Press release:The Worx Crescent Suzuki team experienced the highs and lows of racing today at Brands Hatch as Tommy Hill battled hard to secure a 4-7 scorecard on this the second day of racing on the Grand Prix circuit.
After placing fifth in yesterday’s first race there was a real sense of push to make the podium, however continued grip issues meant this didn’t come.
In the first race Hill put together another strong performance, holding fifth early on before pushing hard in the latter stages to overcome Karl Harris for fourth and then close in on Stuart Easton to finish barely a second off the podium – it was another case of needing just a few more laps. However, in the final race of the weekend it all went away from Hill as he suffered grip issues right from the start. Despite grabbing third into the first turn, Hill struggled to make the lap times he’d made in the earlier races and so dropped back to finish seventh.
Tommy Hill:
“This wasn’t the worst day, but it wasn’t the best either. We made progress in the first race today and being so close to getting the podium really fired me up for that second race. But right from the start I knew it wasn’t to be as I’d lost a load of feeling in the front. I knuckled down and I really didn’t want to lose places but it was a very difficult race. Definitely, these are not the results we come racing for.”
Jack Valentine, team manager:
“We were happy with the race one performance today. Tommy made his best time of the weekend and despite still struggling for grip we made progress.
“The momentum didn’t carry, though. We made some small changes for that second race but they shouldn’t have had the effect we saw. We’ll have to make a detailed analysis of the data now and see what’s needed to improve. We’re a team that expect to challenge for top three, so a result like this is a setback.
“We are all the same very pleased with Tommy’s work rate, he works well with the team and in that first race we again got so close to the podium. So it’s a matter of more hard work on all our parts to be ready for the next round at Cadwell Park at the end of the month.”MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli
Race two: 1. Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha)
2. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki World Superbike) +4.534s
3. Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +7.775s
4. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +8.713s5. James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +10.072s
6. Karl Harris (Hydrex Honda) +12.688s
7. Karl Muggeridge (HM Plant Honda) +15.025s
8. Steve Brogan (HM Plant Honda) +16.575s
9. Graeme Gowland (Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha) +19.466s
10. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki World Superbike) +19.561s
Race three: 1. Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha)
2. Broc Parkes (Kawasaki World Superbike) +2.272s
3. James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +11.587s
4. Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +13.884s
5. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +21.338s
6. Karl Muggeridge (HM Plant Honda) +21.395s
7. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +21.891s8. Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki World Superbike)
9. Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +26.534s
10. Michael Rutter (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +27.405s
