Ups and downs on the Island but KMR Kawasaki secure Manx GP podiums


The KMR Kawasaki team endured an up and down fortnight at the recent Manx Grand Prix but Connor Behan and Joe Faragher ensured it was another successful visit to the Isle of Man as they claimed second place in the Newcomers A and Newcomers B races respectively.
 
21-year old Behan increased his pace throughout practice week, claiming his first 110mph+ lap in the final practice session to set himself up nicely for Wednesday's four-lap race, which saw perfect conditions all the way round the 37 and 3/4-mile Mountain Course. Riding the 636cc Kawasaki, the Northwich rider completed his first lap at a speed of 111.298mph to slot into fourth place and that became third a lap later with a quicker lap of 113.149mph. By the end of lap three he was up to second and a brilliant fourth and final lap of 115.139mph, the fastest lap of the race, saw him bring the bike home for an excellent second place.
 
In the concurrently run Newcomers B race, Faragher was on board the 650cc ER6 Kawasaki and he lay in second throughout as he did battle with fellow Manxman Callum Collister. The latter was able to lap slightly quicker on each lap to continually extend his advantage but an excellent final lap of almost 110mph meant Joe made it two podiums for the team in the Newcomers races with another second place.
 
The rest of race week wasn't so kind for the team with James Cowton retiring from the lead of the Super Twins race. Fastest in practice with a stunning 113mph+ lap, the 21-year looked on course for his second Manx GP before stopping at Sarah's Cottage. The race was then red flagged due to deteriorating weather conditions but the Yorkshire rider was unable to make the re-start. Faragher took a steady 32nd in the re-run which saw near zero visibility over the Mountain whilst Behan was denied a second ride when the Senior race was cancelled for only the second time in the history of the event.
 
Meanwhile, there was disappointment too for Chesterfield's Ross Richards and Australia's Mick Neason who both failed to make the races after crashing heavily in practice at Ballahutchin and Keppel Gate respectively. Both riders fortunately escaped with relatively minor injuries but the same couldn't be said for the bikes and the team now have a major rebuilding operation on their hands.
 
Speaking later, team owner Ryan Farquhar commented; "Aye, it's been a bit of a mixed Manx GP campaign for the team but the main thing is that everyone's ok. The obvious highlights were the second places taken by Connor and Joe and both lads did a great job and I couldn't have been happier with how they rode. Connor got quicker with each and every lap, deservedly taking the fastest lap of the race, and I'm sure if he'd done a bit more homework prior to the event, the win would have been his. Second place is still an excellent effort as it was by Joe and to lap at almost 110mph on a Supertwin is no mean feat."
 
"James was well placed for a win in the Supertwins race with a substantial lead before breaking down so that was a great shame whilst the other lads didn't get to race due to their practice spills. After what happened 12 months ago, when the red flags came out for Ross' crash you fear the worst but fortunately he got away with what was a very high speed crash. There's a lot of work to be done now for the final two race meetings of the year - Killalane and Scarborough - but we'll see what we can do and endeavour to get as many bikes on the grid as possible."


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Hamilton secures second Irish Road Race Championship


KMR Kawasaki's Jamie Hamilton bounced back from a terrifying 150mph crash at Killalane on Sunday to secure his second Irish Road Race Championship of 2013. The 22-year old crashed heavily in the Superbike race but dusted himself down to make it on to the grid for the Supersport race and fifth place ensured he was able to add that particular title to the Supertwins one won earlier in the season.
 
The Ballyclare rider crashed when he ran into the back of Derek Sheils but, fortunately, escaped relatively unscathed although he was naturally extremely second hand after such a high-speed spill. The bike was also totalled in the smash. Undeterred, Hamilton borrowed a set of leathers off former racer John Burrows in an attempt to hold onto his lead in the Supersport class. Despite being very stiff and sore, Hamilton finished in fifth place which was enough for him to take the crown ahead of Derek McGee.
 
Team-mate Connor Behan ended his Irish road race season on a high too with the Northwich rider winning the Junior Support race on the ER6 650cc Kawasaki. He narrowly missed out on the title to Mark Hanna, finishing the season in second overall, and with sixth in the Senior Support race, he took third overall in that Championship.
 
Speaking afterwards, a delighted, and relieved, team manager Ryan Farquhar commented; "To end the season with two Irish road race Championships for Jamie and a second and third overall for Connor is an excellent achievement. Jamie showed great character and resolve after the spill, which he was very lucky to walk away from, and got the job done in the Supersport class to add to his Supertwins success. He was in a fair bit of pain but got the fifth place he needed before wisely sitting out the rest of the day."
 
"It was nice to see Connor end the season with another win and he can be very proud of his efforts and achievements in his first year of road racing. We've just got the Gold Cup meeting to get through now although, sadly, it looks like Jamie will be giving it a miss in light of his injuries and damaged machinery. We'll still be there with James Cowton though and will be looking to end the season with some more good results."



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Double delight at Donington for Reeves but Jenkinson loses title lead


There were mixed emotions for SMT Racing at Donington Park at the weekend with Tim and Tristan Reeves taking another superb double victory in the Eastern Airways F1 Sidecar Championship races but Adam Jenkinson seeing his season-long lead in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship disappear when he could only manage 13th place.

