CAME BPT Monster Yamaha British Supersport Donington Review

The CAME BPT Yamaha team had a varied weekend at round ten of the Dickies British Supersport Championship. James Westmoreland managed to secure a fourth and third place respectively and goes to Assen, the next round, eight points behind Tarran Mackenzie in the Championship standings. His team-mate Joe Francis unfortunately crashed out of third place in race one and was fifth in the second race.James Westmoreland is still very much in the running for the Championship and it is looking like it will go down to the final round between three riders. James felt confident coming to Donington and once again he had a stunning qualifying session and secured pole for the sprint race on Saturday. He got a good start and was third after lap one but on lap two he was pushed out onto the grass by another rider and dropped back to eighth. He got his head down, setting some incredible lap times to push his way back up to fourth place after the ten laps.He went into Sunday with a four point disadvantage to Tarran Mackenzie in the Championship standings. He once again started from pole position for the scheduled 18-lap race. He struggled into turn one and ended up in fourth place after the opening lap. He made a couple of mistakes at the Melbourne Loop on a few laps running him wide and losing positions. He was soon locked in a very close battle for several laps with his Championship rival Tarran Mackenzie.Joe Francis was also eager for a good result at Donington, after struggling at the previous two rounds. The youngster was eager for two good races and all his practice sessions he was looking extremely comfortable. He ended up qualifying for the first race on Saturday in third place. He got a great start and was leading after the opening lap; he dropped back to third by lap three and sadly crashed out on lap four at the final turn.He had to start from ninth on the grid for the main feature race on Sunday, he held his position after lap one. He settled into a nice rhythm in the race and his lap times began to drop and he was able to make some strong passes throughout the race and was up to seventh by lap four. By lap six he pushed through to fifth and held that position until the chequered flag.James Westmoreland - "This weekend was certainly challenging. Everything felt perfect all weekend and I was eager to give it a big push in race one. Sadly I got caught up in the melee in the opening laps and was put onto the grass at the final turn. I lost a number of places and had to really work hard to regain positions. I got back to fourth and kept my Championship title hopes a chance.In the main race I'm disappointed beyond belief to lose out on second in the race today and finish in third. I gave it everything I had and from that point of view I couldn't do anymore. There are still 100 points up for grabs and I won't give in. I'm sorry to the CAME BPT Yamaha team for today's result and a big thank you for their continued work and support, especially with back to back races.I'm very disappointed naturally but I'm sure in the new few days I will regroup and focus on Assen and Brands."Joe Francis - "I felt so much better on the bike this weekend. I have been doing motocross and training hard to try and help my arms and I had no problems which was great. My times were good from the start and I was really looking forward to the two races.I got a great start in the Sprint race and it was good to be back leading a race again. I felt good and wanted to push for a podium, it wasn't to be as I tucked the front on the final turn and crashed out.The crash put me quite a long way back on the grid for race two and I knew it would be hard from there to get on the podium, my aim was top five. I made a few mistakes on the first few laps and knew I had to settle down and regroup to push forwards. I was setting some good times and able to work my way up to fifth, by which point the leading pack had bridged a big gap.I definitely feel more confident leaving here and really looking forward to the final two rounds of the season."Grant Bunting - Team Manager - "It was another testing weekend at Donington Park this weekend. Once again James and Joe were really strong throughout the practice sessions and it was looking set to be a really good weekend.Both were really riding well and setting some very good lap times. We had another two pole positions with Westy and we just weren't able to transform them into a race win. He worked hard in both races but he lost positions in race one through no fault of his own and dug deep to finish in fourth. He couldn't have pushed Tarran harder today in the main race and pushed as much as he could to secure a podium.Joe was back on form this weekend and even though he crashed in race one he was looking confident again and had performed well all weekend. It was going to be tough for him in race two from ninth on the grid but he rode really hard and got up to fifth.We are still battling for the Championship and will continue to fight for the wins until the end of the season."


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