National Superstock 1000: McConnell and Reid share spoils, Clarke and Rouse impress

Buildbase Suzuki’s Billy McConnell kept held of his National Superstock 1000 championship lead after taking a solid 3rd place in the first race, whilst a masterful win in race two was good enough for the Australian to lead the pack out of Brands Hatch. Andy Reid elevated himself into 2nd in the standings, following a race win on Saturday and a 3rd on Sunday. He is 16 points behind the popular Australian, as the championship heads to Oulton Park.

Other notable performances included Chrissy Rouse, who was back on the podium for the first time this year on Sunday, placing a joint best 2nd place. His IMR Racing teammate Jordan Gilbert continued to impress, as he finished 13th and 9th. They are 5th and 9th in the standings respectively.

Reigning champions Morello Kawasaki endured another difficult weekend, with Josh Elliott down in 8th place on Sunday, having been disqualified from Saturday’s race – something that Morello Racing were not responsible for. However, Sam Clarke had a fantastic weekend with a double top ten, achieving two seventh place finishes. They are 6th and joint-10th in the championship respectively.

Tyco BMW had a mixed weekend, following Keith Farmer’s 2nd place finishing in race one. The reigning British Supersport champion was in the lead group before a retirement from race two. Teammate Dan Kneen failed to score points in either race, having finished less than a tenth behind the points in race one and a DNF in race two.

Mission Racing had a frantic weekend, with Fraser Rogers and Ben Godfrey both crashing during the meeting. The team pulled together though, with Rogers taking 12th in race two, whilst Long Eaton’s Godfrey was 15th; neither scored points in the first race. The team are down to two riders too, after the sudden decision by Brayden Elliott to pull out of the championship.

Joe Collier and Alastair Seeley also had a great weekend, with both riders finishing both races in the to six. The EHA Racing Aprilia of Collier had a great battle with Seeley on track, with the former coming out of the weekend with a 5th and 4th, whilst Seeley took a 6th and 5th. Seeley will head to the next round of the championship looking to repeat Mason Law’s 2017 Oulton Park achievement on the Stauff Connect Academy Kawasaki and take victory, as well as give Brent Gladwin’s team their first podium in the class since Snetterton last year.

Alex Olsen was right in the mix on Sunday, having scored his first top ten of the year on Saturday. He went on to achieve his first top six of the year on Sunday, looking like he has found something that will put him up the sharp end at every round.

Jones Dorling Racing’s Ash Beech scored his first points of the year too, with a 15th and 14th in race one and two respectively. The Cotswolds-based outfit have shown much promise in testing and now look to build on the result as Oulton Park beckons.

Also, an honorable mention to Tom Ward, who looks like he found something during the weekend. Whilst still out of the points in 20th place, the Movuno.com Halsall Racing team rider moved from 26th on the grid during race two. Watch for the Canterbury rider to break into the points in the next meetings.