Steve Saunders Wins Pre 65 Scottish Two Day Trial
Strong performance from Cox at Thruxton Victor Cox put his recent bad luck behind him when he rode to a strong fifth place finish in Round 4 of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship in association with Blackhorse, at Thruxton on Monday.It was an impresssive performance by the Blackhorse Kawasaki teamster who showed excellent form at the Hampshire circuit. Fifth in free practice just 0.80 seconds off the pace, set the pattern for the weekend. First qualifying got underway in damp conditions but with things improving Cox took to the track and it paid dividends as he put in a lap of 1:19.26 to briefly top the session before finishing second overall. He was however quickest through Sector 2 and his Ninja ZX-10R was the highest placed Kawasaki. Confidence was high for the second session in which Victor eventually finished 7th, just half a second off the pace with a one second blanket covering the top 11 riders. Victor's time of 1:18.52 secs was over half a second faster than his first session best and he qualified on the second row of the grid for the race itself. The weather forecast for race day was for heavy rain from early morning but thankfully as the riders lined up on the grid that rain hadn't yet materialised although there was a distinct dampness in the air. The race had just got underway with Victor in tenth, when the safety car appeared at the end of the first lap and remained on the circuit for another four laps. On lap six they were racing again and as they went over the line at the end of the lap Victor was up to eighth. A lap later and it was seventh for Cox as he got past the Padgetts Honda of Joe Dickinson with the HM Plant Honda of Jason O'Halloran next in his sights, and indeed it was O'Halloran who was relegated a place on the next lap. Tristan Palmer and Adam Jenkinson were next to fall victim to Cox, who was riding brilliantly and sensing a podium finish. At two-thirds distance it was anyone's race with just under one second covering the top six and Victor still in fourth. On lap 11, Palmer re-claimed fourth through The Complex section with Victor not having any real chance to fight back as the race was red-flagged at the end of the lap due to the worsening weather conditions. Nevertheless a solid performance from Cox who posted the third fastest lap of the race (the fastest by a Kawasaki rider) and he was quickest through both sectors with his ideal lap comparison placing him almost half a second ahead of the opposition. Victor also scored 11 championship points which moved him six places up the standings to 14th. It's back to road race action now for Blackhorse Kawasaki as team manager/rider Ian Lougher went straight from Thruxton to take part in Monday evening's first practice session at the Isle of Man TT races. Back Reeves and Cluze show fine form in final practice Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze saved the best until last in practice for the Isle of Man TT Sidecar races and a superb lap of 113.321mph was good enough to place them second fastest overall on the leaderboard going into Saturday's opening 3-lap race.
After a solid start to the week, Tim and Gregory put in their first real quick laps on Wednesday evening posting a best lap of 111.379mph but problems on Thursday saw them slip back to 106.697mph. However, with conditions perfect on Friday evening, Tim signalled his intentions with a standing start lap of 113.321mph, comfortably Gregory's quickest ever lap of the Mountain Course. They looked odds on to better that speed on their second lap with substantially quicker sector times only to run low on fuel at Hillberry before limping home but with the bike handling well and flying through the speed trap at Sulby (144.9mph), hopes are high for the first race tomorrow.
Speaking afterwards Tim said: "We started the week steadily and were buidling up nicely, the lap of 111mph+ on Wednesday being particularly pleasing but problems on Thursday saw us take a backward step. I wasn't happy after that session but we got the bike fixed in time for the final practice session and I had a good go, catching John Holden on the first lap and then going quicker on the second but as we were coming over the Mountain I started to run low on fuel as we didn't start the session with a full tank so I had to limp home. The bike's absolutely flying now and it's easy for people to forget that it's only Greg's second time but he's doing brilliantly. I've no hesitation in saying he's the best passenger in the world but the TT course takes a while to learn and it's a big jump up from the speeds he did on his debut 12 months ago. He's been absolutely faultless though and I'm feeling really strong now going into the first race."
The first 3-lap Sidecar race is scheduled to get underway at 3.00pm on Saturday.
