This weekend (2-4 October) the MCE British Superbike Championship reaches the penultimate round at Silverstone, where Honda Racing and its riders Dan Linfoot and Jenny Tinmouth are looking for solid results aboard the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.
The last outing at Assen didn’t go quite to plan for Linfoot and the 27-year-old knows that he needs a strong performance in both races at the weekend to get his Showdown campaign back on-track.
Lying sixth in the series, he is just six points behind Tommy Bridewell in fifth place and two solid results will see the gap reduced, in preparation for the season finale at Brands Hatch.
His Honda Racing team-mate Jenny Tinmouth is also looking forward to putting the last outing behind her. Although the Cheshire-based rider continued to build on her lap times on the CBR, a small crash in race two put an end to her weekend, Tinmouth was left unhurt.
The squad will also welcome back Honda Endurance Racing’s Julien Da Costa as he returns to the Fireblade of Jason O’Halloran, who continues to recover from his injuries sustained at Thruxton.
The Frenchman is familiar with the 5.901km Northamptonshire circuit and enjoyed two top-ten finishes there last year as a wildcard ride with the team, as part of the development programme of the Fireblade.
Live timing will be available from britishsuperbike.com/live-timing
2015 MCE British Superbike Championship, round 11Silverstone, Northamptonshire Event schedule
Friday 2 October 1015 – 1100 – FP1 1515 – 1600 – FP2
Saturday 3 October 1045 – 1130 – FP3 1605 – 1625 – Q1 1632 – 1644 – Q2 1651 – 1659 – Q3
Sunday 4 October 0915 – 0930 – Warm up 1330 – Race 1 (14 laps 82.614km) 1630 – Race 2 (14 laps 82.614km)
Dan Linfoot:My main focus for the weekend is to be much faster on Friday, it’s something that we really need to work on so that we have good practice sessions and can go into qualifying on the right foot. Silverstone is a circuit I love and always enjoy; Assen was a non-starter for us so I am determined this weekend to get our Showdown on the road. I had a good debrief with the team after the last outing and we can hit this weekend with a different approach. Alex [Lowes] had a strong performance at Silverstone in 2013 and we know we can build on that this weekend. The results from Assen have definitely made me more determined to come back stronger and I’m going to do the best job I can for Honda Racing.
Jenny Tinmouth:I’m really looking forward to Silverstone, it’s a great circuit and I always really enjoy riding there. Assen was a mixed weekend for me; I had a good race one but then had a small crash in the second race, which unfortunately ended my weekend. I was pushing hard and think if I hadn’t crashed I would have ended with a good result. This weekend my focus is to continue to beat my lap times, finish both races and hopefully be in the top-20.
Julien Da Costa:I can’t wait to get back out on the BSB Fireblade at Silverstone; I really enjoyed riding at Oulton Park, so am looking forward to getting out in FP1 on Friday. Last year was mega and I scored two top-ten finishes and the track was new to me, so hope I can repeat the success of last year! The forecast looks good, so now just to have fun, get some laps in and enjoy it!
