Maxton Suspension used on "New" TriumphsClick here to see the videoBack Brands Hatch ReportThe curtain came down on ILR Kawasaki's season with the final round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at Brands Hatch on Sunday and it was a weekend of mixed fortunes as Filip Backlund finished a solid fifth, but for his team-mate Victor Cox there was bitter disappointment as he crashed out of the race on the second lap. ILR Kawasaki would like to thank all the sponsors and everyone who has helped and supported the team in 2013, and now look forward to another successful 2014 season Back SMT Racing end British Championship season with triple race victorySMT Racing finished the 2013 season exactly as they started as Adam Jenkinson and Tim and Tristan Reeves swept to a triple race victory at Brands Hatch but whilst the Reeves brothers had already wrapped up the Eastern Airways British Sidecar Championship, The Reeves brothers also had their two races severely affected by the weather with the opening race of the weekend being particularly treacherous. A number of teams crashed out but Tim and Tristan kept their heads immaculately and with some precision sidecar driving, they came home over six seconds clear of Ben Holland/Lee Watson. The second race again saw a variety of tyre choices made by the crews and whilst Tim opted for full slicks in the damp weather, Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson chose intermediates and there was little to choose between the two pairings after a safety car period saw the pack bunch up. With a dry line appearing, straying slightly off it spelt a distinct lack of grip for Tim and Tristan but they were determined not to let Peach and Richardson get the better of them and they edged them out by 0.669s for their 16th win out of 18 races contested. Indeed, their dominance of the series could be seen in the final standings as their tally of 490 points saw them end the season 168 points clear of Peach/Richardson with Holland/Watson a further sixty points back. Looking back at the team’s highly successful season, SMT Racing’s owner Robin Croft added: "Tim and Tristan were again exemplary in what were also very difficult conditions and swept to another emphatic double. We started the season with three race victories and ended the season with three race victories so I couldn't ask for more. I'd like to thank Tim and Tristan and Adam for how they've ridden and conducted themselves all year and also thank Alec, Fred and Steve for all their hard work and for making the season what it was." Back Reeves brothers claim British F1 ChampionshipThere was both jubilation and despair for SMT Racing at Silverstone at the weekend with Tim and Tristan Reeves wrapping up the 2013 Eastern Airways British F1 Sidecar Championship After taking a comfortable pole position, Tim and Tristan took the lead at the first corner of Saturday’s Sidecar race and promptly opened up a near two-second lead. Although they were reeled in by Ben and Tom Birchall going into the final third of the race, the Kent brothers drove the perfect race, controlling affairs from the front and preventing the Birchalls from attempting an overtaking manoeuvre. With a 14th victory of the season for the pair, Tim duly clinched his fifth British Championship but for Tristan, making his return to the sport after a lengthy absence, there was cause for more celebration as it was his first British crown. Sunday’s race was another epic as the two sets of siblings went wheel to wheel for the entire race distance once more. Tim and Tristan again grabbed the holeshot and although they led the majority of the race, there was never more than inches between the two outfits – Tim and Tristan quicker through the corners with fortunes reversed along the straights. They managed to keep the Birchalls at bay until the sixth lap when they hit the front for the first time but on the final lap they re-took the lead through Becketts. Positions changed hands once more at Stowe and so at the chequered flag the Birchalls got the verdict from Tim and Tristan by half a second. For Reeves though, it was jubilation and a delighted Tim said; “Having taken a year out from the World Championships this year, we decided to give the British Championship our full attention and it's great to win the title again, not just for myself, but for the team also. I'm chuffed to bits. The race was really hard, as I knew it would be, as Ben and Tom have won the last 7 World Championship races on the trot and I cooked my tyres a bit in the early laps, pushing too hard. I had to nurse them through the middle part of the race but we got through the difficult part and was able to push again in the last couple of laps. I'm driving better than ever and it's great to give Robin and SMT Racing some good coverage. They – like all my other sponsors – have been so supportive all year long and it's been a superb season." Team owner Robin Croft added; "There's obviously delight in the team with Tim and Tristan being crowned British Champions. They've achieved exactly what they set out to achieve and everyone in the team is delighted to be associated with them and their Championship win. Back Backlund wins BSB SSTK1000 at SilverstoneHe has been promising to deliver a race win and on Sunday Filip Backlund produced the goods as he enjoyed his first success in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship in the eleventh round of the series at Silverstone. His team