Simon Andrews riding for the Lloyds British Jentin Racing team gained his best results of the season so far at round seven of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park this weekend. Andrews gained a solid fifth and sixth place respectively in the two 18-lap races at the tricky Cheshire circuit.
The youngster from Evesham rode extremely well throughout the weekend at the technical 2.9-mile circuit. Andrews was setting very consistent times through the two practice sessions he participated in, missing the third session due to horrendous weather conditions. Looking forward to qualifying he finally managed to get a trouble free qualifying session and secured his highest grid position to date of sixth place.
Eager to get two strong results Andrews gained a great start in the opening race holding his position of sixth at the end of the opening lap. Shakey Byrne came past Andrews on lap three but then Harris and Crutchlow both crashed out in separate incidents on lap nine promoting Andrews to a lonely but comfortable fifth position a great result for Andrews and the Jentin Team.
Keen to get a similar result in the second race the youngster once again secured a good start and had dropped one place to seventh at the end of the opening lap. Andrews tried to pass Michael Rutter into the first corner on lap two but went in too hot and took a small excursion down the grass, rejoining in 11th place Andrews had his work cut out. Fighting hard he made some very impressive moves on Billy McConnell, Scott Smart, Michael Rutter, Karl Harris and finally Michael Laverty to gain a hard fought sixth place.
A delighted Andrews said;
"I'm really pleased with the results this weekend as everyone has been working really hard to get to this point. We finally got a trouble free weekend and everything just fell into place, these are the best results I have got all season and hopefully we have now turned a corner and we can get similar results in the remaining races. I made a small mistake in the second race and ran wide but knew if I got my head down I could get past people as I knew I had a good race pace, I had to make some strong passes and luckily they all pulled off. I'd like to thank all the team at Jentin for helping me so much and fingers crossed this will continue. I'm really looking forward to competing as a wild card at Brands next weekend and it will be interesting to see what results we can get there."
Andrews next outing will be at the World Superbike race at Brands Hatch where the Lloyds British Jentin Racing Team have gained a wild card placing to compete against some of the best riders in the World. Brands Hatch World Superbikes takes place on the 1st - 3rd August.
Race One Result: 1. Sykes - Suzuki
2. Ellison - Honda
3. Byrne - Ducati
4. Haslam - Honda
5. Andrews - Jentin Racing/Lloyds British Yamaha Race Two Result 1. Sykes - Suzuki
2. Crutchlow - Honda
3. Byrne - Ducati
4. Haslam - Honda
5. Ellison - Honda
6. Andrews - Jentin Racing/Lloyds British Yamaha Andrews is now lying in 9th position in the overall Championship. 2008 Races: Round 8: 8th - 10th August - Knockhill, Fife
Round 9: 23rd - 25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs
Round 10: 12th - 14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire
Round 11: 26th - 28th September, Silverstone, Northants
Round 12: 10th - 12th October, Brands Hatch, Kent
Related Link:www.si-andrews.co.uk
