The Gloucester-based Smiths Triumph Racing Team endured a roller-coaster of emotions at the sixth round of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Thruxton but it ended positively with Graeme Gowland taking a win and the championship lead with team-mate Billy McConnell recording yet another podium to sit just one point behind.
After a wet qualifying session on Saturday morning, conditions cleared for the afternoon's 12 lap Sprint race and it proved to be one of the best races of the season so far as Billy, Graeme, Alastair Seeley, Luke Jones and Glenn Irwin battled for the lead throughout. Positions changed at practically every corner with the quintet never more than a second apart but at the chequered flag Australian ace McConnell took second and Graeme fourth as Seeley took the win.
However, the stewards later deemed that Adelaide rider McConnell had overtaken under a yellow flag approaching the chicane on the final lap and he was relegated to fourth with Gowland, from Allandale near Hexham in Northumberland, promoted to third.
It turned the championship standings around and saw Billy lose his title lead for the first time since he'd hit the front at Oulton Park back in May and added further spice to the second Feature race on Sunday, which saw another ferocious battle, this time involving Seeley, Jones, Luke Mossey and the two factory-supported Smiths Triumph Daytona 675Rs once more.
On this occasion it looked like Billy would take the race win as he led approaching the chicane but the slipstream effect came into play once more and it was Graeme who grabbed his fourth victory of the season, ahead of Mossey and McConnell with Seeley back in fifth. The result meant Gowland took the championship lead for the first time, one point ahead of Billy with Seeley three points further back in third meaning all is to play for at next weekend's round at Oulton Park.
Graeme Gowland: "It's been a good weekend and although I made a mistake on the last lap of Saturday's race, which cost me the win, I learnt from it and put it right on Sunday. Grip is always an issue at Thruxton and I thought it was going to be a long race but everything came together and the team have done a great job again so I can't thank them enough. It's great to be leading the championship at the half way point of the season and although it's only a point, it's still a nice feeling given I was 41 points behind Billy a few rounds ago. There's plenty of racing still to go though so we need to keep up the good work."
Billy McConnell: "My head was a bit down after the first race but I took it on the chin and I'm happy enough with how the weekend ended although I thought I'd timed it right to win the second race. I hit the front at a really good time but for some reason, I struggled all weekend through that final sector with the wind buffeting me and there wasn't much I could do about the other boys coming by. The team have worked really hard all weekend and we've scored some good points what with the racing being close, I think we can all expect every race from now until the end of the season to be like that!"
Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: "We were confident when we came here that we were going to have the pace to push for the race wins especially with both of the riders feeling good and the bike having moved on so much since we were here in 2013. Qualifying was a bit of a lottery due to the weather whilst race one summed up how the races have been this year although it was a shame it ended with a bit of controversy for us. The incident had to be followed up and it worked both for and against us with one rider moving onto the podium and another dropping off it! Both riders put it behind them and rode their hearts out today and it could have been anyone's race. Graeme bided his time and took a great win and it's great to see him take the championship lead as he deserves it and it could have happened one or two times earlier this season. Billy regrouped well to take another podium and with just one point between them, there's everything to play for and no doubt more nerve wracking moments for the team in the second half of the season!"
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race One - 12 laps1 Alastair Seeley (Yamaha)2 Luke Jones (Triumph)3 Graeme Gowland (Smiths Racing Triumph)4 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph)5 Glenn Irwin (Kawasaki)6 Luke Mossey (Triumph)Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race Two - 18 laps1 Graeme Gowland (Smiths Racing Triumph)2 Luke Mossey (Triumph)3 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Trimph)4 Luke Jones (Triumph)5 Alastair Seeley (Yamaha)6 Luke Stapleford (Triumph)Championship Points (after six rounds)1 Gowland 192pts2 McConnell 1913 Seeley 188pts4 Jones 1525 Stapleford 1436 Irwin 138
