Motorcycles and news

Tommy Hill and James Haydon struggled in both races around the 2.3-mile GP circuit onboard their Pirelli-shod Yamaha YZF-R1’s. Race one proved to be the highlight for the team’s senior riders, as Tommy crossed the line in ninth place, picking up seven points in the process. A technical problem for Tommy in the opening laps of the second race left James the sole representative for the remainder of the race. However, even as the field closed up behind the pace car after a crash at Druids on lap 15, James found it hard to capitalise over the closing laps as his machine started to overheat.

Tommy Hill:

“Race one was pretty lonely for me, I got a bad start but then dug deep and made up a load of places on lap one but I was too far behind to catch the leading bunch. Towards the end of the race I was struggling with front-end grip so we made some changes for race two. Unfortunately we didn’t get to try it as my bike broke down on the second lap. I’m absolutely gutted that it’s turned out like this.”

James Haydon:

“Obviously I’m disappointed, it’s my lowest ever finish in a BSB race. I’ve still some work to do with the tyres so I know that there is more to come from both the bike and myself. Seeing Tommy up in the top ten gives me confidence that I can run up there with him. As ever the guys work really hard, let’s see what we can turn around for next week.”

British Supersport

An unfortunate chain of events led to the Virgin Media Yamaha Supersport pairing of Tom Grant and Billy McConnell leaving the opening round empty handed. Tom made an excellent start, taking an early lead on lap 4. However, a near moment on lap five saw him passed by Supersport regulars Dennis Hobbs and Michael Laverty. A red flag on lap nine had the race reduced to just 10 laps on the re-start. Once again Tom made an excellent start from second, but as the pace car came out on lap two for a crash at Druids, he was judged to have jumped the re-start and received an unwelcome ride-through penalty. This ended any hopes of capping off a brilliant debut Supersport weekend with a win as he was running at the head of the pack at that point.

Despite crashing out of the second part of the race while in fifth, Billy can leave Brands with the knowledge that he set the fastest lap of the race. Both Tom and Billy have proved over the past few days that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Tom Grant:

“I’m absolutely gutted, a silly mistake has just cost me my first podium in Supersport. Looking on the bright side I have had an amazing weekend, I have far exceeded my own expectations. I now know that I can run up the front and lead a race on a bike that feels great. I’ll put it behind me and move on to Thruxton next week.”

Billy McConnell:

“I had a huge highside, it felt like I was miles in the air. I’m so lucky that I’ve walked away with nothing but a very sore behind! I need to work on my starts a bit, I was just getting bogged down and the pack just swallowed me up, having said that I was running fastest in the race. Lap records don’t mean a thing when you are sitting in the gravel so I’ll make sure I change that next week.”

Virgin Media Cup

Pole-sitter BJ Toal will continue on the Championship leader Pirelli Diablo machine at Thruxton next weekend, having taken the first win of the season. Scot David Paton grabbed the holeshot into Paddock Hill and led a breakaway of three riders including Dane Hellyer and Toal for the first 8 laps. A late braking manoeuvre by Hellyer for second place saw the South African collect Paton and put both riders into the deep gravel at Druids and out of contention. Unaware of the melee behind him, Toal pressed on to take his first Virgin Media Cup victory in his second season.

Doncaster-based Dean Hipwell fought off a late challenge from the experienced Midge Smart to claim second and 20 valuable points towards his championship challenge. As the first race of the season drew to a close, Brands Hatch provided the opportunity for riders to slot into a natural paced order.

BJ Toal:

“Initially I got stuck behind Paton, I worked hard to pass him and eventually found my moment. I guessed that something had happened to them cause there was a big gap then I saw that they had crashed. After that it was happy days as I knew that I just had to keep a straight head and bring home the win.”

Rob McElnea, Team Principal:

“I’m deflated for the whole team, we worked so hard to get here and we are leaving round one with nothing to show for it. We’ve had some crashes and some problems this weekend so it doesn’t reflect our true capabilities. Our Supersport guys have shown some real promise this weekend and we know that we can be up there. The Virgin Media Cup is looking like it is going to be a tough and exciting year, with some real raw talent emerging.”

BSB - Race 1 Results

1 - Lavilla (Ducati), 2 - Camier (Honda), 3 - Rea (Honda), 4 - Byrne (Honda), 5 - Walker (Suzuki), 6 - Haslam (Ducati) 9 - Tommy Hill (Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha), 17 - James Haydon (Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha)

BSB - Race 2 Results

1 -Lavilla (Ducati), 2 -Rea (Honda), 3 - Camier (Honda), 4 - Haslam (Ducati), 5 - Sykes (Honda), 6 - Harris (Honda), 16 - James Haydon (Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha), DNF - Tommy Hill (Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha)

BSS - Race Result

1 - Laverty (Suzuki), 2 - Robinson (Honda), 3 - Lowry (Suzuki), 4 - Walker (Honda), 5 - Easton (Kawasaki), 6 - McGuinness (Honda), 16 - Tom Grant (Virgin Media Yamaha), DNF - Billy McConnell (Virgin Media Yamaha)

Virgin Media Cup - Race Result

1 - BJ Toal, 2 - Dean Hipwell, 3 - Midge Smart, 4 - Leon Morris, 5 - Daniel Frear,
6 - Danny Harrision, 7 - David Haire, 8 - Alastair Fagan, 9 - Jay Fernandez, 10 - Brad Howell, 11 - Ben Billard, 12 - Dan Smith, 13 - Ross Connolly, 14 - Dean Jones, 15 - Robbie Brown