Michael Laverty firmly cemented his place at the top of the British Supersport standings earlier today after a faultless performance on his GSX–R600 Relentless Suzuki, taking his tally to five wins for the season. Laverty also recorded the fastest lap of the race and now sits on 190 points, 37 ahead of nearest challenger Dennis Hobbs [153 points]. Team-mate Ian Lowry was unfortunately forced to retire from third place after only six laps, when a missed gear change caused his engine to over-rev. He now drops to third place in the series behind Hobbs on 149 points.
Michael Laverty“That was exactly what I needed from the weekend, especially after scoring no points at Croft – I’m well happy. Everything went according to plan and in the race I wasn’t even trying to pull away but very quickly I found myself with a good gap. I just rode steady today and didn’t push too hard; I had more in me to give, if it was required, but my Relentless Suzuki didn’t miss a beat and although I rode to preserve my Pirelli tyres they were faultless. If every round was that easy it would be great! I now only need a fourth place from the final two rounds to win the championship, so I can go to Misano this weekend to watch my brother Eugene racing and enjoy it. I must thank the team for their effort this weekend: everything ran like clockwork and we had the perfect set-up, so hopefully we can finish the job at Donington.”
Ian Lowry“I think I may have ‘popped a valve’ today after missing a gear coming down to the Mountain section that ended my race. If I’m honest, I didn’t feel that comfortable this weekend as Cadwell is not one of my favourite circuits. It’s complicated and has that much around it and I struggled both in practice and qualifying. In saying that, I got a reasonable start and was up to third before I had to retire. I was actually in a comfortable third and was reeling in Billy McConnell, so I was happy to sit there and wait. I am gutted to have lost second place in the championship but it’s one of those things. Michael now has a healthy lead but it’s a Suzuki one-two that we want in the championship, so I’ll be giving it my all at the final two rounds. It’s not out of the question just yet!”
Philip Neill“Michael recorded his fifth win of the season today under immense pressure from leading the championship since the opening day. He has shown once again what a class act he really is, and I don’t think it would be out of order to say that he now deserves to win the championship, even though it’s not over just yet. He is simply a class act, and having been lucky enough to have won some championships myself, I do understand the pressure he’s been under.
I felt sorry for Ian today but I was also proud of the way he came through on a circuit that he’s not so fond of. The team are also proud of the way he held his hand up after missing a gear that caused his engine to over-rev ending his race. These things happen. It’s far from over for him just yet and I’m sure he’ll fight all the way through to the last lap at Brands.
I must again say a big thank-you to Suzuki, as the GSX–R600 has proved faultless throughout this campaign to date. Hopefully we are leading our way up to repaying the faith that both they, and our partners Relentless have shown in TAS Racing this season. Our package, as always, was complimented today by Pirelli, WP Suspension and Putoline Motorcycle Oil.”
Results- Michael Laverty [Relentless Suzuki] 24:28.062
- Billy McConnell [Yamaha] +1.511
- Tom Grant [Yamaha] +4.340
- John McGuinness [Honda] +4.575
- Martin Jessopp [Ducati] +10.276
- Dennis Hobbs [Honda] +12.772
Fastest lap – Michael Laverty 1:30.962 [86.27mph]
Championship [after round 11 of 13]- Michael Laverty - 190 points
- Dennis Hobbs - 153 points
- Ian Lowry - 149 points
- Billy McConnell - 120 points
- Jamie Robinson - 111 points
- John McGuinness - 104 points
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