Back Tough week on the Island so far for Farquhar Ryan Farquhar has endured a problematical week of practice so far at the 2011 Isle of Man TT Races, with the KMR Kawasaki rider struggling to complete a flying lap on any of his machines.With the removal of Saturday practice from this year's schedule, Monday evening was essentially the warm up session but with damp conditions around the course, speeds were considerably down on what everyone has become accustomed to in recent years. Taking his all-new Superbike out for the first time though, Ryan completed two laps, the fastest of which was 119.502mph, and although it was very much early days, he was happy with the initial performance of the machine. With far better conditions on Tuesday evening, the pace of the main contenders increased considerably and Ryan's opening lap on the Superbike was a more rapid 124.051mph. However, as he quickened his pace on the second lap, he started to notice a slight problem with the engine and so pulled in at Kerromoar, approximately 20 miles around the course. Unfortunately, that meant he was stranded with no way of getting back to the paddock and so he missed out on a full session of practice, his main rivals completing 5 laps of the 37 and 3/4-mile course. With the Superbike out of action until Thursday, Ryan got his first laps in on the Superstock bike during Wednesday evening, which again saw good conditions. He was able to complete 2 laps, the best at 124.394mph which made him 4th quickest but overheating problems forced him to stop at Sulby before he was able to proceed later on in the session. That resulted him in jumping onto the Supersport bike for the first time during the week and two steady laps late in the session saw him put in a speed of 119.790mph. Speaking on Thursday, Ryan said: "It's been a frustrating week so far and we've had nothing but problems to say the least! With Monday being damp, we just had a couple of steady laps and Tuesday was the night when I really wanted to get stuck in properly but coming through Sulby Bridge and Ginger Hall, the engine made a slight noise so I pulled in just round the corner at Kerromoar and that was my night over as there's simply no way of getting back from there. I lost a really good session that night but I went back out on the stocker on Wednesday only to run into a few overheating problems. I got a half decent lap in but I've got a fair way to go yet before I'm where I want to be. Losing the track time has put us on the back foot a bit but that's the Isle of Man for you so we'll be back out on Thursday to give it a go and, hopefully, get the bikes closer to where I want to be. The first race is right around the corner now so we need to get some good laps in tonight otherwise it's going to be a longer fortnight. The saying goes 'bad practice week, good race week', so I'm hoping that's the case! Practice continues on Thursday and Friday evening with the opening Superbike race taking place on Saturday. Back CONROD BACK IN THE TT TOP SIX!
McAdoo Kawasaki Racing’s Conor Cummins finished an excellent 6th place in today’s TT Supersport Race 2. The Ramsey Rocket made the leaderboard on the famous mountain circuit just 12 months after his horrific crash at the Verandah in TT 2010.Using Maxton Suspension the McAdoo Kawasaki rider was closer to race-winning pace on the Pirelli-shod ZX-6R Kawasaki than he’s been all TT 2011 proving the big man’s form is gradually returning. With just one more race to go, the Senior TT on Friday, when Conrod will be hoping for another safe finish after last year’s drama. Back Klaffenbock and Sayle win Sidecar TT Klaus Klaffenbock and Daniel Sayle made it three wins in a row when they took victory in the opening Sure Sidecar 1 Race by ten seconds from John Holden and Andy Winkle at the 2011 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy.
The Austrian/Manx pairing took the lead at Glen Helen on the opening lap and were never headed, catching Holden on the road and circulating together in high speed formation. Lapping at just under 115mph, the pairing were well clear of the rest of the field with Conrad Harrison and Mike Aylott overhauling Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze on the final lap for third.Klaffenbock and Sayle got off to a flying start to lead at Glen Helen on the opening lap but it was close with Holden and Winkle only one second adrift. Harrison was four seconds further back in third, only one second ahead of Reeves whilst Tony Elmer/Darren Marshall were up into fifth slightly ahead of Gary Bryan/Jamie Winn. It was the same order at Ramsey Hairpin but Klaffenbock¹s lead was now up to 5.7 seconds as he had Holden firmly in his sights on the road and, indeed, by the end of the first lap, they were leading both on time and on the road. The advantage now stood at 11 seconds but there was a change for third with Reeves now some 3.5 seconds ahead of Harrison. Elmer and Bryan were still in fifth and sixth with the Birchall brothers now up to 7th although Dougie Wright and Greg Lambert were only 3 and 5 seconds adrift respectively. 
Having taken the lead on the road, former World Champion Klaffenbock could afford to sit with Holden for the rest of the race and on the second lap the duo treated to the fans to a high speed duel on the roads as they swapped positions on a number of occasions. The lead was always around the 10 second mark for Klaffenbock and his secondlap was 114.798mph although Holden was slightly quicker at 114.861mph, the gap now exactly ten seconds as they lapped nose to tail. Reeves was seemingly in control of third, his advantage over Harrison now six seconds.Klaffenbock and Holden were secure in first and second with Reeves some 44 seconds back but he was now coming under serious pressure from Harrison, later attributed to a sticking throttle. At Ballaugh, the gap was down to 1.6s and by Ramsey, Harrison had seized control of the final podium spot, now some 3 seconds clear. Klaffenbock and Holden crossed the line almost together to secure first and second whilst Harrison crossed the line in third for his second TT podium, and passenger Aylott¹s first, with Reeves a despondent fourth. Elmer and Bryan were fifth and sixth throughout to again secure strong finishes whilst the Birchalls enjoyed a strong drive on their return in seventh. The top ten was completed by Dougie Wright/Martin Hull, Greg Lambert/Aaron Galligan and Carl Fenwick/Mark Sayers, the latter comfortably the best newcomer, also putting in a superb fastest lap of 107.807mph. Back Behan Podiums At Thruxton After a great start to the season Connor Behan finally got what he deserved, a podium at Thruxton. Using a Maxton GP10 rear shock absorber and the Maxton GP30 fork internals Connor Behan continued his excellent form in the Junior Superstock 600 Championship with a 3rd place finish.Connor has started really well this season qualifying on either of the front 2 rows of every round, but bad luck had cost him either wins or podiums at the previous rounds. Thruxton was different, after qualifying second with a time of 1.19.983, Conner was dicing for a lead for most of the race having to settle for a very happy 3rd place in the end.  Back Farquhar digs deep for Senior TT finish Ryan Farquhar ensured his 2011 Isle of Man TT races campaign ended on a positive note when the KMR Kawasaki rider took a brave 13th in Friday's Senior race. Having sustained substantial bruising in a practice spill last Friday evening, Ryan believed he would be out of action for the entire race week but having completed a practice lap on Thursday he stated his intention to race and he did just that, lapping at more than 126mph on his Superstock machine for a solid finish.Despite still being in considerable pain, Ryan's sole aim was simply to finish the punishing 6-lap race and would have been happy to have finished in the top 20 but a rider of Ryan's class was always going to give it 100% and a superb first lap of 126.064mph saw him slot into a strong 12th place. He slipped back to 15th second time around the Mountain Course but another strong lap on lap 4, 124.727mph, saw him jump back up to 13th and, enjoying a good on-the-roads battle with Michael Rutter, he was able to consolidate his position over the final third of the race. The duo spent most of the last two laps riding nose to tail and Ryan's brave efforts were rewarded with a fine, and thoroughly deserved, 13th place and a bronze replica. 
