Knockhill Report

Scotland and the Knockhill circuit played host to the latest round of the Hel Motostar British Championship at the weekend.

For Team ILR riders Vasco van der Valk and Joe Thomas it was another mixed weekend with van der Valk again producing two particularly strong rides.

From the very first practice and qualifying session the young Dutch lad, who was paying his first visit to Knockhill, was impressive.

Improving by over one second in the two sessions, Vasco finished the qualifying session just 1.39s off the pace to head Row 3 of the grid, with Joe also riding well to finish 12th, just under a second adrift to place him one row back.

Vasco was always in the hunt in the first race and was never out of the first six for the first half of the race and mixing it with 3 other riders for sixth place. Joe meanwhile was further down the field and had his hands full in the middle of a large group of riders.

The race took its toll on a few riders towards the end and this, combined with some determined riding, saw both riders finish an excellent 8th and 10th respectively.

The team were called into emergency action on Sunday morning when van der Valk was knocked off his bike during the morning warm-up, and they worked incredibly hard to get his bike ready for the second race.

Vasco re-paid the team for their hard work when he rode another brilliant race to finish a season best 7th, just 0.73s off a top six finish.

For Joe however it was one to forget. Caught out in the damp conditions he crashed out on the first lap, breaking a finger and injuring his hand. Thankfully he wasn't seriously hurt and will be ready for the next round at Brands Hatch in two weeks time.

Ian Lougher Team ILR owner/manager: ''Another weekend of mixed fortunes for both lads, but both rode well once again. Vasco in particular produced two incredible rides when you consider he had never set eyes on the place before the weekend and thankfully Joe wasn't badly hurt after his Race 2 crash. The whole team worked hard over the weekend, particularly after Vasco was knocked off in warm-up. We now look forward to Brands Hatch in two weeks time. Thanks again for all your support.''

Vasco van der Valk: " A good weekend at Knockhill! I learned lots and Team ILR helped me so much! After a crash in the warm-up, I am so grateful to them for fixing my bike and I got 7th in the race! So 8th and 7th is the best weekend so far! Thanks to the team and my sponsors!

Joe Thomas: "So the weekend didn't go so bad, in the first race I had an awesome couple of battles and finished 10th, but in the second race I sadly fell off breaking my finger and injuring my hand, oh well bring on Brands!"



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Satisfying Weekend at Brands Hatch for Team ILR

The Hel Motostar British Championship paid its second visit to Brands Hatch this season for the latest round of the series on the longer GP circuit, and for Team ILR's Vasco van der Valk and Joe Thomas it was a solid weekend's work with both again in the points for what has become one of the most consistent teams in the championship to date.
Van der Valk went quickest of the two in qualifying to place him on Row 4 of the grid with Thomas just under a second slower and one row back. 

Both riders would perform well in the weekend's two races with Vasco's two ninth places only telling half the story, and on another occasion the 15 year old Dutch rider could have found himself with two top six finishes.

He was very much part of a seven rider group that battled for virtually the entire first race for 5th place, and only lost out when among back markers in the closing stages. Nevertheless he learned a lot, finishing as he did just behind Ed Rendell, one of the most experienced and quickest riders in the class.  
And it was a similar story in Race 2 with Vasco always in the mix in a group of five riders challenging for the higher placings.

Joe also rode well at Brands Hatch.
Comfortable in 14th in Race 1, he then came under a lot of pressure in the closing stages but with a lot of determination he held on to fend off his rivals.
Buoyed by this, Thomas improved his lap times considerably in the second race to ride to a great 10th place finish behind his team-mate in ninth.

Vasco has hit a rich vein of mid-season form with the action now moving to Thruxton in two weeks time, and it's a circuit which should suit him.
With renewed confidence, Joe will also be looking to give a good account of himself at the fast flowing Hampshire venue.

Ian Lougher Team ILR owner/manager:
''It was a satisfying weekend for the team with both riders getting into the top ten once again.
In Saturday's race it looked at one point that Vasco might get 5th as he was involved in a real dog-fight with seven other riders. He was at it again on Sunday in Race 2 gaining another ninth.
Joe struggled a bit on Saturday with confidence but went two seconds a lap faster on Sunday getting a great 10th.
As always I'd like to say a big thank-you to all our sponsors, and also the hard work put in by the team members this weekend as Brands is always logistically hard graft.
So a big thank-you also to Matt, Jacko, Richard, Iwan, Anita, Andrea and Asa."

Vasco van der Valk: 
"And the weekend is over, both races 9th with nice battles and improvements all the time!
Also my sponsor Amex Logistics BV and Gertjan came down to watch, thanks a lot for supporting me! 
Hope we can keep up this pace at Thruxton. 
Thanks to the team and all the sponsors!"

Joe Thomas:
"I am happy with the weekend.
I had a good chat with my mechanic Jacko and I am feeling good about Thruxton.
I am more confident in myself and wish to thank all my sponsors and all the team!"

