Superb Southern 100 for Harrison and RC Express Racing

Dean Harrison and the RC Express Racing by MSS Performance team enjoyed a superb week of racing on the Isle of Man this week with the Bradford rider claiming three wins, two seconds and a new absolute record on the Kawasaki machinery at the popular Southern 100 meeting.

Competing on the 4.25-mile Billown course near Castletown, in the south of the island, Dean signalled his intentions for the week with victory in Tuesday evening’s Superbike race with his winning margin over Guy Martin some 5.3 seconds.

Wednesday evening followed a similar pattern as Dean took his second win of the week on the Kawasaki ZX-10R, this time in the Senior race. After an early battle with Martin, Dan Kneen and Michael Dunlop, he was able to edge clear and with the fastest lap of the race, 113.473mph, he took the win from Kneen by 6.2s. He followed this up with a good second in the Lightweight race on his TT-winning ER6 650cc Kawasaki.

With conditions on the island again perfect on Thursday, Dean’s third win came in the second Lightweight race in one of the closest ever races seen at the Southern 100. Locked in battle with James Cowton throughout the six laps, the duo flashed across the line together but it was Dean who got the win by the miniscule margin of 0.001s!

That just left the feature Southern 100 Solo Championship and another great start saw Dean take the lead and open up a small gap over Martin. Setting a new outright lap record of 114.601mph on the third lap, it looked like Dean would take his first ever Championship but Martin had other ideas and began to reel him in at half race distance. With just two laps to go, there was nothing between the pair but Martin got a better run through the backmarkers and Dean had to settle for second, just over half a second adrift at the chequered flag.

The 25-year old was also in action in the Supersport 600cc class taking two more wins, this time on the Mar Train 600cc Yamaha thus giving the Irish team their first ever victories on the public roads.

Dean Harrison: “It would have been nice to have ended the week with a win in the feature race but I can’t complain as the week’s been spot on. The Superbike was flying all week but Guy got a better run through the backmarkers and there was no time left to have a go back. I’m always a bit hesitant when it comes to overtaking backmarkers and that was what happened – I paused briefly and Guy shot by both myself and the backmarker at the same time. I got by soon after but it gave Guy just enough time to open up that half second gap.”

“It was nice to get the outright lap record though and showed how well everything had worked. I’m learning all the time with my riding and continually chipping away and it’s pleasing to be able to build on my results year on year. I’ve had five wins and two second places from my seven races this week and, with the lap record as well, I’ve got to be pleased with that so a big thanks to the whole team again for doing a great job.”

Ben Constable, Team Co-Owner: “The Southern 100 is undoubtedly one of the best meetings of the year and it’s always incredibly well organised so to have the week we’ve had has been brilliant. The weather was mint and after taking podiums in our races last year, we’ve returned this year and improved our results further. We’re continually looking to improve and progress as a team and with Dean riding better and better we’re doing exactly that. He rode really well all week and with a new Superbike engine from MSS Performance, he’s been able to take it to the next level and really challenge – and beat – the likes of Guy and Michael. He’s been happy all week and with three wins and two seconds on our bikes, as well as the lap record, we’re all over the moon. I’d just like to thank George Peach and all his team for all their hard work and for putting on a great show – they work tirelessly at the job and deserved to have a great week with some great racing.”

Reeves and Cluze take fourth World Championship win of the season

Tim Reeves’ charge towards the 2014 World Sidecar Championship continued last weekend at Assen, Holland with the SMT/Remse Racing driver and passenger Gregory Cluze taking their fourth win of the season to open up a more than healthy 51-point lead.

The weekend got off to the perfect start for Tim and Gregory when they topped the timesheets in the first qualifying session with a time of 1m41.652s, comfortably clear of Ben and Tom Birchall, and with a blistering time of 1m40.969s in the second and final session, they duly claimed pole position for the 16-lap race. The Birchalls remained in second although they narrowed the gap to 0.8s.

After dry weather during qualifying, rain fell an hour before the race was due to get underway and although it had stopped by the time the outfits came under starter’s orders, parts of the circuit remained wet. With slick tyres fitted, Tim made a steady getaway when the lights turned green and found himself back in seventh going into the first corner with the Birchalls taking an early lead.

