CAME BPT Monster Yamaha - British Supersport TT Circuit Assen - Round 11

It was a mixed weekend for the CAME BPT Yamaha team at round 11 of the Dickies British Supersport Championship at the Assen Circuit in Holland. James Westmoreland knew he had to come here fighting for podiums to keep his Championship hopes alive, he was only able to secure a fourth and sixth place. His team-mate Joe Francis unfortunately crashed out of race one but redeemed himself in race two with a fantastic podium in second place.

 

James Westmoreland came to the penultimate round of the Championship knowing that it is still all to play for. Westy was getting to grips with the CAME BPT Yamaha throughout the practice sessions and with the drying track during qualifying he was only able to secure seventh place on the grid for the opening Sprint race on Saturday. He got stuck in the melee of the opening laps and was dicing for position, dropping back to ninth at one point. He soon settled down putting in some strong lap times and pushed his way up to finish in fourth place, one place ahead of Championship rival Tarran Mackenzie.

 

For race two he was placed in pole position and was eager for a strong race. Just as their race was set to start the rain started to fall, causing mayhem between all the teams desperately trying to change tyres to wets. The race was delayed and cut short to 12-laps, Westy got a poor start and dropped back to eighth after the opening lap. He was dicing throughout the race for sixth place, he made a move on Ben Currie to take sixth position at the flag.

 

Joe Francis was struggling with set-up at Assen and despite several changes throughout the weekend he was finding it difficult to make the bike comfortable for his style. He managed to qualify in 10^th for race one on Saturday, he dropped to 12^th after lap one and clawed back a position but unfortunately crashed on lap six.

 

He was placed in 20^th for race two and knew he had a lot of work to do to get through the pack and into the points. With the conditions as they were Joe got an unreal start and by the end of lap one he was third. He rode a very sensible and clever race and continued to put in good lap times. With four laps remaining he was able to make a move on Andrew Irwin for second, where he remained until he finished the race.

 

James Westmoreland - "Naturally I'm disappointed with 6^th today. I gave it my all and that was all I had in those conditions.

 

I've lost a few more points in the Championship chase, which makes Brands a little harder but the pressure is very much off me now and I can concentrate on riding the best I can.

 

There's no better place for me to go than the Brands GP circuit. I won there in 2009 and 2010 and also twice this year.

 

This Championship has another twist yet......I promise my team and my supporters I'll go there and give 100% to win both races.

 

Thank you to all the CAME BPT Yamaha team for all their work again this weekend."

 

Joe Francis - "It was a tough weekend really, as I never found a good set-up on Friday or Saturday and I was hoping just for a top ten in the opening race.

 

Sadly I had some problems with the front end in race one and I tucked the front and crashed out. This put me back in 20^th and I knew I almost needed a miracle for something good to happen, then it rained!

 

I don't know how I got the start I did in the wet race but despite it all being a little messy on the opening laps I managed to come out up near the front. The bike felt good and I didn't want to make a stupid pass on Andrew Irwin and risk taking us both out so I bided my time and made a pass on him in the closing stages. I'm really happy to be back on the podium and hope I can end the season on a high at Brands.

 

Thanks again to all the CAME BPT Yamaha team."

 

Grant Bunting - Team Manager - "This was a tough weekend as we were really hoping to push hard for Championship points for Westy to keep the title hopes alive. All is not lost yet it just might be a little harder at Brands Hatch. He is 12 points behind now but I know as a team we will make sure we can everything we can for the final round for one last push.

 

It's good to get Joe back up on the podium again. He had a crash yesterday which put him in a low grid position. The bad weather played into his hands and he grabbed it with everything he could and took advantage of that situation. To come from 20^th to finish second in tricky conditions was a great result and I hope both him and Westy can end the season on a high note."