Weekly Motorsport Round-Up #18

It was a mixed weekend for our MCE Insurance British Superbike riders at Thruxton on the weekend.

Defending champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne was looking to build on his recent good form and appeared to be bang on track for more podiums when he finished fastest in the warm-up.

Shakey made a good start in race one and battled for the lead with Josh Brookes, Peter Hickman and Jake Dixon. Despite some good attempts, Shakey was not able to get close enough to make his move and had to settle for fourth.

Byrne was confident again in the second race and led for three laps, but it soon became clear he was having problems with his rear tyre, eventually forcing him to retire on lap 15.

Despite the disappointing weekend, Shakey remains top of the overall standings.

SILKOLENE-backed Shakey said: "I felt so, so comfortable and was ready to check out but then the rear tyre went downhill rapidly and I couldn’t do anything about it. I had no option but to retire but I’m still leading the championship and have only lost the odd point to my rivals in terms of Podium Points so we’ll roll on to the next round.”

There was much better news for the SILKOLENE-backed Smiths Racing BMW team, who celebrated a debut race win through Hickman.

Having finished race one in second, Hickman took advantage of a crash by Brookes, unhurt at Cobb, to take the lead on the penultimate lap of race two.

“It annoys me when people call me an also-ran and write me off,” said Hickman. “It’s time to take me seriously.”

There will be few doubting Hickman’s ability now, with the Burton-on-Trent ace sitting in third in the overall standings.

Elsewhere, FUCHS ambassador Gavin Murray came home in 11th in the Hot Rods National Championship in Hednesford having qualified in 11th by finishing in P11, P4 and P10 in the heats. Unfortunately, Gavin sustained a bent axle during the race and was unable to compete in the NHRPA Championship.

Also in action last weekend were the BTRDA Rallycross drivers in the FUCHS-backed Supermodified class. This was a double-header meeting at Pembrey in south Wales, and utilised the new track layout. Class winner on the Saturday was Allan Tapscott in his rear-wheel-drive Vauxhall Corsa, closely followed by Mike Dresser (Lotus Exige) and Phil Chicken (Super 1600 Citroen C2).

In round 5 on Sunday, it was Dresser who led the way in the heats, only to spin out in the ‘A’ final, leaving Mark Jones to claim victory in his Toyota MR2. Phil Chicken improved to take second place on the podium, with Allan Tapscott third.

David Bogie resumes his 2017 rally season with FUCHS supported CA1 Sport on the Grampian rally in Scotland this coming weekend.

This is the sixth round of the Scottish rally championship, so the number one seed can expect to be well tested over 44 miles of granite roads in the forests around Crathie, near Aberdeen.

Also competing on this event after a two year lay-off is Penrith’s Paul Bird, who is seeded at number 4, and co-driven by Stuart Louden in a Ford Focus WRC 07.

“I’m looking forward to it”, said Bird. “I’m like the rebel of rallying now, but I don’t mind that. I’m not coming out to finish second – I’ve tested in the car, but I haven’t been out in the last five weeks as we’ve been busy with the Superbike team, and also with Frank (Paul’s son) in the Formula Renault Eurocup.”

After coming back from Crathie, the CA1 team are heading off to Ulster next Monday to test and prepare for the sixth round of the British Rally Championship, the Ulster rally, where championship leader Fredrik Ahlin is top seed.

Race fans have a chance to see our karting ace Marcus Hudson on television on Monday August 14.

The final of MSA ABkC NKF Super 4 250 British Championship Round four will be shown on Motorsport TV (channel 447 on SKY) at 6.30pm on Monday, followed by the second part at 6.30pm on August 21st.

Marcus’ most recent outing was round five of the British Championship at Forest Edge, Hampshire.

Having never raced the circuit before, Marcus made a good start in heat one but lost a couple of places late on and finished fourth.

Despite a great start in heat two, Marcus found himself stuck behind other karts and dropped to 10th. He managed to fight his way back to eighth at the flag.

Marcus suffered an engine cut-off going down the back straight in heat three but his positions over the course of the day saw him line up in seventh on the grid for the final.

He managed to squeeze his way to sixth and was pushing hard for P5 but eventually came home in eighth, nine seconds ahead of ninth.

Marcus said: “Although eighth wasn't my best result in a final, I managed fourth in one of the heats, which I was happy with my performance on this circuit as I had never been here before and was with the top guys in the championship.

“I'm fifth in the championship standings with two rounds left.”

Next up is Rissington in Gloucestershire on September 23/24.

Meanwhile, Adam Morgan is back in BTCC action this weekend as he looks to bounce back from recent disappointments.

Finally, all at FUCHS LUBRICANTS and FUCHS SILKOLENE were devastated to hear about the death of Mark Fincham during a Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship race at Thruxton.

Former Royal Marine Mark, 37, was a member of the True Heroes Racing team, which do great work with ex-servicemen and we’re proud to sponsor them.

Our thoughts are with Mark’s family and all of the True Heroes Racing team.