The Brands Indy circuit didn’t quite give Tyco BMW riders Christian Iddon and Michael Laverty a return on their heavy investment this weekend on track, but both remain well in the title hunt –third and fifth respectively – in the British Superbike Championship standings after round three of twelve.
Christian Iddon [11th and 7th]: “After a tough weekend I’m still only seven points off the championship lead. I’ve said from the get go this season: every weekend isn’t going to just fall into place like Silverstone and Oulton. We’ve had it good so far and made the best of that, and this weekend we’ve also made the best of the situation we were dealt with.
“Okay we were a little on the back foot as I struggled with front end feel all weekend. The boys did an amazing job and threw everything at it and we took a couple of risks in both races. In race one I wasn’t just as competitive as I would have wanted, but in the second race the bike was radically different and we’ve knocked off nearly two-tenths a lap, which round the Indy circuit is massive. Eleventh and seventh isn’t awesome but it’s strong points and we are third in the championship, so I can still leave round three feeling very positive.”
Michael Laverty [6th & DNF]: “Race one at Brands was the first time this season we were lacking a little on pace. Sixth was solid points, but not what we go racing for. We improved our set-up for race two, but unfortunately a mechanical issue ruled us out early on. It certainly wasn’t the day we had hoped for but we will bounce back at Knockhill. Until then the team has a job to do at the Isle of Man TT and I wish them all the best of luck.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager: “In a season where everything is going so well, we knew we would meet some tough days and Brands was one of those in Superbike terms. The Superstock race was another strong showing for us and the BMW S1000RR. It was great to see Josh back on the podium while Hutchy continues to impress everyone.
“After a great start to the weekend with Michael we simply couldn’t quite get on the correct side of the tiny margins in lap time difference, and when this is the case around the extremely small Brands Indy circuit, you are always going to struggle to make progress.
“We won’t panic however, as the results at this circuit are rarely representative of what happens on the bigger circuits and although we did hope to challenge for podium positions – we have some points in the bag to keep our championship challenge alive.
“A mechanical DNF is never welcome in any team and thankfully this is an extremely rare occurrence with the BMW. We have a short break now and as well as fulfilling our road racing duties we will regroup with some testing ahead of our next BSB encounter. Thanks as ever to Tyco, BMW Motorrad and all our partners.”
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