A BUSY WEEKEND OF RACING ACROSS EUROPE SAW PODIUM CELEBRATIONS ON TWO, THREE AND FOUR WHEELS
It was podiums abound for our RICH Energy Ambassadors across Europe last weekend as Honda WorldSBK’s Alvaro Bautista, BTCC PMR’s Dan Lloyd, BSB RICH Energy OMG Racing’s Brad Ray, and former Sidecar World Champion, Tim Reeves with passenger Kevin Rousseau all brought home silverware. Racing at Jerez, Silverstone, Oulton Park, and Hockenheim, it was a truly continental spread for our Ambassadors.
In Jerez, Alvaro Bautista made it four consecutive top-five finishes in the WorldSBK Championship at Jerez this weekend as the Spaniard’s rich vein of form continued after a troublesome season. After qualifying 9th for Sunday’s two races, the former MotoGP man took a lonely 5th in race one and a battling 3rd in race two to take yet another podium for the Honda WorldSBK team.
All of us at RICH Energy extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Dean Berta Viñales who sadly passed away after an incident during the Supersport 300 World Championship race at Jerez.
At Silverstone, the Adrian Flux with Power Maxed Racing was looking for a turn in fortunes as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship moved to the home of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. After a string of disappointing results fortunes changed for the Warwickshire team as drivers Jason Plato and Dan Lloyd took strong results in Northants. Dan Lloyd brought home two podium finishes for the team while Jason Plato returned three top-ten finishes in the team’s other Vauxhall Astra to record the best weekend of the season for PMR.
Tim Reeves and Kevin Rousseau continued their relentless European Tour with a victory and a second place in Hockenheim last weekend. The multiple British, TT, and World Champion was in outstanding form in Germany, taking the victory in the opening race of the weekend with a new lap record to boot before starting from the back of the grid for race two and storming through to second place, once again setting a new lap record! The pair now move on to Oschersleben, still in Germany, next weekend.
In Cheshire, Oulton Park welcomed the 9th round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship to its undulating rollercoaster of a circuit. The RICH Energy OMG Racing team was buoyant as the weekend got underway but a difficult qualifying saw the BSB pair of Kyle Ryde and Brad Ray outside the top ten. Ryde worked hard to restore his confidence over the weekend but a 13th a retirement and a 15th left the Nottinghamshire man unsurprisingly disappointed. For Brad Ray, it was a different story as, despite a crash on Friday, the Kent man continued his Silverstone momentum with three more strong results including his and the team’s second podium of the season with 3rd in race three.
National Superstock contender Billy McConnell didn’t quite reach the heights he hoped for Oulton Park but a herculean ride to fourth on Saturday proved the determination remains to secure his first Superstock title. Fifth in race two was damage limitation as the Aussie had no answer for the pace of the front three riders but crucially finishing ahead of a main championship rival.
True Heroes Racing’s Superstock pair, Dave Sellars and Dave Mackay were in action at Oulton Park. The former servicemen campaigned their GSXR1000 machines to two race finishes as did Ducati Cup rider, Mike Long. Teammate Ben Falla was less fortunate as a coming together with another rider earlier ended his weekend on the fifth lap of race one, his machine sadly too damaged to repair in time.
Junior Supersport rider Lewis Jones was also in action at Oulton Park as the youngster looked to find happier times after a difficult Silverstone round. The Mansfield rider’s luck continued to elude him as a fast crash in qualifying left Jones with an injured wrist and a back row start due to not setting a competitive time before the unfortunate crash. After the cancellation of race one on Saturday due to two red flags, race two on Sunday was a better day as Jones powered through from the last row of the grid to tenth place at the flag – a great effort while carrying an injury to his throttle hand.
The Bennetts British Superbike Championship continues this weekend at Donington Park for Round 10 of the best domestic championship in the world.