Speaking later, a tired, but pleased Ryan said; "Six laps around here are tough at the best of the time and I'm really sore now but I'm delighted to have finished the race, and pick up a strong finish at that. Last Friday I thought there was no way possible that I could race but once I'd passed my medical and decided to give it a go and race. I just wanted to finish the race and would have been happy with a top 20 finish. Once the race got going, I rode as steady and as safely as I could but it was hard work especially over the bumps where my injured ribs and back were taking a real pounding. My first board said 'P12' so I figured if I could keep going, I might just be able to sneak into the top 15.""Michael Dunlop came by me and I hung on to him for a bit but I was certainly struggling over the sections of the course where you need to be really committed. Michael Rutter then came by me and I had a real good dice on the roads with him - I've been coming here for some time now and I can honestly say he's the smoothest rider I've ever ridden with around here, it was a pleasure to follow him. There was no point trying to pass him as he'd caught up a lot of time and was obviously ahead of me whilst by lap six my legs were completely gone as I was having to try and steer the bike with my knees. If there'd have been another lap I would have pulled in but, luckily, there wasn't and I was able to take the flag for a finish I'm absolutely delighted with. It's obviously been a tough TT for me but I just want to thank everyone who's supported me this fortnight, particularly everyone who looked after me at the hospital. I'm now going to head home, rest up and look at getting back to full fitness as soon as I can." Back Another fourth place for Reeves in Sidecar TT
 Tim Reeves endured a mixed day of racing on Thursday when he took another fourth place finish in the second Sidecar TT race at the Isle of Man. With passenger Gregory Cluze, the duo were again left frustrated and unable to make the impression on the leaderboard they would have liked and they had to settle for fourth place at the end of 113 miles of racing, just 0.8s adrift of the podium.After suffering a blown engine earlier in the week, Clive Padgett loaned Tim a 600cc Honda for the three-lap race and although Tim lapped at 110.369mph on the opening lap, he was unable to use top gear and subsequently unable to get near the 113mph+ speed he'd recorded in practice. In fifth at the end of lap one, Tim increased his pace to 111.686mph second time around and on the final lap he slowly began to reel in Tony Elmer/Darren Marshall who were ahead of him in fourth. Towards the end of the race, the duo suddenly found themselves fighting it out for the final podium spot as long time race leaders Klaus Klaffenbock/Dan Sayle ran into trouble and although Tim and Greg lapped over six seconds quicker than Elmer, they just fell short by the agonisning margin of 0.8s. Nevertheless, it was Tim's sixth top-six finish in seven TT races. Speaking aftewards Tim said; "It was a very frustrating race as I was unable to use top gear throughout and that severely compromised the race. Clive lent us an engine, which was absolutely mint, and I could see that I'd pulled back a bit of time on Klaus as early as Union Mills but as soon as we accelerated up the Ballahutchin, the bike wouldn't pull top and I knew the race, in terms of a podium never mind a win, was over. I was having to take corners in a different gear to what I normally would and I ended up making a few mistakes so it was very disappointing. After doing the 113mph+ lap in practice, things have gone wrong ever since we ran out of fuel that night in practice so there's something, somewhere that's not connecting right. The bike was a rocketship back then and we were setting great times but in the races we couldn't get anywhere near them and the bike's always felt 'flat'." 
"Greg was faultless all fortnight and I honestly felt that I could win a race this year and I felt that I was ready but it wasn't meant to be so I'm going to make sure I come back next year more prepared than ever. I'm going to work really hard over the winter to make sure everything's in place and organised as I desperately want to win one of these things! Two fourth places is still a good achievement and I'd like to express my sincere thanks to everyone who's supported me and helped make it happen, especially Nigel Connole, Clive Padgett, Keith Whiting, H&S Contractors and the Haith family. Hopefully, 2012 will be our year."It's back to short circuit action now for Tim with the thrid round of the Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar Championship taking place at Knockhill, June 17-19. Back |
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