Half way round the first lap, Tim and Gregory had worked their way up to third behind the Birchalls and local heroes Bennie Streuer and Geert Koerts and although a dry line was rapidly appearing, the leading trio had to be cautious in the early stages. The slick tyres soon came into their own though and Tim and Gregory overhauled Streuer and promptly set about closing the gap to the Birchalls. This was duly done and they seized the lead soon after, opening up a healthy three-second gap over their main rivals.

A problem with the quickshifter allowed the Birchalls to close in slightly in the final laps but Tim and Gregory had everything under control and the 25 points have moved them onto 116pts with the Birchalls now up to second on 65.

Speaking afterwards, a delighted Tim said; “It’s pretty much been the perfect weekend and after breaking the lap record and taking pole position in qualifying, we wrapped the weekend up with a great win. The rain before the race kept us all on our toes and my side of the track was extremely wet when we got underway so I had to be very careful getting off the line. It left me down the pack a bit but I got my head down and set about closing the gap to Ben and Tom. Once past, we opened up a nice lead and although a problem with the quickshifter gave me a couple of anxious moments towards the end, we held on for another win.”

“It’s allowed us to open a very healthy lead in the Championship, something we’re extremely keen to maintain so all our focus now is on the next round at Sachsenring. Unfortunately, that means we’ve had to withdraw our entry from the Southern 100 where I’d planned to defend my Championship title. I’m obviously disappointed to be missing such a great event and would like to apologise to everyone connected with the meeting for withdrawing at this late stage but the World Championship is our main goal and commitment this season and we don’t want anything to jeopardise that.”

“It was a bit of a frantic start to the season but everything’s going really well so a massive thanks to all my sponsors especially DFDS Seaways, SMT Racing, H&S Contractors, MJW Kawasaki, Remse Racing, Planet Engineering and LA Marketing.”

Knockhill Circuit, Scotland - Round 4

Team SBR headed to sunny Scotland for round 4 of the National Superstock championship.  The weekend had its ups and downs, but the team Brogan camp was in good spirits and looking forward to the weekend ahead!

Adam Jenkinson ‘Overall the weekend for us was going well.  We missed a session due to weather on Saturday, which then meant I had to make a last minute decision on my setting for the race, which wasn’t ideal.  I got boxed in at the start but I got a good rhythm and got up to 3rd.  I had a good pace but unfortunately I ran on chasing for 2nd and took the front, which resulted in me crashing!  I was disappointed as I was quite confident we would have had a podium.  Onwards and upwards for Brands Hatch GP in 3 weeks time, a track which I love!

Victor Cox ‘I didn’t have the best of weekends at Knockhill.  We qualified in 12th, which I wasn’t too pleased about, but with the rain coming down we couldn’t get many good laps in.  We made some adjustments towards the end of the session to the suspension but we still never managed to get a good lap time in.  The race itself was disappointing, I ran wide a couple of times putting me back to 21st so I had alot of work to do to make up some positions.  I ended up finishing the race in 13th.  I was gutted for my team mate Adam also, who I know was running a good pace at the front.  I really enjoy Brands Hatch GP, and I will be training hard in preparation for round 5 in 3 weeks time.

Team Manager Steve Brogan ‘Knockhill was a struggle to get to, due to our title sponsor pulling out.  As always our team morale was high and we were ready for a good race weekend.  I was pleased with both riders all weekend.  Qualifying could have gone better for both of them but unfortunately the weather caused a problem for them to better their times.  Adam got up to 3rd in the race battling at the front for 2nd.  Unfortunately though he crashed, which is easily done when you’re on the limit. It was disappointing for Adam as I know he could have got a podium.   Victor qualified in 12th but unfortunately he ran off the track putting him back to 21st, but he never gave up and finished 13th, showing alot of determination.  We’re hoping for more success at Brands, and I’m sure the boys will get a better qualifying for that race, as they are both very fond of the track.   From experience, a good qualifying  is half your race result!  Finally I’d like to say a big Thanks to our continued sponsors.