BURKE STILL TOP AFTER CADWELL PARK
|
28 - August - 2012 |
|
BURKE STILL TOP AFTER CADWELL PARK
The Lincolnshire circuit of Cadwell Park hosted a hotly contested round eight of the 2012 season. With all four Seton Tuning Yamaha riders fully refreshed from the summer break, They looked to Cadwell to add valuable points to their tally. The 2.18 mile picturesque Cadwell Park is one of the most physically demanding and technical circuits on the calendar, and the one that the Superstock trio of Ben Burke, Bjorn Estment and Mark Wilkinson have the least experience. Qualifying in 14th, 17th and 19th respectively, the trio would have their work cut out as they looked to tame the fast outfield, tricky woodland section and the infamous Mountain. With just three riders per row due to the narrow nature of the circuit, the Seton Tuning Yamaha riders made determined starts to elevate their machines through the pack over the opening laps. With Ben comfortable inside of the top ten from the opening lap, Mark looked to be the rider on the move, as he battled through to 12th by lap 5. Unfortunately his race would come to an abrupt end the following lap as he fell victim to the cliff-like drop at Mansfield. Bjorn chipped away steadily, closing in on the top ten positions as he began to settle into a groove mid-race. With the finish just a few laps away both Ben and Bjorn looked as if they had the pace to claim another position each before the flag. However, a red flag incident on lap ten brought a premature close to proceedings. Ben was credited with seventh and Bjorn tenth. With James Rose taking third, Ben’s championship lead was cut to 8 points with three rounds left. In a weekend dominated by the Triumphs, a solid seventh in the 10-lap Sprint on Sunday morning meant Sam Warren maintained his grip on fifth spot in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship. Called a wet race but with a disticntly dry line even uder the trees at the hairpin, it looked as if the conditions may play perfectly into Sam's hands in closing the gap on the Triumphs. However, an electrical problem on the sighting lap forced him to retire as the rest of the 25-rider strong field took to the grid. With a no score in the race, Sam has dropped to seventh in the title chase but will look to claw back lost points over the closing four rounds. Round 9 of the 2012 MCE British Superbike Championship takes place at Donington Park over the weekend of 7-9 September. Bjorn and Mark both put in good performances and Mark was a little unlucky to crash out. Both riders worked hard and we found a good set-up and they were running a pretty good race pace. Overall a respectable performance from all three. Sam scored more points in the Sprint and hoped to make more of a mark against the Triumphs in the main event in track conditions that have suited him in the past. Unfortunately, an electrical problem meant he couldn’t start the race. I would like to thank Sam Palmer and Chris Beedon for working 18 hrs a day, 7 days a week with me over the five week break to give the riders all the new engines and parts and extra testing that we have done ahead of Cadwell. I also want to thank Linxcel and Standard Engineering for their continued support with everything we are doing to get the riders where they need to be. The team will now regroup for the final third of the season starting with Donington Park, which proved hugely successful for Ben back in May.” Ben Burke: “I came into this round knowing it was going to be a hard one for me due to the lack of racing I've done on the track. Things were looking promising during first qualifying as I was second fastest on drying track conditions. I was unable to hold this form during the dry second qualifying, placing 14th but doing a personal best lap time on the track. I was looking forward to the race knowing I could go faster. The race went well although I could not hold the leaders, and I set another personal best lap time and rode a consistent race placing 7th. This meant I salvaged good points and maintain my championship lead. Big thanks to the team and all sponsors keeping us on the grid.” Sam Warren: “Another bad outing for us at Cadwell. We knew from the outset we'd be up against it with the Triumphs. I did my fastest ever lap around Cadwell in qualifying, 0.4 sec off second and we finished 8th! In the Sprint we clung onto the front group until our tyre went off. For the Feature race the conditions we very dodgy and I was sure we could have put on a good show. Unfortunately the bike developed a fault on the out lap and we didn't make the grid. Hopefully our luck will turn for the last four rounds.” Bjorn Estment: “Good hard weekend’s racing at Cadwell! Unfortunately got caught out and unlucky with a reject tyre it seems which caused a spill in Q2. Sadly I suffered a injury to my hand which will be dealt with and sorted. Starting p17 I am satisfied with a 10th place finish and solid points. Massive thanks to NFB Financial Services Group and Seton Tuning and Mark at Linxcel. Also Scott McLennan and Phil for all their concentrated help and guidance! For more updates on the last 3 rounds and happenings follow me on Twitter @bjornestment27. Hell Yeah!” Mark Wilkinson: “This was a really disappointing result for me. The team worked so hard and gave me a really competitive bike for the race. We had been chasing our tails a little in practice but got the set-up spot on for the race. I had a lot of confidence in the bike early on and moved from 19th to 13th in the early stages. I could see I was closing the group in front of me and was comfortable with my pace. I was 1.2 seconds faster than I had gone in qualifying and started to push. Unfortunately coming into Mansfield I went in quite hard and just tucked the front end. It’s a really disappointing way for me to end the weekend as we were beginning to show good speed. Huge thanks to the Seton Tuning crew, they really did give me a great bike this weekend and they deserved a good result. A big thanks also to my sponsors Aust Plaza Auto Sales, ROMPdesign, the Oil Warehouse, Cumagutsa GSAutomotive and DHEngineering.” Images © Steve Hutchings
Results - Cadwell Park Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Protected by Datatag Race 2 Result: Championship Points: Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship Points
Follow Seton Tuning Yamaha in 2012
|
Looking to add further points to his season’s tally in the main 15-lap event on Bank Holiday Monday, Sam’s hopes were dashed before the lights went out.
