Podiums, Points and Fastest Laps for JG Speedfit Kawasaki
JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Luke Mossey secured two fastest laps at Thruxton this weekend (3rd to 5th August) while Leon Haslam finally claimed his first win at this particular circuit, during round 7 of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.
After taking first place in the opening race and fourth in the second race, Leon has maintained his championship lead and with team-mate Luke getting close to his best form once more in seventh and eighth, today’s results rounded off a superb meeting for the team.
Competing at the team’s local venue, Luke initially gave them plenty to cheer about during qualifying on Saturday when he recorded the second quickest time just 0.032s adrift of pole position, and that put him in the middle of the front row for the opening 20-lap race on Sunday. Leon, meanwhile, was slightly further back in eighth.
The conditions were sweltering at the Hampshire venue for race one and after finishing first and second quickest in morning warm-up, Luke, Leon and the team were more than ready for the afternoon’s opening encounter where they completed the first lap in first and sixth place respectively.
Taking full advantage of the clear road in front of him, Luke quickly opened up a sizeable lead with the gap to second place up to 2.8 seconds by lap five but from that moment on, the group behind began to reel him in, one of whom was Leon who had fought his way up to third place behind fellow Kawasaki rider Jake Dixon.
Luke continued to lead at half-race distance but this changed on lap 13 when Dixon took over at the front and Leon quickly relegated his team-mate to third. Indeed, from that moment on, Luke was battling for grip and having run on at the chicane near the end he eventually had to settle for seventh place.
At the head of the field though, Leon was still vying for the win and although it was a five-rider battle for the lead, it was predominantly the Derbyshire rider and Dixon that led the way. With five laps to go, the 35-year-old took over the lead and although he was under stiff pressure all the way to the end, he duly took his seventh win of the season which was also his first ever BSB win at the Thruxton circuit.
For race two, Luke again lined up in pole position with Leon beside him in second but, on this occasion, it was Josh Brookes who put together the strongest race with the Australian taking his third win of the season.
For the two JG Speedfit Kawasaki riders, it was a more challenging affair and although Leon was in contention for a podium position throughout, he just missed out finishing in fourth place with Luke three further places back in seventh.
In the Hyundai Construction Equipment British Sidecar Championship races there was joy for Ricky Stevens/Ryan Charlwood with the Hampshire pairing taking a trio of third-place finishes at their local circuit.
They were also the second 600cc sidecar over the line in each race to wrap up a highly successful weekend.
