Brands Hatch Jun 2019
Hello and welcome to Alex's Blog,
I will hand you over to Dan from our Leeds store, our resident BSB correspondent:
After a small break for the TT races and a test day up at Knockhill in Scotland it was back to domestic racing and round 4 of the BSB championship coming from Brands Hatch and the longer GP circuit.
Qualifying took place on Saturday for a lot of the classes, but added to the mix was varying weather conditions all weekend.
Superbike qualifying gave mixed results for the J&S backed riders. Joe Francis unfortunately had a crash early on in the session but luckily he managed to set a lap time but started the first race from 24th place on the grid. This made his Saturday even worse having struggling with food poisoning!! Glenn Irwin made it into Q2 but just missed out on a place in the final qualifying session and had a 14th position starting place for the first race of the weekend.
On race day on Sunday there were mixed conditions with rain in the morning before the race and then the rain stopped just before the race which made the track wet but drying quick with the wind and sun helping the track dry out. Joe had a DNF in race one which was not the way he wanted to start his Sunday. Glenn on the other hand made progress through the field and came home in 10th place, but he set the 3rd fastest time of the race which meant he would start race two from the outside of the front row.
Race 2 and Glenn slipped back after the start and was in a group of 3 other riders battling for the last few places inside the top 10. Glenn finished in 10th place and added more points to his total for the season.
Joe finished the second race in 21st place and at least ended his weekend on a high note with a race finish and no doubt will be hoping for better luck next time out.
In National Superstock 600 we had 2 riders taking part this weekend. Taylor Moreton qualified in 13th place, the other J&S supported rider was Louis Valleley, he qualified in 7th place for the only race of the weekend.
In the race Taylor had a DNF in race one after suffering a crash on lap 3 of the race. Louis on the other hand enjoyed a better race and crossed the line in 10th place.
In Supersport 600 we had Ross Twyman and Josh Owens racing this weekend. Josh was on a new machine this weekend and was always looking to build momentum and gain confidence in the new bike.
In the qualifying session Ross started race one from 16th place with Josh a couple of rows in front and started from 10th place.
In the shorter sprint race on Saturday, Ross made gains through the field to come home in 12th place and the 10th Supersport bike. Josh was 15th and the 4th GP2 machine.
In race 2 Ross came home in 15th overall and in 12th place in the Supersport class, Josh suffered a DNF in the second race and will be hoping for better luck next time out.
In Superstock 1000 Billy McConnell was still missing and recovering from his operation a few weeks ago.
Joe Collier started the first 2-part race from 8th place on the grid, Lewis Rollo close behind in 11th and his team mate Levi Day a row behind in 14th place. The first part of race one took place and there were solid finishes for all the J&S backed riders with Joe holding 8th position, Lewis continuing his good form from the previous round to finish in 6th and Levi Day coming home in 9th. A quick pit stop and the riders were back out for the second half of the race. Joe suffered a big crash in the second part and was unable to finish the race. Lewis scored another 6th place with Levi coming home just in front in 5th.
In the final race of the weekend for the Superstock class Levi had another points scoring finish, he finished the final race in 8th position to add more points to his tally for the year. Joe crossed the line in 11th place, hopefully this is turning point for Joe this season as he and his team deserve a lot more points than they have at the moment. Lewis suffered his first DNF of the season but cant be too down about that as he has scored points in each race so far this season and has been consistent all season so far.
So that's it for this weekend and the next round comes from Knockhill up in Scotland from the 28th - 30th June. Here's hoping that all our riders have a better luck next time and that the results can reflect the hard work that all the riders put in not only on but also off the track.
Thanks for reading
Danny