BSB: Thruxton Weekend Review

BSB race 1:

Fresh off his Suzuka 8 hour podium Leon Haslam took what can only be described as a surprising win off the pace for much of practice and qualifying the new KRT WSBK rider seemed to have the perfect race managing his tires to perfection taking the in with a last corner pass on eventual 2nd place finisher Jake Dixon, Dixon also set an impressive pace throughout the race fighting all the way and pushing Haslam to his limit early on he was the one to close down Luke Mossey who had taken off from the start and was looking supremely strong in the early laps but seemed to use up his tyre and was unable to last with the front group.

Completing the podium was a very unwell Peter Hickman who spent the night before in hospital with a kidney infection having set very fast laps during Fridays practice he was off the pace on Saturday due to the infection, Hicky managed to work his way up to the front group throughout the race and took advantage of an incient in the final hairpin between Josh Brookes and Jason O’Halloran.

Brookes eventually took 4th place ahead of Glenn Irwin who had qualified pole but seemed to be struggling to make his tires last on the Ducati he was matching the guys early on but just fell away towards the end of the race O’Halloran brought his Honda home in 6th place not the result he would have hoped for having been 3rd going into the final hairpin but after his recent injury problems a great return to form. Luke Mossey after showing early pace finished in 7th place ahead of an impressive Mason Law in 8th, Tarran MacKenzie came through from the back of the grid to finish in 9th and completing the top 10 was series newcomer Chrissy Rouse who continues to improve week on week.

BSB Race 2:

After his 1st race antics where he drew the ire of fellow Australian Josh Brookes took the win in race 2 basically leading from the start he controlled the race in his usual cool fashion never looking in any danger of losing out to the group behind, Peter Hickman came home in 2nd place an extremely brilliant performance for the worlds fastest road racer considering he was only just released from hospital an hour or so before race 1 he fought tooth and nail for it even closing down Brookes on the final lap to give himself a gap to the battle for 3rd.

That battle was between Jake Dixon,Leon Haslam and Tarran MacKenzie with Dixon taking the final spot on the podium both Dixon and Haslam had tried to close the gap down on Brookes at the front but neither really had the pace to match him or even Hickman late on. MacKenzie couldn’t really match the pace of the guys in front but had enough to hang on to them and scored another solid result for the rookie.

Haslam eventually finished in 4th place importantly for his title rivals he failed to score any podium credits which Haslam has admitted is all he is really looking for at this stage of the season MacKenzie finished in 5th as stated above a solid result for him in what has been a very good rookie season, Jason O’Halloran finished in 6th place another top result for him as he continues his recovery from a very badly broken ankle. The top 10 was completed by Tommy Bridewell finishing in 7th a great result and continuing his fine form since joining the Moto Rapido squad Luke Mossey was in 8th followed by Glenn Irwin who had a terrible weekend by his recent standards Mason Law finished in 10th place to complete the best weekend he has had since moving up to the superbike grid.

Some of the other top 6 contenders had weekends to forget again Bradley Ray could only score one solitary 12th place after a DNF in race 1 the young Suzuki rider has struggled since the round at Brands Hatch Indy not scoring a podium finish since then, Danny Buchan also had a weekend to forget with a double DNF allowing the riders like Hickman to close up and put pressure on his place in the top 6.

Rider of the day for me personally has to go to Peter Hickman battling a tough illness and putting himself back into showdown contention it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine Hicky taking at least 1 win this weekend if he was at full fitness.

Supersport:

Race 1:

Kyle Ryde made it 2 for 2 after re-joing the supersport class on the Moto2 bike, The race saw 8 riders fighting it out for the win James Westmoreland had taken the holeshot and looked comfortable at the front but was forced to retire due to a technical problem with his Kawasaki. The race came down to the final lap with Ryde holding off his team mate Josh Owens to cross the line first Ben Currie was 3rd on the track but being the 1st supersport bike across the line he took the full 25 points he finished ahead of series leader Jack Kennedy who returned to action after missing Brands Hatch due to an injury James Rispoli completed the podium.

Race 2:

The GP2 dominance of the middleweight class continued but it was Josh Owens who took the win this time in simply dominant fashion streaking away from the rest of the field. Behind him Jack Kennedy finished in 2nd on the road but 1st overall in the supersport class James Rispoli finished in 2nd and Jamie Perrin finished in 3rd, Race 1 winner Kyle Ryde had been running in 2nd on his GP2 but an unfortunate collision with Ben Currie caused both riders to crash out with 2 laps to go this incident brought out the red flag and put a huge blow in Currie’s title hopes with a still badly injured Kennedy taking full points.

National Superstock 1000:

Josh Elliott took a fantastic win his first at Thruxton and first on the OMG racing Suzuki he had to work hard for it fending off early in the race Alex Olsen and then in the later stages of the race Lee Jackson. It all came down to the final hairpin where Elliott positioned himself in the right place and actually forced Jackson to back off slightly which allowed Taylor MacKenzie who saved a lot of his tyre life early in the race to come across the line in 2nd place. Championship contender Billy McConnell came home in 4th place well ahead of championship leader Keith Farmer in 5th Joe Collier kept his title challenge alive with a 6th place damage limitations in terms of the title.