MILWAUKEE YAMAHA BACK ON THE PODIUM AT BRANDS HATCH
Milwaukee Yamaha returned to the podium at the sixth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch today as James Ellison scored a second place in race two after bouncing back from a race one crash. Ellison had narrowly missed out on a front row start and dropped down the order at the start of the race and was carving his way through the order when he crashed out unhurt at Graham Hill Bend. His fastest lap in the opening race put him on pole for race two and after a better start he was tucked in behind championship leader Shane Byrne. Ellison was pushing hard but took second position and some valuable podium credits. Josh Waters had a tough weekend claiming a fourteenth and twelfth place. Ellison said: “I am happy that we were able to get back on the podium today for Milwaukee Yamaha. In the second race I was behind Shakey and I was hoping that he might make a mistake but he never did. Our bike is strong in some places going into the corners and Shakey was stronger out of the corners and then in other places we were identical so it was hard to make a move without taking us both out! I was riding hard and on the limit but it was comfortable and the Milwaukee Yamaha team have worked hard all weekend. I needed to make amends for the crash in race one so it felt good to be back up on the podium.” Waters said: “The positive we can take from this weekend is that we were in the points and I tried to change my style a bit to see if that made a difference. It hasn’t come together this weekend so we need to find something as I feel like we should have been closer in the races.” Team owner Shaun Muir concluded: “It has been a day of two halves for the Milwaukee Yamaha team. The first race was disappointing for James to crash because it then made it more difficult for him in race two with the lack of laps in the first one. He did have a push in the second race though and scored two podium credits which are important for the Showdown. He also showed the pace that the team are capable of in the race and that will be important here at the final round of the season.”
---
BROOKES AND TYCO SUZUKI WIN AT BRANDS BSB
Team Suzuki Press Office - July 21.
Tyco Suzuki's Josh Brookes raced his GSX-R1000 to victory in the opening British Superbike Championship race earlier today at Brands Hatch in Kent.
The Australian, who now heads to Japan to compete in the Suzuka 8-Hour race next weekend, made his intentions clear from the opening laps, and when championship leader Shane Byrne crashed-out after attempting a pass on him, it was a matter of holding off Alex Lowes until the chequered flag.
Brookes' Tyco Suzuki team-mate PJ Jacobsen also rode a storming opening British Superbike race at Brands GP circuit on his GSX-R1000; the young American finishing fifth, which is his best-ever British Superbike race result. In race two Brookes suffered a lack of grip and had to settle for fourth place, with Jacobsen taking eighth, but posted consistent lap-times which augers well for the next round at Oulton Park in three weeks' time.
In British Supersport, Taylor Mackenzie demonstrated his brand of middleweight talent, running top-six in the early laps of the opening encounter. Unfortunately the youngster crashed-out on lap three but produced a top-10 result in race two from 12th place on the grid; and like Jacobsen is now looking to push forward to the next level at Oulton Park.
Josh Brookes:
"Winning the first race felt really good; that goes without saying, although I do feel I've been riding as hard as the guys who have been winning all season. I try hard in every race, but more than anything I'm really proud of the team. At each round we keep making progress and I've also been trying to improve my riding. I was struggling for grip at the end of the race and had some big slides but we held on for the win. In the second race we never changed a thing on the bike, but I just had no grip; so what can I say."
PJ Jacobsen:
"Race one went really, really good. I know a couple of people dropped out but you have to finish the race to score points. The second race also started really well and when the safety car came out and I knew if I could get away with Kiyonari, I could run the front pace, but I'd kind of just wrecked my tyre as I'd been going so hard on it and I had to settle for eighth. That was my best weekend results in BSB so far so I'm looking forward to Oulton now, but a big thanks to the team." Taylor Mackenzie:
"We got a good start in race one and were well on the pace but I just tucked the front and could do nothing about it. Thankfully the bike wasn't too badly damaged. In race two it was a case of; if you don't get away with the leading group, it's difficult to make up places. I got caught behind another rider and by the time I got by, the gap was too big to recover. But we've made more progress this round and that's important."
Philip Neill - Team Manager:
"As we said before coming here, it wasn't just about winning at all costs. In saying that, Brands is a key circuit and we come back here for the final part of Showdown in the championship, so it is an important factor showing that we can win around here. It was good to see Josh taking that first race to Shakey, and going on to take the win. The second race wasn't so easy for us and we haven't determined yet whether it was increased track temperature, but Josh certainly didn't have the same level of grip to race one.
"PJ had an excellent day with fifth and eighth places, which is great progress for him at a track he still doesn't know terribly well. With Taylor, he was unfortunate to slip off in the first Supersport race, but recovered well with a solid result in race two, so a good weekend overall for us as a team."
British Superbike Championship- Race One Result:
1. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 2. Alex Lowes (Honda) +0.243s 3. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +8.268s 4. James Westmoreland (BMW) +13.964s 5. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +18.343s 6. Jon Kirkham (BMW) +20.469s 7. Dan Linfoot (Honda) +24.515s 8. Keith Farmer (Kawasaki) +25.427 9. Howie Mainwaring (Kawasaki) +25.528s 10. Michael Rutter (Honda) +26.176s
British Superbike Championship- Race Two Result:
1. Shane Byrne (Kawasaki) 2. James Ellison (Yamaha) +0.191s 3. Alex Lowes (Honda) +0.289s 4. Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +2.815s 5. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +7.010s 6. James Westmoreland (BMW) +8.044s 7. Jon Kirkham (BMW) +10.201s 8. PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki) +11.134s 9. Dan Linfoot (Honda) +14.902s 10. Keith Farmer (Kawasaki) +15.513s
