Weekly Motorsport Round-Up #20

The Smiths Racing BMW team are enjoying one of the best periods in their history.

Backed by FUCHS Silkolene, the Gloucester-based team had both Peter Hickman and Lee Jackson finish on the podium at the MCE British Superbikes meeting at Cadwell Park.

The achievement came in the second race of the afternoon, with Jackson coming home in second and Hickman a little over 1.5seconds behind in third.

It is the first time the double British Supersport champions have had two riders on a BSB podium.

To make things even better, Jackson also claimed a new lap record and Hickman strengthened his place in third in the overall standings, having also finished in fourth in the opening race of the meeting.

Team manager Rebecca Smith said: “Watching the second race was a very nerve-wracking affair so I was glad when it was finally over but we’re simply overjoyed to have two riders on a BSB podium for the first time.”

There were no such celebrations for Silkolene’s headline sponsored rider, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne – but the five-times champion remains top of the championship nonetheless.

Shakey started the first of the 18-lap races in pole position but he lost the front end of his bike at Mansfield Corner on the second lap and did extraordinarily well to avoid a crash.

He did lose some places, though, and had to settle for third position at the flag.

Shakey forced his way to the front in race two but a technical problem with the gear linkage meant he had to retire early.

Shakey remains a clear favourite to clinch a place in the Showdown going into the triple-header at Silverstone.

Meanwhile, team-mate Glenn Irwin was still suffering with the arm and shoulder injuries sustained at Knockhill a couple of months ago and consequently could only score P11 and P9 finishes.

Michael Rutter and the Bathams/SMT Racing team were back in Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship action at the weekend and although the Cadwell Park meeting proved to be a challenging affair, the Bridgnorth rider took a strong fourth place.

Rutter started the race from the relatively unfamiliar position of 10th but a trademark good start saw him complete the first of the 15 laps in sixth place.

He managed to squeeze up one more place to fifth.

However, Chrissy Rouse’s machine failed a post race technical inspection and he was subsequently excluded from the results, promoting Rutter up to fourth and strengthening his third place overall in the Championship table.

There are exciting times ahead for Revolution Speedway, who travel to Prague for the FIM 250 World Championships. The semi-finals take place on Tuesday August 29, followed by the final on the Thursday.

The very best of luck to the team.

Onto four wheels, and CA1 Sport’s Martin Wilkinson was tired but satisfied after getting back from a demanding week on the latest round of the British Rally Championship the Ulster Rally.

The FUCHS Lubricants-backed team travelled out to Ulster last week for a full day’s testing on Tuesday with crew Fredrik Ahlin and Torstein Erikson, to adjust suspension, gearing, engine response in tarmac mode on the Skoda Fabia R5, before starting the rally’s 14 stages on Friday.

Martin explained: “We went early because Fredrik wanted to be as sure he could that everything was properly prepared – including himself! Now that we’re getting to the sharp end of the championship, Fredrik and Torstein want to keep everything as tight as possible. They are currently leading, but not by many points, so they’re wanting at least a podium a finish this weekend.”

And that was exactly what Fredrik was able to deliver on the twisty, bumpy, and very fast, tarmac roads in Ulster. The crew were second up to stage four, where they dropped to third after a slightly slow start to the stage, but when nearest challenger Osian Pryce went out on stage 10 with a fuel pressure problem on their Ford Fiesta R5, the Ahlin/ Erikkson crew were able to back off a little to come home a delighted second overall, less than a minute behind lights-to- flag winner Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin, and more than two minutes ahead of third placed Jonathon Greer/Kirsty Riddick in their Citroen DS3 R5.

Fredrik has now extended his lead in the British Championship to 32 points over Keith Cronin who has moved up to second following his win, and CA1 Sport lead M-Sport by 23 points in the teams competition.

Finally, there was more success for Shaun Tarlton in the Mini 7 Racing Club S Class Championship at Oulton Park.

Shaun was smiling from ear to ear after securing a pole, two fastest laps, a win in race one and a P2 in race two. “What a season it’s been,” beamed Shaun. “Thanks to everyone who has made this possibile.”

Picture courtesy of Jon Jessop Photography: Lee Jackson (L) and Peter Hickman (R) celebrating on the podium.