09 - July - 2012

Seton Tuning Yamaha’s Ben Burke extended his Metzeler National Superstock 600 championship lead with a hard-fought third this weekend at Oulton Park (6-8 July). The 23-year old Australian benefitted from a couple of unforced rider errors in the closing stages to secure the final step on the podium.

Prior to the race, Ben had run at the sharp end all weekend topping the timing sheets in the first qualifying session. Taking his position of second on the front row of the grid for the 12 lapper, Ben made a solid start to maintain his grid position for the opening two laps. Pushed back to third the next time round, Ben became embroiled in a nine rider battle for second position, with teammate Bjorn on the tail-end as Jackson extended his lead at the head of the field.

A tough passing move by Fisher mid-race forced Ben wide at the tricky Shell Oils hairpin, losing two places as Lodge also took advantage. The freight train continued to circulate around the 2.69-mile undulating circuit at a furious pace as the lap clock counted down.

With Jackson a clear winner thanks to enjoying a seven plus second lead, it was all to play for on the final run towards the chequered flag. Two of the Moto-Breakers Yamahas took evasive action as the group hit the brakes for the tricky Hizzy Chicane, elevating Ben to third - a position he would narrowly hold onto at the chequered flag.

Bjorn Estment and Mark Wilkinson once again put in solid performances to maintain a strong run of point-scoring finishes. Starting from rows three and five respectively, the pair battled their way through the packs in front to put their Seton Tuning Yamahas into the running for points.

With three laps to go, Bjorn had forced his way into seventh, only to be nudged back to ninth on the final lap. Mark slowly chipped away at the riders ahead as he moved through the field from 20th on lap three to consolidate 14th in the final quarter of the race and two more valuable championship points that move him up to 19th overall.

Sam Warren’s second visit of the season to his home circuit of Oulton Park did not go to plan. With injuries sustained from a massive high-side last time out at Knockhill, the 30-year old was on the back foot and looking just to score points to maintain his top five championship position.

A crash in qualifying after just four completed laps, and with Sam running third on the timing sheets, saw the Seton Tuning Yamaha pushed back down to 12th as he was unable to mount any further charge on the front row positions during the session.

Instantly moving up to ninth on the opening circulation of the 10 lap Sprint, Sam was beginning to get into a rhythm, his lap times consistently fast enough for a solid top ten finish. Unfortunately, a low side on the brakes into Hizzy’s on Lap 7 prematurely forced the Derbyshireman out of contention. Drama would further unfold as the two top men in the title race, running first and second in the race took each other out on the final corner leaving the way clear for McConnell to claim the victory.

As a result of recurring injuries, team owner Phil Seton elected to withdraw Sam from Sunday’s main Motorpoint British Supersport event.

The second half of the 2012 season will commence with a mid-summer trip to Brands Hatch GP circuit over the weekend of 20-22 July, where Sam will look to remount his charge on the top four and Ben will look to further extend his lead.
      
Ben Burke: “This weekend was another fantastic result for me, where I did very well in all my practice sessions. I managed to put the bike on the second position on the grid for the start, making life that bit easier for the race itself. I didn't get off to the best start but I did maintain my grid position for the first corner. The race was one of the most fierce battles I've had in my career, while at times a podium looked unlikely, I capitalised on opportunities and luckily ended up with a third place. This further extends my lead in the championship. I'm really looking forward to Brands Hatch for the next round where we can put the bike through its paces yet again. Thank you to the whole team as always, everyone has worked tirelessly. Thank you to all sponsors, Linxcel, Seton Tuning, Australian United Timbers, Standard Engineering, T.K Cope Motorcycles and everyone who so generously supports us.”

Bjorn Estment: “After a really positive start to the weekend with a solid performance in wet conditions, I began to feel like a certain Italian by the name of Valentino Rossi and was secretly doing the rain dance every evening. However, after a good showing in Q1, I was happy with 7th and had made a 60 percent improvement on the grid from the previous visit to Oulton! This was short-lived as I was handed a penalty from the stewards and disqualified from the session. Q2 was no better as I struggled to find a rhythm and was only good enough for 12th spot on the grid. The race arrived and after a decent start I was up to 9th spot and got into a very entertaining battle with two other riders making various passing maneuvers! I made the crucial mistake of thinking the race was one lap shorter than it was and it potentially cost me the 7th spot I had worked hard for!! 9th it was with some solid points taken and great confidence plus the second fastest outright lap time. Massive thanks to the Seton Tuning crew, Linxcel, my crew chief Scott McLennan, my brother Stef for coming over from SA to support me and my long time loyal sponsors NFB Financial Services Group! Roll on the legendary Brands Hatch GP.”

