Krystal Racing Space Air survived a tough weekend at Brands Hatch in the opening round of the 2007 Metzeler Racetec National Superstock Championship. In a demanding 18 lap race around the 2.6mile Kent circuit, Lee Jackson (22) brought his Yamaha YZF-R1 home in seventh place while Paul Veazey (33) finished 22nd. Jackson started Easter Monday's race from sixth on the grid after a fast-paced Sunday qualifying session which saw most of the top 30 runners separated by just two seconds. A difficult start saw the 32-year-old from Lincoln drop to tenth, and the 2005 champion was forced to make his way back up through the order.
An accident further down the field saw the deployment of the Safety Car on Lap 8, which remained on the track until Lap 11, giving Jackson just a handful of laps to make up ground. By the chequered flag he had made it up to 7th, while series newcomer, Embassy Racing's Glen Richards, took the spoils.
"It was another one of my not-so-good starts, and it messed the race up for me if I'm honest," he said. "I was setting some good lap times which were consistently in the 1.30s, but the field this year is so strong that it just wasn't enough on the day.
"The Safety Car didn't help things for me because no-one was closing up enough. There wasn't any chance that I was going to make up ground when it went in, and then you're riding around on cooler tyres for a couple of laps, so it really did nothing to help my cause.
"I'm a bit disappointed but it could have been worse. I've picked up some points and it's a much better result than a DNF would have been. I just have to move on and be sure that any problems I might have had are fixed by next weekend for our next race."
Veazey had started the race from 26th spot and enjoyed perhaps one of the most demanding races of his career. A bad start saw him plunge down to 30th, but he quickly stormed back up to 22nd and spent the rest of it dicing hard, slipping up and down the field and finally crossing the line in 22nd place.
"It wasn't the result I was after but it was a good race in many respects. I really messed the start up but I found I was able to pick up a fair few places. It wasn't easy though, I was fighting the whole time. I was up to 22, then down to 26, then up again, down again, it was hard to keep up.
"I wound up 22nd but I'm feeling positive. I really had the chance to do some racing, and I now know exactly which areas we have to work on to get ourselves on the pace for the next race. It was one of the toughest ones I've had, and I need to make sure I have better qualifiers in future so I can get up nearer the front from the start."
Team Owner Tony Astle was happy with the day's racing. "It isn't a bad result and I think we did alright in the end," he said. "It's the first round, we're still getting used to the new bikes and I think both lads did the best they could. Lee was consistently doing fast times and Paul is going the quickest he ever has done, and I think we're all pleased with how it's gone.
"We're racing again next weekend and we're going off to work on what needs to be done. We all know which areas we need to work on, and the team will be going all-out to get the results we want."
Meanwhile Gary Jackson, riding the Newell Plumbing Krystal Racing Yamaha in the Superstock Cup, finished 21st after almost missing out on the race. His bike blew-up in Saturday's first practice session, and unable to rebuild it in time, Gary was forced to sit out of first qualifying.
But he borrowed brother Lee's spare bike to make the second session, and on his first ever outing on the machine managed to qualify 32nd, and in the race, made up 11 spots to finish 21st overall. He hopes to have his own bike ready in time for the next event.
The next round will take place next weekend, April 13-15 at Thruxton in Hampshire.
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