The STP Motorsport MV Agusta British Superbike Team came away from a weekend of mixed fortunes at Knockhill with its season back on track following a podium finish in race one and a stunning race win in the rain interrupted second race in the Daily Star Superbike Cup.
The Team’s mechanical jinx returned with an undiagnosed misfire on the new Superbike engine during qualifying forced the team to abandon plans to use it in the race. This left Chris Burns with his number two bike, which remains pretty much in superstock condition. Undeterred, he pushed hard from 17th place on the grid to finish 3rd in the Daily Star Superbike Cup and 15th overall, gaining another valuable Championship point for MV Agusta in its return to the Superbike stage.
Race two saw Chris and the MV Agusta F4 1000 take full advantage of the damp conditions and a restarted race to take his third win of the season in the Superbike Cup and register the Team’s first top ten finish in the overall Superbike Race. Given the competition that he was up against this is a magnificent result for the team and provides a real shot in the arm for the rest of the season.
As always the Team pulled together to overcome both the mechanical issues and the traditional changeable weather at Knockhill. With less than five minutes to go before pit lane opened it was still hard to call what tyres to go with as the rain started to fall again. However, as the sun broke through it was obvious that a dry race lay ahead
Paul Snell – Crew Chief:“It was disappointing not to be able to make use of the extra power that the new superbike engine would have given us but the decision not to run it became a simple one to make after qualifying. Before the problem arose it looked as if we may have been in a position to gain a third row start, and maybe sneak into the top ten in qualifying. As the session progressed, though, we slipped back to 17th overall while still managing to post the 3rd fastest time in the cup category. We now have time to test the new engine ahead of the next round at Cadwell Park and we expect to deliver the improvements on track that should have been present at Knockhill.”
Chris Burns – Rider
“We were always going to struggle at Knockhill using the standard engine, so to come third in the first race and take the win and the top ten overall in the second race has to be seen as a fantastic result for the weekend’s work. Hopefully we can build on this and go on to add to the wins and podiums at Cadwell Park and improve our position in the Cup standings.”
Image Credit: Turn One Photography
