Weekly Motorsport Round-Up #11

Another Isle of Man TT has come to an end – and there were some great results for the clutch of riders proudly wearing FUCHS SILKOLENE on their leathers.

Peter Hickman and the Smiths Racing BMW team enjoyed a fantastic five podium finishes from five races. The 30-year-old from Lincolnshire wrapped up his TT campaign with second place position in the Pokerstars Senior TT race.

The results meant that Hickman won the Joey Dunlop Championship trophy, awarded to the best overall performances by a rider over the course of the week, with Smiths Racing also winning the trophy awarded to the best team.

Hickman: “What can I say, it’s been an absolutely unbelievable week and five podiums from five races is mega.

“I came here with no podiums but to leave with five is amazing and although it would have been nice to win, I can’t complain as to ride round with so many fans lining the track was brilliant.”

Meanwhile, Michael Rutter rolled back the years to claim his fifth Isle of Man TT win with an excellent ride in the Lightweight race.

The 45-year-old beat Martin Jessopp by 8.8 seconds after four laps for his first win around the Mountain Course at the TT since he won the electric race in 2013.

Dafabet Devitt Racing’s Ivan Lintin, who won the race for the last two years, came home in fourth after a visor clip broke on his helmet, costing him time.

Lintin said: “Unfortunately, the clip on the visor broke at the pit stop so I lost a lot of time changing helmets and my podium position disappeared.

“After that, I could see I was in a safe fourth so settled for the position and although it’s a shame I couldn’t make it three wins in a row, I was pleased with fourth.”

Teammate Steve Mercer came home in P22 in the RL360 Quantum Superstock TT in challenging strong winds, while Lintin finished that race in 19th.

Joe Akroyd of Oilee Racing is learning to walk again in hospital after suffering fractures during practice.

After a seven week break, Shane Byrne and Glenn Irwin are back in action as the MCE British Superbike Championship resumes this weekend at Knockhill.

Back in early May, the Be Wiser Ducati pairing scored a fantastic one-two in the second round at Oulton Park.

The win for Shakey, his 78th of his career, came at an opportune time after a tough opening couple of rounds.

Byrne said: “It feels like forever since I last raced. I can’t wait to get back out there.”

Meanwhile, the countdown is on for the Cock O’ The North Continental Road Races at Oliver’s Mount, a circuit which SILKOLENE is proud to partner.

The races have been likened to a ‘miniature TT by the seaside’. The 2.43-mile track has always been regarded as a challenging, tight and twisty circuit which tests racing skills to the maximum.

Tickets for the June 24-25 event can be purchased here: goo.gl/P7MYUv

There was disappointment for FUCHS-backed Adam Morgan in the BTCC as the Lancashire ace had one DNF followed by 15th and 11th places.

Adam did, however, take some comfort from some fantastic overtaking on a notoriously difficult passing circuit in races two and three.

There is a long wait now until the next round of BTCC action at Snetterton at the end of July.

Scottish supremo Ashleigh Morris has also been in action recently at The Super Touring Festival at Knockhill.

Things did not get off to a great start for Ashleigh with her team having to work into the early hours to carry out a complete engine change on her BMW – and then the car hit problems again during testing.

Ashleigh qualified in P14 for the first race. Despite the car not being properly up to speed, the FUCHS driver manager to defend her position and finished in a respectable 11th.

But then another bit of bad luck hit the team as they were called into Parc Ferme. It was found that the catalytic converter had collapsed inside the exhaust and therefore the exhaust system didn’t meet the regulation.

Ashleigh had to arrange to borrow an exhaust from Carol Brown and Phil Grant. Back in action, Ashleigh was unable to make up any ground in race two and finished in P14.

A clearly dejected Ashleigh said: “The journey home was a thought-filled one. Plans have been made to get to the bottom of our engine problems and get it all in hand in time for our next race at Rockingham Racing Circuit this weekend. We will do all we can to get there. Despite feeling like, we do not give up.”

Meanwhile, across the northern Pennines, the DMack Carlisle stages rally was taking place on the Saturday of that weekend, where three FUCHS supported drivers were involved. Unluckiest of the group, as well as the oldest, was historic competitor Bob Bean in his MK1 Ford Escort RS. Bob’s weekend came to an abrupt halt on stage 2, when he became far too closely acquainted with one of the infamous Kielder ditches.

Faring better over the demanding 45 miles of the event were Steve Magson in his fearsome Mercedes Benz 190E who finished a remarkable 26th overall out of the 80 starters, and Ford Escort Cosworth crew Ian Joel and Graeme Wood who were delighted with their sixth place over all, beating much more powerful and more modern machinery in the process.

“We had to take it steady on the first two stages because we had a fault on the turbo, but we got it fixed at the emergency service thanks to Aldo and his crew, so then I could really get my foot down on the afternoon stages,” explained Ian at the finish.