The Smiths Triumph Racing Team had a much more profitable weekend of racing at a red hot Snetterton with Billy McConnell giving the team yet another podium in the 2013 Motorpoint British Supersport Championship.
Saturday's qualifying session saw McConnell take an excellent second on the new Smiths Triumph Daytona 675R but he found himself pushed back to sixth in the early stages of the ten lap Sprint race later in the day with a lot of work to do. Embroiled in a four man battle for fourth, the 26-year-old Adelaide rider fought hard and eventually sealed fourth position in the closing stages of the race to clinch 13 hard earned points.
Despite making a sluggish start in Sunday's longer 15-lap race, he dug deep and riding as hard as ever he was able to clinch the final podium position to take his sixth rostrum of the season to close to within 13 points of second position in the title race for the Gloucester-based team.
Fellow Aussie and team-mate Glen Richards made his return to racing just three weeks after badly damaging his shoulder in a crash at the previous round at Knockhill. It kept the defending British Champion back in 15th in qualifying but he was running well inside the top ten in the first race before being forced to retire when he accidentally hit the kill switch whilst trying to adjust the brakes. In the second race, the 39-year-old put in a superb ride to climb into the top ten and he was deservedly rewarded with an excellent eighth place.
Billy McConnell: "It's been a good weekend and third and fourth has put a good few points on the board again. I was a bit disappointed with Saturday's race as it should have been a podium whilst I made a really poor start today and gave myself work to do. But I kept chipping away and if it hadn't been for a couple of mistakes I think I could have had Ben Wilson for second. Everyone in the team is working really hard and I did the double at Brands Hatch last year so I'll be looking for more of the same in two weeks time."
Glen Richards: "It's been a tough weekend and all credit to the BSB physio team who did a great job with me in between the crash at Knockhill and arriving here this weekend. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't have been able to race, simple as that, so a big thank you to them. In the first race, I tried to adjust the brakes and killed the motor whilst in the second race I couldn't have gone any faster as there was diminishing grip with the rear tyre due to me having to use it more than normal. Because I couldn't push the front as hard, I over used the rear but to finish with an eighth is a great end to the weekend."
Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: "It's been a different kind of weekend for us coping with Glen's injuries and first of all we've got to say a big thank you to the BSB physio team as the work they did with Glen was simply excellent. It allowed him to get out there and ride and in typical Glen fashion, he gritted his teeth and put in two determined rides. He was unlucky in the first race but bounced back superbly in the second race and really deserved a top ten finish.
"Billy rode well all weekend, doing everything he could to get on the podium. We've continued to develop the bike since Knockhill and he crept up the leaderboard that bit more so to end the weekend with a podium is really pleasing. We're never going to stop working and will regroup and come back even stronger at Brands Hatch."
As a result, McConnell retained his fourth place in the series with Richards dropping to seventh place in the standings going into the next round at Brands Hatch on July 19/21st.
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race 1 - 10 laps1 Alastair Seeley (Kawasaki)2 Luke Mossey (Triumph)3 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki)4 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph)5 Jason O'Halloran (Honda)6 Graeme Gowland (Yamaha)DNF Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph)
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race 2 - 15 laps1 Alastair Seeley (Kawasaki)2 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki)3 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph)4 Graeme Gowland (Yamaha)5 Luke Mossey (Triumph)6 Taylor Mackenzie (Suzuki)8 Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph)
Championship standings (after five rounds)1 Seeley 205pts2 Easton 1653 Wilson 1604 McConnell 1525 Gowland 1096 Irwin 697 Richards 65
