In a day characterised by the fickle British weather, both MSS Discovery Kawasaki riders left the 1.4mile Mallory circuit in Leicestershire with much to think about.
For Billy it was a magnificent and well deserved sixth place in race one; while James Haydon reflects on just how competitive and unforgiving the 2008 British Superbike Championship is.
After a good start to race one, McConnell was the unwitting participant in a first corner crash which saw Leon Camier tangle with the rear of his Ninja ZX-10R and, ultimately, crash.
The Hinkley based rider did not let this upset his race rhythm and continued his steady progress holding tenth for the first few laps of a gruelling thirty lap outing. By lap four McConnell had slipped to eleventh behind Simon Andrews, but this was to be the furthest from the leader he would be all race.
“Bill got a fairly good start to be honest”, said team principle, Nick Morgan. “He was circulating in the top ten and then lost places in the early part of the race. Watching the monitors, we were really pleased to see Billy’s progression which showed fast sector times and the ability to dig deep and fight back”.
“It’s a sign of how far Billy has come that he pushed on to achieve his best result so far for us and himself with a magnificent sixth at the end of the race”.
For stand-in rider James Haydon, the first race ended with a low side at Edwina’s and a once immaculate Ninja ZX-10R planted in the tyre wall.
“The left part of Edwina’s is quite complex”, confided Haydon, “but the exit leaning right has never caused me any concern. To have an off there is quite bizarre, so we will have to examine the data logging very closely to see if there are any clues”.
Race two was delayed by a sudden and torrential downpour which had teams and riders scrambling for a variety of tyres, all trying to predict how the circuit would behave over thirty laps and thirty minutes.
With many starting on slicks, and the track drenched in water, McConnell thought his luck was in with a canny choice of wet front and intermediate rear. Soon his optimism paid off and the twenty-two year old found himself forth on lap one, third on lap two and by lap four Billy only had race leader in front of him.
“I don’t mind a drop of rain and I was kinda hoping the heavens would open again," said McConnell.
“Instead the wind dried the track and quite soon even the sun started shining again – for me that meant I knew the guys on slicks would be having a field day”.
And so it was with local rider, Michael Rutter building an unassailable lead while slick shod Byrne and Crutchlow pushed their way to second and third respectively.
Haydon meanwhile had tyre woes of his own and set about finishing the race in a points scoring position rather than repeat his first race disappointment.
“It was never going to be easy to make a return at a circuit like Mallory”, confessed Haydon. “I was happy to score a championship point in race two and grateful for all the help and support that the guys in the pit box gave me.”
With another expensive weekend for the MSS Discovery Kawasaki team coming to a close, team principle, Nick Morgan was philosophical.
“We’ve got some great coverage by having such an experienced and popular rider in the form of James Haydon on the bike; and Billy has pushed hard and with tenacity to finish in a fighting sixth place in race one”.
“Yes James is right, this is a bloody hard championship and, as well all know, it doesn’t take prisoners”.
