Press release:MIST Suzuki completed their first full British SuperBike meeting at Donington Park achieving two top twenty finishes in the main Championship and scoring 22 points in the Mirror.co.uk SuperBike Cup.
Despite still suffering from some of the technical gremlins left over from the Oulton Park round the team were able to concentrate on suspension set-up and took the opportunity to experiment with some different tyre compounds.
After some positive lap times in practice the team took a gamble in qualifying to that was a step too far opting for a medium compound front tyre to try to overcome some issues getting the bike to hold it's line coupled with a very soft rear tyre to benefit from the extra grip for the short qualifying session. Either option would have been an improvement but the pairing left Matt at the back of the grid with a lot of work to do in the race.
Matt managed a good start in race one only to be boxed in on several occasions leaving him trailing the field at the end of the first lap. With his usual determination Matt posted his fastest laps of the weekend to catch and keep with the pack for some time before being forced wide by one of the faster riders coming through after recovering from a mistake earlier in the lap.
This left Matt to run a lonely race as his tyres started to go off once past the half way point. It is easy to forget that this was Matt's first full race in the SuperBike class and it was a learning experience for the whole team as to how long the tyres would last and what grip would be available at the end of the race. At the line Matt achieved a creditable 20th place overall, just one place behind factory Suzuki rider Atsu Watanabe, and was 5th in the SuperBike Cup class.
For race two the team made some minor suspension changes to prolong tyre life although nobody could have foreseen the race being stopped after just one lap. This put further pressure on everyone as Matt had to watch everyone else fit a new rear tyre when the limited supply of wheels meant he had to start race two with a tyre that had already completed four laps, including the warm up and out laps from the abortive first start.
Once again boxed in at the start Matt was forced to drop back initially before getting his head down and reeling in several more experienced riders during the race. Last on lap one he chased down and overtook series regular Aaron Zanotti, former Irish SuperBike Champion Brian McCormack and fellow Cup runner Alastair Fagan. At one point Matt was also running ahead of Watanabe until the factory rider opted to pull in to the pits.
At the flag Matt had worked his way up to 18th on the track although he was disappointed to only be credited with 19th place after Karl Harris was listed as finishing in 18th place despite crossing the notional finish line in the pit lane having pulled in on the last lap. To be second Suzuki home in such a strong field bodes well for the future.
Team Manager Mike Edwards was delighted with the progress the team made over the weekend, "It is a great relief for the team to be able to finally compete in the premier class of British racing after the torrid start to the season. It is easy to forget that Matt is a total Rookie having never ridden a SuperBike or on slicks before and has to re-learn circuits that he hasn't seen for five or more years whilst the competition have raced on them for a number of seasons. We learnt a great deal about tyres and set-up and are hopeful that we can now spend some time developing the bike that is more SuperStock than SuperBike".
He added, "The search for sponsorship continues to be our main priority after the expense of the first couple of rounds where we endured a lot of bad luck. This weekend demonstrates what we can do and although we are trailing many of the other Cup competitors it is great to see Matt's confidence grow and we look forward to progressing through the field as we get to spend more time on the bike".
MIST Suzuki would like to thank our sponsors that have helped us get this far, GPR Steering Dampers, Steve Jordan Motorcycles, Leo Vince Exhausts, Silkolene Oils and R&G Crash Protection.
