Hickman Just Misses Out On Brands Hatch Podium
Gloucester-based Smiths Racing BMW enjoyed a strong weekend of racing at round six of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend with Peter Hickman giving the team a brace of fourth place finishes in the two races to strengthen his standing in one of the top six Showdown positions.
Louth-based Hickman shone in the dry free practice sessions, setting the fifth fastest time on the Smiths BMW S1000RR, and did even better in the wet conditions of qualifying, eventually taking fourth place for a second row start for the opening 20-lap race today.
The 30 year old was in the thick of the action throughout and led for five laps as the race went into its second half. On lap 16 he got pushed back to second and with spots of rain falling, positions were constantly changing before the race was ended prematurely on lap 18 due to the rain where Peter was unluckily placed in fourth.
Starting the second race from seventh, Hickman battled towards the front where he soon overhauled Leon Haslam to take over fourth place and set about closing the gap to fellow BMW rider Christian Iddon who was occupying third. However, Iddon responded to keep Peter at bay and he had to settle for another fourth place at the chequered flag although the 26 points have strengthened his hold on a top six position.
Team-mate Lee Jackson was equally adept in the changeable conditions too as he ran inside the top 15 in both races. He started the first race from the fifth row and battled hard to score a point in 15th. The second encounter saw him enjoy a race long battle with Tommy Bridewell and Billy McConnell with never more than a few tenths of a second covering the trio.
Indeed, Taylor Mackenzie and Glenn Irwin also closed in to make it a five-way battle for 12th and although it was Bridewell who grabbed the position on the final lap, Lee was only 0.033s behind in 13th and he added another three points to his ever-increasing 2017 tally.
Peter Hickman: “I’ve felt really strong all weekend although I was gutted to have missed out on a podium in the first race. I really felt we deserved a top three finish but the race ending prematurely put paid to that although we did have the consolation of some solid points. My grid position for race two held me back a bit but I got stuck in from the start and put some good passes in although I didn’t quite have the pace to catch Ellison and Iddon. I’m trying really hard to get up to fourth in the championship to give myself a bit of a buffer but I’ve strengthened my hold on sixth place. I’m really happy with the weekend, I’m really happy with the bike and delighted for the team so roll on Thruxton.”
Lee Jackson: “The weekend started slowly and I was quite down after FP1 on Friday but I went away to have a think about things and after that, things started to fall into place. All of the changes we made were in the right direction but I got boxed in at the first corner of the first race and I was only able to get back up to 15th for just a single point. I opted for the inside line at Paddock Hill for race two and had a good first few laps, holding people off. I made a slight mistake at Druids which saw me lose the tow to tenth place and 13th saw me pick up some more points.”
Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: “The test we had at Cadwell Park prior to this weekend was a big help and allowed us to test some parts which we wouldn’t normally have had time for. They definitely helped both riders and although we’re disappointed not to have picked up at least one podium, Peter was in great form all weekend and two fourth places sees us maintain a top six position and pull more points on the seventh placed rider. Lee also made good strides forward and can consider himself a little bit unfortunate not to have scored more points. He’s running consistently in the top 15 now though and edging closer to the top ten so that’s what we’ll be aiming for next time out.”