ForJenkinson, it proved to be a tough weekend as he left with his worst result of the season. Torrential rain left the first qualifying session all but immaterial, putting more emphasis on Saturday’s final session and the hectic 25-minute session saw Adam end up in seventh place overall, good enough for a third row start. An excellent start saw him jump up to fourth but that would be as good as it got for the Knutsford rider as handling issues meant he slipped back as the race progressed eventually finishing in a disappointing 13thplace. The disappointment was further compounded with Championship rival Hudson Kennaugh winning the race and it now means the South African tops the table by three points from Adam, 148 points to 145, with just two races remaining.

Fortunes were the complete opposite in the Sidecar class and, after qualifying in second place, Tim and Tristan took the lead at McLeans on the opening lap of the first Sidecar race although it remained close with Sean Hegarty/James Neave pressuring them throughout. By the fifth of the ten laps, there was just half a second between the two crews but with black clouds above and rain beginning to fall, track conditions became extremely tricky. Indeed, with the rain getting heavier, the red flag came out shortly afterwards and the result declared at seven laps, Tim and Tristan getting the verdict over Hegarty/Neave by 0.510s.

Sunday’s race was a lot simpler affair for the two Kent brothers and having grabbed the lead from the start, they continually extended their lead throughout the ten laps. Lapping almost a second a lap quicker than their rivals, they eventually took the chequered flag by almost 13 seconds to take their 11th win of the season and fifth double. They now lead the title chase from Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson by 101 points with just 150 remaining.

Speaking later, team owner Robin Croft said; “It’s been a mixed weekend with one side of the garage very disappointed and another extremely happy. Having led the Superstock series all season we’re obviously disappointed in our performance this weekend and, like a lot of other teams, the lack of dry track time hindered our progress this weekend. With the problems suffered at Cadwell last time out, we needed as much dry track time as we could get to iron out any lingering issues but, sadly, that wasn’t meant to be and we were chasing our tails somewhat.”

“The gap’s only three points though and with two rounds to go, there’s still everything to play for. We’ve got a couple of test sessions planned for Adam and we’ll do everything we can to ensure we come back at Silverstone with a race-winning package in order for our title campaign to be back on track. On the plus side, we saw another exemplary performance throughout the weekend from Tim and Tristan and they were again the consummate professionals so everything’s looking good on three wheels.”



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Backlund and Cox on the podium at Donington

It was a double podium finish on Sunday for ILR Kawasaki as Filip Backlund and Victor Cox finished second and third respectively in the tenth round of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship at Donington Park. 
Perhaps buoyed by team manager Ian Lougher's recent performances on the roads at the Ulster Grand Prix and the Isle of Man Classic TT, both riders were on the pace all weekend with Backlund in particular showing impressive form as he dominated both qualifying sessions to claim his, and the team's, first pole position in this series.
Filip was totally unfazed by the cold and wet conditions that greeted the riders and teams for first qualifying as he topped the session with Victor taking things steady in tenth with one eye on the second session the following day. Thankfully much better conditions prevailed on Saturday and this time Cox got in on the act, as both he and his team-mate quickly laid down the markers for the others to follow. Eight minutes into the session Backlund went quickest followed three minutes later by Cox. With eight minutes remaining Victor was still quickest as he further improved on his time with Filip occupying fourth, however a minute later it was Backlund who went to the top of the pile and that's how it remained with Victor's time still good enough for second, the deficit being just 0.073s with the top 20 riders separated by one second. Both riders 'ideal' lap times were fast with Victor's being inside the lap record.
Cox and Backlund were soon dicing for second place on the first lap of the race behind early leader Hudson Kennaugh and on the second lap Filip moved clear of Victor by half a second and set about chasing down Kennaugh who had a lead of almost one second. For the next few laps Kennaugh's lead over Backlund remained about the same with Cox now just over a second back in third and fending off the challenge of Joe Burns as these four began to move clear of the rest of the field. Backlund then began to eat into the deficit for two laps before Kennaugh responded to again put the gap out to almost one second.

However on the ninth lap, as Cox finally began to break clear of Burns, Filip broke the lap record to close right up on Kennaugh and on the twelfth lap after earlier trying to go in front at Coppice, he made a move stick at the Old Hairpin to take the lead.

With television coverage at a premium, Victor now had a secure ringside seat in third as the race long battle for the lead raged just in front, and as they went on to their last lap Filip was riding hard to hold of the challenge of Kennaugh, but with his tyres starting to go off he just went a bit wide at the Melbourne Hairpin and left the door open for the South African who didn't need a second invitation as he went through on the inside.

Backlund fought back on the uphill run to Goddards and, with his Ninja ZX-10R weaving under him with the effort, he had one last try but just couldn't get past and it was Kennaugh who took the win from a frustrated Filip with Victor well clear in third.

Cox and Backlund are now third and fourth respectively in the standings with just three points separating the two.

It's a measure of the determination of the team and its riders, that the result was met with a mixture of both delight and just a little disappointment. Nevertheless with both Backlund and Cox on the podium, pole position, a lap record and topping every session but one, it was a good weekend for ILR Kawasaki who now look ahead to the next round at Silverstone on 4-6 October.

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