Ian Lowry secured his fourth British Supersport podium of the season at Oulton Park in Cheshire yesterday, taking third place behind Glen Richards and Hudson Kennaugh. Michael Laverty worked hard all weekend posting two top ten results [9th and 7th] in the British Superbike races. The Toomebridge rider battled through from 16th on lap one of the opening BSB race taking a hard fought ninth place at the chequered flag; then in race two his seventh place again demonstrated his pedigree in the premier class. Double TT winner Cameron Donald was making his Oulton Park debut in the superstock races, securing a brace of top ten results with seventh in race one and tenth in race two.
Ian Lowry“Today was a bit of a disaster for both me and the team. I had a good race pace but I kept hitting false neutrals, which cost me a lot of time: about four seconds on the leaders over three laps and it upset my rhythm. I got it back together with five laps to go but it was too late to make an impression on Glen and Hudson. I did make the podium, which is always good for Relentless, Suzuki and our sponsors. A big shout to the boys in the team who did a great job for me this weekend.”
Michael Laverty“After showing that I could set the pace in the BSB class at Mallory it was a disappointing weekend for me. I really struggled this weekend and after the problem we had with the tyre spinning on the rim in race one I was just looking forward to the second race. Our settings for race two are where I should have been on Friday, but I was just a bit behind the ballpark this weekend at Oulton. Hopefully we can right all the wrongs and get my GSX–R1000 Relentless Suzuki back to the front of the pack at Knockhill.”
Cameron Donald“I got caught out with the weather in qualifying, so I knew it would be tough having to fight through from 20th place on the grid. I just stayed patient and picked them off and improved my lap times through both races. Obviously I would have been happier running at the front but it’s another track I’ve learnt for next season. I must say a big thank you to John Reynolds who came to help me this weekend and my fellow countryman Glen Richard for passing on his experience.”
Philip Neill – Team Principal“It has been a frustrating weekend for us and the weather interruptions didn’t help. However, we must be positive about Ian’s performance in the supersport class with his fourth podium of the season – that gave us something to smile about. He has shown consistency and maturity but unfortunately his championship rivals have now stretched their lead slightly. Ian showed good early and late pace in the race but the blip in the middle cost him a chance of a potential win.
Michael Laverty’s results this weekend are not a disaster but after being so strong at Mallory, it would be fair to say that our expectations are now much higher. We will be looking for Mallory type performances from now to the end of the season which will hopefully get us the top six results Michael and the GSX–R1000 Relentless Suzuki are more than capable of.
Cameron Donald had a difficult task trying to learn one of the most technical tracks of the year in awkward conditions. The weather halted his qualifying progress, but coming from 20th on the grid to score two top ten results [7th and 10th] is positive enough.
Finally, I’d like to congratulate our fellow Suzuki rider Tom Sykes on an awesome performance this weekend with his first BSB wins.”
ResultsBSB Race 1:Winner - Tom Sykes [Suzuki]
2nd - James Ellison [Honda]
3rd - Shane Byrne [Ducati]
9th - Michael Laverty [Relentless Suzuki] BSB Race 2:Winner – Tom Sykes [Suzuki]
2nd – Cal Crutchlow [Honda]
3rd – Shane Byrne [Ducati]
Supersport:Winner – Glen Richards [Triumph]
2nd – Hudson Kennaugh [Yamaha]
3rd – Ian Lowry [Relentless Suzuki] Superstock Race 1:Winner – Steve Brogan [Honda]
2nd – Jon Kirkham [Yamaha]
3rd – Lee Jackson [Yamaha]
7th - Cameron Donald [Relentless Suzuki] Superstock Race 2:Winner – Jon Kirkham [Yamaha]
2nd Steve Brogan [Honda]
3rd – Adrian Coates
10th - Cameron Donald [Relentless Suzuki]
