Michael Laverty increased his series lead at the eighth round of the British Supersport Championship at Oulton Park when survival was the order of the day in horrendous conditions at the Cheshire venue.
The Relentless Suzuki rider now leads team-mate Ian Lowry by 27 points and Honda rival Dennis Hobbs by 33 points.
Having qualified on the front row in fourth position in dry conditions on Saturday, Laverty was happy with his race pace, but like everyone else in the paddock, the Toomebridge rider was well aware of the inclement conditions that he would face on Sunday.
Peripheral vision and awareness kept Michael upright for the 14 lap race, and while his main rivals were either struggling with the conditions, or finding their way into the many gravel traps, the Pirelli shod Relentless Suzuki pilot rode like a champion elect.
Ian Lowry, although finishing in 11th rode a superb race coming from 26th on lap one, scoring enough points to maintain his second place in the series.
Michael Laverty:
“I spun off the line but when I got settled I did have ideas of going after McGuinness and Hutchinson. A few hairy moments put paid to that; I just rode for solid points as I knew Ian and Dennis were behind me and possibly struggling a little in the conditions. I was comfortable in third but Jamie Robinson came past with a couple of laps to go and I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. I had a little problem with my clutch but nothing serious, and as always, the Pirelli / Suzuki combination was strong enough today to help me increase my lead in the series. I’m happy enough with the result. “
Ian Lowry:
“It was surely a tough day out there in terrible conditions. When I got away I just kept spinning up, and the more riders that came past I tried even harder and just spun my bike up again and again! When I did get going my lap times in the wet were pretty good, so had I got away, I could have run top five. To come from so far back, I suppose I have to be happy enough and Dennis has only gained a couple of points on me in the series. “
Philip Neill - Team Principal:
“If I am completely honest, today was obviously not the result that we had set out to achieve; it was a shame to lose our 100% podium success rate from this season so far. However, when a motorcycle race is affected by continuous rainfall normal protocol goes out of the window and it becomes a lottery situation, where you can lose or gain a lot of points. Considering the fact that no one has more to lose than the championship leader, Michael did a sterling job this weekend and we leave Oulton Park quite happy. After consistently setting the fastest race tyre times in dry conditions throughout the weekend Michael was quite confident of another top spot. However a bad start and a small problem with his clutch adjuster late in the race ended what looked to be a certain podium finish.
“I feel a little bit sorry for Ian as he is obviously not fully enjoying the current spell of wet weather. However his expertise in these conditions will improve with experience; after all, it is only the fourth time that he has competed in a wet race on Supersport tyres. That said, 11th does not reflect the quality of his ride at Oulton. After suffering from wheel-spin off the start line and dropping to 26th position at one stage on the opening lap, he showed how much he has learnt over this past few weeks by working his way through to 11th on the Relentless Suzuki GSX-R 600 in difficult conditions. On a positive note, our main championship rival Dennis Hobbs finished in ninth position and was being caught rapidly by Ian on the last few laps. If you had told me before the season started that Ian Lowry would be in second position in the British Supersport Championship after 8 rounds I would have been extremely happy.
“Thanks to Suzuki, Relentless, Pirelli, WP, Putoline Lubricants, Beacon Security and all our other partners for what has so far been a successful season. We now look forward to a continued test programme that will include Cadwell Park on Wednesday prior to the next round at Mallory Park this coming weekend. ”
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