2022 BSB Round 4 Knockhill
Hi everyone and welcome back to the fourth round-up of British Superbike action. This weekend the racing came from the Knockhill circuit in Scotland.
Let’s start with Junior Superstock. Ed Best led the way for the J&S supported riders by qualifying in 15th with Osian Jones behind in 17th, Jacob Hatch back in 19th and Zak Shelton back on the ninth row in 27th place.
The first race saw Ed have a DNF, Osian finished in 19th while both Jacob and Zak improved, with Jacob crossing the line in 14th and scoring a couple of championship points and Zak just missing out in 17th.
British Supersport and once again Harry Truelove showed great consistency in qualifying and would start from 4th place for the first race.
Harry once again finished on the podium with a solid 3rd place finish to firmly cement his place in the championship race. The second race in the Supersport class saw Harry start from 2nd place on the grid after the lap time he set during the first race. Unfortunately, Harry’s run of podium finishes has come to an end after he would cross the line in 5th position. It’s the first time this season that Harry has not stood on the podium.
Honda Talent Cup and three riders taking part this weekend for J&S Accessories Ltd. Alfie Davidson would qualify in 30th position and Harrison Crosby in 3rd on the outside of the front row with Sullivan Mounsey just behind in 4th place on the second row.
Race one saw Alfie move up and finish in 23rd place while Harrison was unlucky to have a DNF, Sullivan on the other hand once again stood on the podium and came home in 2nd place. It’s a shame that Sullivan missed the first few rounds of the championship as he could have made an impact up near the top of the standings. Race two saw the tables and luck change as both Alfie and Sullivan failed to finish while Harrison came home in 8th place to bag a handful of championship points.
Superstock 1000 now and once again a packed grid, qualifying saw all the J&S backed riders qualify in the top 20. Matt Truelove in 17th, Charlie Nesbitt in 10th while Tom Ward would start from the third row in 7th and Lewis Rollo in 6th, a great qualifying for Joe Francis who would start the first race from 3rd on the grid, meanwhile Billy McConnell once again would start from pole once again for the third time this season.
Race one of the weekend and Matt just missed out on a championship point by coming home in 18th place, Charlie came home in a fantastic 6th place, with Lewis Rollo just behind in 7th, and Joe had a really good race until an issue with the fuel pump on his bike failed and he dropped back to finish in 8th place. But it was a double podium for J&S supported riders with Tom Ward standing on the bottom step of the podium in 3rd place. A great result for the Aprilia rider, but it was that man again Billy McConnell who took another race victory and put him closer to the top of the championship standings.
Race two and mixed fortunes once again for some of the riders, both Joe and Charlie would suffer a DNF, while Matt once again just finished outside the points in 17th place, Lewis just outside the top 5 with a 6th place finish at his home round. But once again there was Tom and Billy who stood on the podium on Sunday afternoon, Tom again in 3rd place to round off a great weekend for him and the IN Competition Aprilia team and this time Billy had to make do with a 2nd place but has now closed the gap on the championship leader.
Superbike class now and a mixed weekend for all the J&S riders taking part. Dan Jones had a weekend to forget, a 29th place qualifying start for the first and then a DNF in each of the races over the weekend. Not the way the young Welsh rider wanted to spend his weekend in Scotland. Luke Mossey has missed a lot of track time this season for one reason or another but an 18th place start for the first race of the weekend and a 20th place finish in the first race of the weekend is about as good as it got for Luke as two DNF’s due to technical issues ruled him out of the final two races of the weekend.
Leon Jeacock would start the first race from 28th on the grid and in all the races over the weekend, he would improve from his starting place with 24th, 19th and 20-place finishes.
Glenn Irwin back from racing at the Isle of Man TT races took a while to adjust back to short circuit racing but was soon enough back in the groove. A 7th place starting position for the first race for Glenn, and that’s where he would finish too. The second and third races of the weekend would see Glenn finish in 8th and 6th place. So a good haul of points for Glenn who keeps the showdown chances alive by still being well within the top 8 riders.
A little break for the riders now as the next round isn’t until the 22nd of July and the racing comes from Brands Hatch but on the longer GP circuit. So until then thanks for reading.
Danny