After missing round five of the Maxxis British Supersport series at Snetterton Circuit with a fractured hand, Martin Jessopp and the Riders Racing Ducati team made a welcome return to the Championship gaining ninth position. Still struggling with swelling on his hand Jessopp was pleased with the overall result.
Having struggled throughout the weekend with qualifying after not riding a bike since Oulton Park at the beginning of May, Jessopp had to readjust to the bike and get a good feeling at the bumpy circuit of Mondello Park, in the wet conditions throughout the practice and qualifying sessions.
A crash in Friday’s practice left the already wounded Jessopp in more pain and discomfort, not deterring him he could only gain 24th position over the two qualifying sessions which left him with a lot of work to do in the race. A good start saw the 21-year-old from Yeovil move through the field into a points scoring position.
With the race being stopped and rescheduled and then stopped again, it was a long drawn out affair for the riders to remain focused on the job in hand. On the eventual restart and planned nine lap race Jessopp worked his way through the field and moved into ninth position. Gaining a good start he fought his way through to 12th by lap six he made a move on TT winner Ian Hutchinson and Honda rider Joe Dickinson and slipped into ninth place after passing Sam Owens on lap seven.
Commenting he said “It’s been a strange and difficult weekend to be fair in all aspects, the weather, my injury and the crashes that occurred in the races. It was hard to remain focused and keep your mind on what we had to do. In the final restart I got a good start and really wanted to gain a top ten position. I’m still in a lot of discomfort with my hand still and it’s still very swollen. Hopefully I will be back on the pace at Knockhill in a couple of weeks time.”
The Riders Racing Ducati team would like to express their sympathies to the family and friends of Guy Sanders who sadly lost his life in a racing incident yesterday in the Supersport race.
Maxxis British Supersport Result
- Hobbs (Honda)
- Robinson (Honda)
- Lowry (Suzuki)
- McGuinness (Honda)
- Easton (Kawasaki)
- Grant (Yamaha)
- Fitzpatrick (Yamaha)
- Westmoreland (Honda)
- Jessopp (Riders Racing Ducati)
- Owens (Honda)
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