The Smiths Racing Team were back in MCE British Superbike Championship and Motorpoint British Supersport action this weekend where the Gloucester-based team was competing at Oulton Park in Cheshire for round nine of the respective series.
In front of another large crowd, it was Supersport rider Jake Dixon who was the toast of the team by taking a brilliant victory as well as a second place finish aboard the factory-backed Smiths Triumph Daytona 675R.
The Folkestone rider was hoping to continue the good form he'd shown in the previous round at Cadwell Park, where he'd taken his third victory of the season and he continued that fine form into this weekend at Oulton Park. Yesterday's 'Sprint' race saw a ferocious six rider battle throughout the 12 laps with Jake leading from laps four to ten. However, Andrew Reid managed to squeeze by on the penultimate lap, going on to take the win, but Jake brought the Triumph home for an excellent second place.
Despite a sluggish start to today's 'Feature' race which saw him drop back to fifth in the early stages, some good overtaking moves, particularly through the Hizzy's chicane, saw the 19-year-old soon up to second position and in contention for the race win. A mistake at half distance dropped him back to fourth but he fought back brilliantly to move into the podium positions and when Reid crashed out at the final corner, Jake swept through to take his fourth win of the season.
Australian team-mate Billy McConnell, however, suffered vastly differing fortunes in the three races for the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship class aboard the Smiths Racing BMW. The weekend started well for the Adelaide rider when he qualified in an excellent fifth place for yesterday's race and he duly held onto that position for the opening few laps. However, just after slipping back a couple of places, he crashed out on the ninth lap at Old Hall Corner, luckily without injury.
It didn't get much better in today's opening race for the reigning British Supersport champion when he was forced to retire on the fifth lap with a clutch problem. That just left the third and final 18-lap race of the weekend to claim a result, but coming through from 20th place on the grid was always going to be a tall order although he did manage to claim a point for 15th place.
Jake Dixon: "It's great to win, but you never want to see a good rider like Andy (Reid) go out like that and I hope he's OK. I lost my brakes midway through the race, so it was great to come back and take the win after taking second yesterday. I was a bit disappointed with that race having led for so long, but when Andy came by me, I lost a bit of ground. I'd put in some good moves to take the lead and felt that I had good pace, but the last two laps were what cost me. It's a first and second, though, so a big thanks to the whole team for working so hard and giving me the package to be back on the top step again."Billy McConnell: "It looked like it was going to be a good weekend for us and after making a good breakthrough with the setting of the bike, qualifying went perfectly. Unfortunately, I got caught out with my braking marker in the first race and I got crossed up and crashed out. It gave the boys a lot of work to do and when I went out in race two, the clutch was slipping so I had to pull in. I was way back on the grid for the third race and trying to come from 20th in this depth of field is practically impossible but I got a point so that was something. We'll regroup and go again at Assen."
Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: "I really feel for Billy this weekend as his results don't reflect his pace. He qualified really well but unfortunately made a mistake in the first race and crashed out and the clutch didn't stand up in the second race and he had to pull in. With no decent lap time, he had to start a long way back on the grid for the third race so we'll all regroup for Assen and look to regain the momentum we had. Jake had two fantastic results and I was delighted to see him win his fourth race of the season and get back up to third in the championship. He's riding with total confidence again and we all hope he can carry this form through to the final three rounds of the season."
MCE British Superbike Championship - Race One (18 laps)1 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)2 James Ellison (Kawasaki)3 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki)4 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)5 Dan Linfoot (Honda)6 Luke Mossey (Kawasaki)DNF Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing BMW)
MCE British Superbike Championship - Race Two (18 laps)1 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)2 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki)3 Dan Linfoot (Honda)4 Luke Mossey (Kawasaki)5 James Ellison (Kawasaki)6 Peter Hickman (BMW)DNF Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing BMW)
MCE British Superbike Championship - Race Three (18 laps)1 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)3 Tommy Bridewell (BMW)4 Danny Buchan (Kawasaki)5 James Ellison (Kawasaki)6 Dan Linfoot (Honda)15 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing BMW)
Championship Positions (after nine rounds)1 Brookes 553pts2 Byrne 5513 Ellison 5224 Bridewell 507= Linfoot 5076 Laverty 50012 McConnell 89
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship - Race One (12 laps)1 Andy Reid (Yamaha)2 Jake Dixon (Smiths Racing Triumph)3 Luke Stapleford (Triumph)4 Sam Hornsey (Triumph)5 James Rispoli (Yamaha)6 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki)
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship - Race Two (15 laps)1 Jake Dixon (Smiths Racing Triumph)2 James Rispoli (Yamaha)3 Luke Stapleford (Triumph)4 Glenn Irwin (Kawasaki)5 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki)6 Luke Hedger (Kawasaki)
Championship Positions (after nine rounds)1 Stapleford 3462 Ryde 2773 Dixon 2484 Irwin 2365 Rispoli 173
