July - Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 8 - 8th/10th August - Knockhill, Fife
Round 9 - 23rd/25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs
Round 10 - 12th/14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire
Round 11 - 26th/28th September, Silverstone, Northants
Round 12 - 10th/12th October - Brands Hatch Indy, Kent

Round nine of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship heads to the picturesque setting of Cadwell Park this August Bank Holiday weekend with Hydrex Bike Animal Honda riders James Ellison and Guy Martin looking forward to the event for various reasons.

Following on from successive podium finishes in the past two rounds, 27 year old Ellison from Kendal in Cumbria currently lies in sixth place in the title chase being the only rider to score in each of the sixteen races to date although he has yet to win a race.

However, with improvements to the Shaun Muir Racing Fireblade ongoing, Ellison is confident that a victory is just around the corner and he’ll be hoping to box that off in front of what traditionally is the championship’s biggest crowd of the season with over 35,000 fans packing the Lincolnshire track.
  
James Ellison:  “I like Cadwell Park, we went to test there a couple of months back but we had a problem with the bike so didn’t really get to grips with the place.  It looks like it’s a bit safer than when I was last there four years ago and the Mountain is just awesome so I’m looking forward to that one and just looking for that win which is just so close.”

Meanwhile team mate Guy Martin is in desperate need of some luck in which to turn his fortunes around this season.

After the Ulster Grand Prix washout last weekend, the genial 26 year old from nearby Kirmington is hoping that his local track will be the place he finally gets a result after a season of frustration, epitomised last time out at Knockhill when running inside the top ten only for the race to be stopped and for him to miss out in the restart.

The twisty and undulating nature of the historic track will suit Martin and he’s very much looking forward to the challenge as well as entering into the spirit by taking part in Sunday evening’s CJ Fund Charity Cycle Race.

Guy Martin: “I’m looking forward to Cadwell with it being my local track, but it’s got a chicane in it, and I don’t like chicanes.  I’ll just take it as it comes and I’ll just enjoy riding my bike and hopefully we can get a good result.”

Also in action will be Heanor’s Kieran Clarke who will be looking to add to his points tally that he scored at Oulton Park and Knockhill in the Metzeler 1000cc Superstock Championship since joining the team in mid season.

Kieran Clarke: “I’ve had some good finishes at Cadwell Park and was top seven on the Superbike there so hopefully we can go well.  It’s a real riders course and one of my favourite circuits so hopefully we can get knuckled down, get some nice weather and get a bit of success there.  I ought to be knocking on the podium door with the experience I have got and once I get a couple more races under my belt I should be up there.”

After Cadwell, the team will start making preparations for James’ wild card entry at round eleven of the World Superbike Championship at the Donington Park round over the weekend of September 5/6/7th.