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Double success at Armoy for Farquhar and SGS International/KMR Kawasaki

Ryan Farquhar and the SGS International/KMR Kawasaki team enjoyed a successful day of racing at the Armoy Road Races on Saturday with the Dungannon ace taking victory in the Supertwins race and Adam McLean doing the same in the Junior Support event.

With conditions around the 3-mile circuit perfect all day, Ryan opened his account for the day with a solid sixth on his Kawasaki ZX-10R in the 7-lap Superbike race, despite not feeling over comfortable with the set-up of the machine. It was a different story in the Supertwins race though where, after taking pole position, he took a near two-second win over Derek McGee and also claimed a new lap record of 98.106mph.

Team-mate, and newcomer to the circuit, Darren James had a good ride into tenth but there was disappointment for former Grand Prix winner Jeremy McWilliams who jumped the start and pulled into retire as a result of the subsequent penalty.

Meanwhile, Adam McLean made his debut for the team, contesting the Junior Support race on another of the SGS International/KMR Kawasaki 650cc Supertwin machines and, aided by the fastest lap of the race at 93.037mph, he took an excellent win by over five seconds.

With the win under his belt, Ryan opted out of the feature Superbike race and celebrated with the whole of the SGS International/KMR Kawasaki team on their successful day.

Ryan Farquhar: “It’s been a good day for the team and a good Armoy event once more so we’re all pretty happy right now. I’ve chatted to Adam a few times this season and we agreed to run him on the bike to give SGS International a bit more exposure and he gave us the perfect start to the day with an excellent win. In the feature Twin race, it all went perfectly for me and Darren too but, unfortunately, Jeremy made a bit of a mess of the start and with all the time lost due to the penalty he received he retired from the race."

“In the first big bike race, I’d qualified sixth and made a good start to slot into fourth in the early stages. I wasn’t 100% happy with the set-up of the bike though and it wasn’t comfortable running at that pace so I eased the pace slightly and dropped back into sixth which was where I ended up. I made a few changes to the bike for the Grand Final but after Adam’s win and then my own win, we’d had a good weekend so decided to leave it there and celebrate in the SGS International hospitality. Like I say, it was a good meeting for us so thanks as always to all my loyal sponsors.”



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Horst Saiger joins Team ILR

Team ILR are delighted to announce that popular Austrian rider Horst Saiger will join the team when he makes his debut at next month's Ulster Grand Prix.

From the town of Knittelfeld and growing up near the Österreichring, it was perhaps only natural that racing would play a big part in Horst's life and he certainly holds an impressive racing CV.

Third at Le Mans earlier this year, the 44 year old is an experienced World Endurance Racer and was part of the Kawasaki Bolliger Switzerland EWC runners-up team in 2010, and his results also include a championship third in 2009 and fourth in 2004 and 2006.
Included in this are podiums and top five finishes at the likes of the Le Mans 24 Hour, Bol d’Or, 8 Hours of Oschersleben, 8 Hours of Qatar and 8 Hours of Albacete.

Saiger has also competed in the Superbike World Championship and at the Daytona 200.

No stranger to road race fans, he made his debut at the Isle of Man TT Races in 2013 where he was second fastest newcomer and the following year he achieved an excellent 11th place finish in the Superstock TT.

And it's on road and street circuits like the North-West 200, Macau and Wanganui where Horst has really impressed. 
He has recorded top six finishes at the Macau GP in recent years, and in his first visit to the North-West 200 in 2012 he notched up brilliant 17th and 10th place Superstock finishes with a 117+ mph lap in the second race. 
At the 2014 North-West 200 he broke the Superstock lap record on his way to fifth place in only his third visit to the event. 

On his first visit to Wanganui last year he was third and fifth in the Superbike races and clinched the overall Tri Series at the meeting where he was also fifth in the Robert Holden Memorial feature race.

This year's North-West 200 saw Horst involved in a serious crash which left him with a broken elbow, but with patience and determination and with continual support from Kawasaki and Metzeler, he is ready for his Dundrod debut where he will have the Team ILR Superstock Ninja ZX-10R at his disposal as well as the experience of Team ILR owner/manager and Dundrod specialist Ian Lougher to call upon. 

Ian Lougher Team ILR owner/manager:
'' I am delighted to be able to work with Horst. Not only is he a great rider with a lot of experience who I respect very much, but he is also a very funny man and makes everyone laugh, so that's always a plus point in this game.
Horst has a lot of knowledge in all sorts of disciplines in motorcycle sport, so he may be able to teach me a thing or two during our week together at Dundrod.
But one thing's for sure, I will give him and my other rider Dan Hegarty all my 28 years worth of Ulster GP experience to make sure they have the safest and most enjoyable week possible."
Horst Saiger: 
" I have always looked up to Ian as a person and sportsman since I met him a couple of years ago, so it's a big thing for me to do the Ulster GP together with Team ILR.
I couldn't have dreamed of a better partner or team!!
For my first UGP I will do the Terlicko GP the weekend before to get back to my race feeling after two months, or as Ian said 'to find my mojo'. " 

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