mate Victor Cox rode strongly to finish 12th from the sixth row of the grid.It was a textbook performance from the young Swedish rider who picked up where he left off in the previous round at Donington Park. He was quickest through every sector and recorded the fastest ideal lap on his way to finishing second quickest in Free Practice, with Victor in 10th. Filip went one better to top the first qualifying session by over a second as he again went fastest through all three sectors and registered the best ideal lap, with his quickest lap being 0.7 seconds inside the lap record. Victor was also well on the pace finishing third overall with the second best ideal lap, and in the top five through the three sectors. Second qualifying saw Backlund pushed down to third by only 0.204 seconds but his time was good enough for second overall and a place on the front row of the grid with Cox finishing 17th overall for an unfamiliar place on the sixth row. Working closely as always with Richard Adams from Maxton Suspension, the settings used by the team in qualifying gave them valuable feedback for the race and they got it spot on. Backlund grabbed the race by the scruff of the neck. Taking the lead on the first lap and breaking the lap record, he led from Joe Burns and Hudson Kennaugh with pole-setter Josh Wainwright in fourth. Cox meanwhile had made a great start but due to a collision with another rider his fuel tank side fairing was smashed and hanging loose, as a result he had dropped from inside the top 10 to 21st at the close of the lap and had it all to do. On the third lap Backlund smashed the old lap record by over a second, and with Burns entering the pits Filip's lead was now over three seconds from Wainwright and championship leader Hudson Kennaugh. Cox was also on the move and had battled his way back into the points in 14th. With 100% confidence in the ILR Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and consistently lapping quicker than the opposition in the low 2:10s, Backlund was never headed and he eased back slightly on the last lap to run out a comfortable winner by over nine seconds from Kennaugh with Lee Jackson claiming the last podium place. Despite having to try and hold on to his smashed fuel tank side fairing with his knee for virtually the whole of the race, Victor's spirited ride took him to 12th and four championship points. Backlund's race win, ILR Kawasaki's second success this season, moves him up to third in the championship with Cox occupying fourth spot with one round remaining at Brands Hatch in two weeks time. Filip Backlund: "A superb weekend where we put everything together to take the win and a new lap record. I want to thank my whole team, mechanics, suspension support from Richard at Maxton Suspension, all my sponsors and the other people who are helping me out on the way - I'm grateful for all this!" Back Reeves and SMT Racing edge ever closer to British Championship title
Qualifying around the Dutch venue saw Tim and Tristan claim pole position by a healthy 1.6s and they lined up for Saturday’s race confident of taking the spoils. However, a slight clutch problem on the warm-up lap meant caution had to be exercised in the early stages and they found themselves back in fifth at the completion of the first lap. With all mechanical concerns gone though, they were able to advance through the field and took the lead from Roger Lovelock/Aki Aalto on the seventh lap, which proved to be a blessing as the red flag soon came out. The result was declared at eight laps giving Tim and Tristan the victory over Lovelock by 1.52s. Sunday’s 8-lap encounter was due to be shown live on British Eurosport but an oil spill meant a delay to proceedings and when the race eventually got underway, Tim and Tristan immediately showed their intentions, grabbing the lead on the first lap and instantly pulling away. With a series of fastest laps, less than half a second adrift of the lap record, they quite simply dominated the race and eventually took the chequered flag by a commanding 22.2s for their 13th win of the season. With another 50-point haul, they now lead the Championship from Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson by 122 points with 150 remaining. Speaking afterwards a pleased Tim commented; “It’s great to take another double victory and regaining the British Championship is firmly within reach now. I had a bit of an issue with the clutch slipping on the warm-up lap of Saturday’s race, hence taking it easy to begin with, but once we got going, everything was 100% and I just concentrated on picking the guys off in front of me one by one. It was a good job I’d taken the lead from Roger when I did though as the red flag came out soon after and it was great to start the weekend off with a win.” “It was a real shame we didn’t get to perform on live television on Sunday but I just got my head down from the start and despite there being oil down on about a third of the circuit I got to within 0.4s of the lap record. The bike was flying and I think we now need to beat Andy and Charlie by three points in the first race at Silverstone to clinch the title, which we’ll obviously be going all out to achieve. Once again, thanks to everyone who continues to help us and special thanks this weekend to Wayne Bullen of DFDS Seaways for their additional support.” Back Mixed end to 2013 road racing season for KMR KawasakiThe KMR Kawasaki team had a mixed end to their 2013 road racing season