Alastair Seeley took his second win of the year for Tyco BMW today at Brands Hatch, reducing the deficit at the top of the Superstock 1000cc Championship by 25 points – after forcing a mistake and a DNF from fellow Ulsterman and series leader Josh Elliott on the last lap.
The entire race was a cat-and-mouse affair between the Northern Irish riders, but Seeley was in no mood to take second best and his twenty-five point haul moves him into second place in the championship standing; now just twenty-two points behind Elliott with five races remaining.
Alastair Seeley: “I knew what I had to do today and let Josh lead for long periods, but at the end it was quite strange as it felt more like qualifying with neither of the two of us wanting to lead and show our hand. The last lap was a bit of a chess game and when Josh ran into the final corner too deep, I knew I had the win in the bag, but only realised he’d crashed out on the slow down lap.
“Big thanks to the whole team for keeping the faith. Coming here I knew we could do a decent job on the BMW Motorrad S1000RR and put it on the podium, but it was a win we really needed. Josh’s no score was a bonus and helped bring the gap down, but we must keep working hard and the goal now is to win the remaining five races.”
In the British Superbike class only one point separates Tyco BMW riders Tommy Bridewell and Michael Laverty after today’s results. Bridewell holds sixth place in the championship standings after his fourth placed finish in race one.
Michael Laverty was fifth in both races today, and with Bridewell crashing out of race two at mid-distance whilst disputing fourth place, Laverty’s season tally of 98 points is just one shy of his Tyco BMW team-mate in seventh.
Tommy Bridewell: “It was a really positive weekend for me and the team and I’m really happy with the progress we have made finding comfort on the bike. I always give one hundred percent and unfortunately in race two I just over-rode the bike. We need to work hard between now and Thruxton to bridge the gap to the front guys, but I fully believe we can strengthen our position in the top six on the run in to the Showdown.”
Michael Laverty: “After a strong qualifying we didn’t quite have the set-up or pace today to trouble the front guys, but on a positive note, we are another step closer to the top six. The BMW Motorrad package has enough in the locker for us to be running at the front, it’s just taking a little longer to find a consistently comfortable set-up to trouble those podium places. I fully intend moving into the top six now at Thruxton in two weeks’ time; from there we must work towards a consistent set-up to go into the Showdown with the confidence we need to challenge at the front in the final three rounds.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager: “We seem to suffer from mixed fortunes each time we visit Brands Hatch and today was no different. Tommy’s crash in race two was the only blip in what was otherwise a really solid weekend for Tyco BMW, and we can be pleased with our efforts this weekend.
“Alastair put himself right back in the running for the Superstock title with a superb race win and Michael once again moved closer to securing a place in the all important top six. Tommy is making life hard for himself with another crash, however in his defence, he was pushing for a podium position in both races, which is exactly what we like to see from our riders.
“With more information in the bank and some further development planned for our S1000RR machinery in the near future, we can look forward to the final three rounds of the main championship season with optimism.”
Championship Points – British Superbikes
Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki) 221
Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 216
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 147
Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki) 139
Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) 103
Tommy Bridewell (Tyco BMW) 99
Championship Points – National Superstock 1000
Josh Elliott 135
Alastair Seeley 113
Hudson Kennaugh 98
Luke Quigley 69
Jesse Traylor 67
Michael Robertson 57
For more information please contact – [email protected]
www.tycobmw.com