James Westmoreland is still very
much in the running for the Championship and it is looking like it will go down
to the final round between three riders. James felt confident coming to
Donington and once again he had a stunning qualifying session and secured pole
for the sprint race on Saturday. He got a good start and was third after lap one
but on lap two he was pushed out onto the grass by another rider and dropped
back to eighth. He got his head down, setting some incredible lap times to push
his way back up to fourth place after the ten laps.
He went into Sunday with a four
point disadvantage to Tarran Mackenzie in the Championship standings. He once
again started from pole position for the scheduled 18-lap race. He struggled
into turn one and ended up in fourth place after the opening lap. He made a
couple of mistakes at the Melbourne Loop on a few laps running him wide and
losing positions. He was soon locked in a very close battle for several laps
with his Championship rival Tarran Mackenzie.
Joe Francis was also eager for a
good result at Donington, after struggling at the previous two rounds. The
youngster was eager for two good races and all his practice sessions he was
looking extremely comfortable. He ended up qualifying for the first race on
Saturday in third place. He got a great start and was leading after the opening
lap; he dropped back to third by lap three and sadly crashed out on lap four at
the final turn.
He had to start from ninth on the
grid for the main feature race on Sunday, he held his position after lap one. He
settled into a nice rhythm in the race and his lap times began to drop and he
was able to make some strong passes throughout the race and was up to seventh by
lap four. By lap six he pushed through to fifth and held that position until the
chequered flag.
James
Westmoreland -
"This weekend was certainly challenging. Everything felt perfect all weekend and
I was eager to give it a big push in race one. Sadly I got caught up in the
melee in the opening laps and was put onto the grass at the final turn. I lost a
number of places and had to really work hard to regain positions. I got back to
fourth and kept my Championship title hopes a chance.
In the main race I'm disappointed
beyond belief to lose out on second in the race today and finish in third. I
gave it everything I had and from that point of view I couldn't do anymore.
There are still 100 points up for grabs and I won't give in. I'm sorry to the
CAME BPT Yamaha team for today's result and a big thank you for their continued
work and support, especially with back to back races.
I'm very disappointed naturally
but I'm sure in the new few days I will regroup and focus on Assen and
Brands."
Joe Francis - "I felt so much better on the
bike this weekend. I have been doing motocross and training hard to try and help
my arms and I had no problems which was great. My times were good from the start
and I was really looking forward to the two races.
I got a great start in the Sprint
race and it was good to be back leading a race again. I felt good and wanted to
push for a podium, it wasn't to be as I tucked the front on the final turn and
crashed out.
The crash put me quite a long way
back on the grid for race two and I knew it would be hard from there to get on
the podium, my aim was top five. I made a few mistakes on the first few laps and
knew I had to settle down and regroup to push forwards. I was setting some good
times and able to work my way up to fifth, by which point the leading pack had
bridged a big gap.
I definitely feel more confident
leaving here and really looking forward to the final two rounds of the
season."
Grant Bunting - Team
Manager - "It
was another testing weekend at Donington Park this weekend. Once again James and
Joe were really strong throughout the practice sessions and it was looking set
to be a really good weekend.
Both were really riding well and
setting some very good lap times. We had another two pole positions with Westy
and we just weren't able to transform them into a race win. He worked hard in
both races but he lost positions in race one through no fault of his own and dug
deep to finish in fourth. He couldn't have pushed Tarran harder today in the
main race and pushed as much as he could to secure a podium.
Joe was back on form this weekend
and even though he crashed in race one he was looking confident again and had
performed well all weekend. It was going to be tough for him in race two from
ninth on the grid but he rode really hard and got up to fifth.
We are still battling for the
Championship and will continue to fight for the wins until the end of the
season."
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen