British Superbikes - Race Reports

We left the workshop with high hopes for the weekend ahead. Chris had been to Brands the previous Friday and had got a good set up for the circuit. Vic was excited to be having his first Superbike ride on the JHS Racing Honda and we were all looking forward to the weekend.

We arrived at Brands Hatch on Thursday morning and set about erecting the awning, which had been sited in a great position in the hospitality area. Chris and Vic were to share a garage for the weekend, so the garage crew set about the boarding and flooring down there. Everything was finished in time for dinner.

Friday was going to be hard for Vic, as he had his Superstock free practice and first qualifier straight after the first two Superbike free practice sessions. But at least the sun was still shining. The Superbike rides went quite well for Vic getting to grips with the Honda. In the first qualifier for the Superstocks Vic was a creditable fourteenth. Chris on the other hand struggled all day with a series of annoying problems, but as they say tomorrow is another day.

Saturday arrived with the sun shining again and things were much easier for Vic, who had his sessions spread out through out the day. First outing for Chris and Vic was Superbike free practice three. Vic finished in seventeenth place but Chris had more technical problems and finished the session having only completed seven laps and was bottom of the page.

Vic was out next in the second Superstock Qualifier and stormed to seventh overall giving him a combined qualifying position of eighth and on the second row of the grid for Sunday's race. Chris and Vic were next out in the Superbike Roll For Pole where Vic finishied one place in front of Chris who again was hampered by technical problems. This left Vic twenty fourth and Chris twenty fifth on the grid. The guys in the garage had a lot of work to do on the MV for Sunday's race.

Race day came and still the sun was shining. What was going on? The Superbikes had their warm up first and the MV behaved itself and finished with no problems, as also did Vic. The Superstock was the first race and Vic made a great start up into fifth place but a few mistakes saw him slip to eighth place by lap five, a position that he held to the end of the race. This left him ninth in the Superstock Championship, his best ever finish.

So now to race one of the Superbikes. Chris took the lead from Vic but by lap two Vic had passed Chris and pulled a small gap. Chris chased Vic down, finally passing him on lap twelve and they finished twenty first and second respectively. This was Vic's first Superbike race and it was a fantastic achievment. Chris on the other hand had used the race almost as a practice session and had many changes to make for race two.

The second race started well for both Chris and Vic, but this time Chris had overtaken Vic by the third lap and was on a charge. Vic stayed behind Chris for a couple of laps but then began dropping back, finally to retire on lap ten with an overheating engine and brake problems. Chris continued his charge through the field and finished a fantastic eleventh overall and third in the Cup.

So finally we had reason to party which we did! Unfortunately Chris could not stop as his partner Nikki is expecting their first baby but we had a few for him anyway.

Now we start to put it all together again for next season - watch this space.

Superbike Champ results - Superstock 1000 results

Forthcoming Meetings

Date		Event	Race Track

At all these three-day meetings, the first day is Free Practice, the second is Qualifying and the third is the Main Race Day.

Note: All dates remain subject to change pending FIM/FIA calendar changes and MCRCB circuit inspection procedures.