at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough at the weekend with James Cowton securing a rostrum position in the Supertwins class on Saturday but suffering a spill in Sunday's corresponding race. With regular team members Jamie Hamilton and Connor Behan sitting out the meeting, it was left to Driffield's Cowton to fly the flag for the team and he got the weekend off to a great start in Saturday's 8-lap Supertwins race, the first leg of the Lee Pullan Trophy. Whilst Ivan Lintin ran away with the victory, James battled with Dean Harrison throughout although he had to settle for third at the chequered flag, just 1.4s adrift of his rival. Whilst Saturday saw good, sunny conditions, the same couldn't be said for Sunday with the Yorkshire venue subjected to cool, damp weather for the second 8-lap Supertwins race. Having taken a brilliant third in the feature Gold Cup race earlier in the day on his own 600cc Honda, Cowton was in confident mood in his final outing of the year on the KMR Kawasaki and led Lintin and Harrison at the end of the opening lap. However, the circuit was still damp and slippy and the 21-year old slid off on the second lap fortunately without injury. Speaking afterwards, team manager Ryan Farquhar commented; "It's been a mixed few weekends for us at the end of what's been a highly successful season for KMR Kawasaki with some good results offset by a few spills and it was a similar outcome this weekend. James did a great job in Saturday's dry race, posting some extremely competitive lap times and pushing Dean Harrison all the way and we were hopeful of bettering that result on Sunday. The conditions were very tricky and James, like many others during the course of the day, got caught out fortunately without any injury to himself or much damage to the bike. It's been a long, old season so I'm glad it's all over now but, like I say, it's been highly successful so everyone connected to the team can be proud of their efforts, least of all the riders themselves. We'll go away now and regroup over the winter and make plans for the 2014 season." Back Win Number 132 for Lougher at Oliver's MountILR Kawasaki team owner/rider Ian Lougher raised the bar even further when he took part in his final Steve Henshaw Gold Cup meeting at Oliver's Mount, Scarborough at the weekend. The circuit's most successful ever competitor, who retires at the end of this season, won the second leg of the 250cc Phil Mellor Trophy races to take his tally to a remarkable 132 wins round the tight and twisty public roads circuit. Blue skies and sunshine but chilly temperatures greeted everyone on Saturday morning for practice and qualifying. On one of only four 600cc bikes in the 'big bike' session Ian qualified in tenth, he was fifth on the 250, seventh in the 600cc class, and only fractions of a second outside the lap record as he put the Team Repli-Cast UK Racing 125 bike on pole position for the 125cc race. Ian's first race was the second race of the programme, the first leg of the 125cc Stu Reed Trophy. The race brought the Welshman and his regular sparring partner Chris Palmer together and the two were soon to the fore again. Ian was out of luck in the first leg of the Darran Lindsay Trophy and then claimed second in the first heat of the 600cc David Jefferies Cup behind James Cowton. Next up was the first leg of the 250cc Phil Mellor Trophy and it proved to be a great race between Ian, on the Brian Scott ex-Lee Vernon bike and the Dunlop brothers, Michael and William. Lougher's final race of the day was the first leg of the David Jefferies Cup but his race lasted a matter of a few hundred yards. As he peeled into Mere Hairpin a rider behind lost control near the back of the field and took another rider with him, in the resulting melee seven riders went down like dominoes including Ian who escaped with a sore leg and finger. The W.A. Corless/Jackson Racing 600 wasn't running right afterwards though as the team set about getting it ready for the following day. Bad weather was forecast for Sunday and unfortunately the forecasters got it right. First race of the day was the second leg of the Darran Lindsay Trophy and there was a red flag on the second lap when a rider crashed. At the re-start the rain started to fall heavily resulting in a quick tyre change on the grid for some riders with Ian going on to finish a solid fourth just over two seconds behind third place man Michael Dunlop. He then took to the grid for the 2nd Leg of the 250 Phil Mellor Trophy and produced one of his best rides of the weekend to hold off the challenge of Michael Dunlop for a brilliant win. Lougher took the race by the scruff of the neck and led at the halfway point by over 3.5 seconds from Dunlop with Cowton in third. With two laps to go though Dunlop had reduced the gap to Lougher considerably and was now just over a second adrift with the race now firmly between these two. It was a case of Déjà vu for Lougher in the next race, the feature Gold Cup event. Conditions around the circuit were tricky as the riders then took to the grid for the second leg of the 600cc David Jefferies Trophy. What would have been Lougher's final race ended in disappointment when the ignition broke on the warm-up lap for the second leg of the 125cc Stu Reed Trophy, thus denying the spectators the possibility of another classic encounter between Ian and Chris Palmer who went on to complete a double race win. 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