With the British Superbike Championship finally kicking off at Thruxton this weekend, Team Appleyard/Macadam showed strong potential in what proved to be a tricky start to the season. Having swapped his 125 for a Supersport 600 machine, Ashley Beech demonstrated his undoubted talent by qualifying in 6th place in the first wet session on Saturday and new team member Deane Brown put his machine towards the front of the 125 grid by qualifying in 5th place overall.
All of the team riders and especially Jordan Thompson, on his first visit to the Hampshire circuit, had been hoping for settled conditions over the weekend to get a better feel for their machinery but poor weather and resultant tricky conditions in practice and qualifying made life difficult for all the competitors.
In the Supersport race, Ashley was hampered by a poor grid position and the resultant mid-pack action certainly gave him a taste of Supersport racing.
After the race he said; “We learned some lessons the hard way in qualifying with regard to tyre selection and this meant we ended up further down the grid than we had hoped. I’m not used to finishing in 22nd place but this is my first proper competitive ride on my Yamaha R6 which is a world away from riding the 125s I’m used to. I’m not too far off the pace where I need to be and the team is keen for me to build up gradually to learn the ropes of riding a 600 rather than risk everything at the outset.”
In the 125 British Championship race, Deane, who turned 15 just two weeks ago, led from the start and ran with the leading pack as the race settled, never dropping below third. However, an off-track excursion led to an eventual crash; “I was running comfortably with the leaders when I got moved off the racing line approaching Church Corner. I had to take to the grass and as I left the circuit the front wheel cracked on something at the edge of the track. I kept it upright but eventually lost control as I rejoined due to a flat front tyre. I was just pleased that no-one got hurt in the incident as my bike eventually came to rest on its side on the track. I’m gutted not to finish as I felt I had the pace to win but that’s racing.”
In the same race, Jordan put in a strong ride on an underperforming bike; “Although this was my first ride at Thruxton, I felt good on the bike and was making use of the advice from the team to get the most out of the weekend. Unfortunately, the bike wouldn’t rev out like normal and this really hampered me on such a fast circuit. I guess 25th wasn’t so bad in the circumstances. We’re not sure what the problem was but it will certainly be sorted for the next race at Oulton Park in two weeks time which is in my home county of Cheshire. Hopefully I’ll be able to get into the points scoring positions as I get more and more used to the bike.”
Summarising, Team Manager Robin Appleyard said;
“This has been a learning weekend for the team with two new riders and one new bike all racing within the team for the first time. Despite the difficult conditions, I’m very pleased with the progress of all three riders and if it weren’t for some bad luck, we could easily have been coming away from here with a win under our belts. Nonetheless, I’m really looking forward to helping develop the talents of all our riders and have every confidence for the future as the season progresses.”
Related Links:www.colinappleyardracing.com