Mark Wilkinson: “A good weekend for me. I qualified 18th which I was happy with and confident of a good race. I made a poor start to the race which made it difficult for me. But I put my head down and chipped away back inside the points to take 14th. Still inside the points and really positive lap times. Congrats to my teammates Ben on his podium and Bjorn on 9th. Really looking forward to Brands GP, another new track for me so I'm excited to get there! Thanks to the entire Seton Tuning Yamaha team for their efforts this weekend. They put in masses of work for me and the bike was brilliant in the race. Big thanks to my Aussie sponsors Plaza Autos, the Oil Warehouse, Cumagutsa, GSAutomotive, DH Engineering and ROMPDesign.”

Sam Warren: “Not much to take away from the weekend unfortunately. After the crash at Knockhill, I was struggling with a twisted knee. We coped pretty well in wet practice on Friday, then as qualifying was dry, I set off quite well, circulating at the top of the leader board initially. Then on lap 5 I had a strange front-end crash, maybe down to the lack of rubber on track from all the rain. So into the Sprint, and whilst struggling to ride in my usual way, I had another strange front-end crash. The crash aggravated an already very sore knee injury, so Phil made the tough decision just before the main event to withdraw me from the race. With a two-week break coming up it will give me the opportunity to regain full fitness before we head to Brands. Thank you to our sponsors, Phil and the team for all their efforts this weekend.”

Phil Seton, Team Owner: “Another sterling performance from Ben. He’s really flying the Seton flag high. It puts him in a really strong position going into the second half of the season.

A good result for Bjorn, who made steady progress over the weekend chipping away at his lap times which paid dividends with the second fastest lap of the race. Mark, too, made some good progress again. He’s steadily improving and gaining in confidence with each round. Once again he was in the points and now firmly inside of the top 20 in a very tough series.

It was unfortunate that Sam's injury from Knockhill had not fully healed, preventing him from challenging at the sharp end in the dry. The crash on Saturday aggravated things and I took the tough decision to withdraw Sam from the main race. He will now have time to get fully fit before Brands Hatch.”

 Images © Steve Hutchings 

Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Protected by Datatag
Race 1 Result:
1. McConnell, 2. Wilson, 3. Mossey, 4. Pekkanen, 5. Coghlan, DNF Warren

Race 2 Result:
1. Richards, 2. McConnell, 3. Kennedy, 4. Wilson, 5. Mossey, DNS Warren

Championship Points:
 1. Kennedy - 198.5, 2. Richards - 189, 3. McConnell - 174, 4. Wilson - 154, 5. Warren - 123

Metzeler National Superstock 600
Result:
1. Jackson, 2. Lodge, 3. Burke, 4. Dixon, 5. Fisher, 9. Estment, 14. Wilkinson

Championship Points
1. Burke - 132, 2. Rose - 114, 3. Jackson - 94, 4. Dixon - 85, 5. Whitaker - 72, 14. Estment - 33, 19. Wilkinson - 14

www.seton-tuning.com/news

Round 1
Brands Hatch Indy
6-9 April

Round 2
Thruxton
13-15 April

Round 3
Oulton Park
5-7 May

WSB
Donington Park GP
(Superstock)
11-13 May

Round 4
Snetterton
300
25-27 May

Round 5
Knockhill
22-24 June

Round 6
Oulton Park
06-08 July

Round 7
Brands Hatch GP
20-22 July

Round 8
Cadwell Park
25-27 August

Round 9
Donington Park GP
07-09 September

Round 10
TT Assen
(BSB/BSS/125)
21-23 September

Round 11
Silverstone Arena GP
28-30 September

Round 12
Brands Hatch GP
12-14 October