Taylor Mackenzie kept his hold of the Superstock 1000 Championship lead following the eighth round of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.
With an optimistic start to proceedings, the Buildbase team-mates, Richard Cooper and Lee Jackson showed they had pace, rarely moving outside the top five during the weekends free practice sessions. Both riders went on to make Q3 in qualifying on Sunday afternoon, with Cooperman setting the third fastest time of the day, and secured his place on the front row of the grid with a lap time of 1’26.126, which was under lap record pace at the time. Jackson, impressed at his home circuit with a personal best of 1’26.209 around the Lincolnshire track, putting his machine 4th on the grid ahead of Mondays races. The #47 rider worked hard throughout the race being the first BMW to cross the finish in 8th. An unfortunate crash on lap three at Charlies left Jackson’s bike needing a re-build. The team worked hard rebuilding the bike for race two to make sure the local lad was able to get back out on the S 1000 RR for his home crowd.
The same fate met Coopes during race two when a crash involving Christian Iddon at the Hairpin took Richard out. Suffering more from loss of crucial points than injuries the Nottinghamshire rider walked away from the crash unharmed. With no points to bank, Cooperman moved back into seventh of the Championship standings, foregoing the coveted sixth place which James Ellison now claims. Jackson fared better in race two, starting from 17th on the grid, he battled his way through the pack and was just shy of the top ten crossing the line.
Taylor Mackenzie bagged another 20 points for crossing the chequered flag 2nd in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race. It was a tough battle for podium places between Mackenzie, Hutchinson and Farmer. Ian took the win 2.3 second over the Buildbase rider, with Farmer claiming 3rd.
The Scotsman continues to hold his lead with a margin of 23 points over Hutchy in the Championship standings. With only three more rounds to contest the title, the #77 rider will be working hard to keep his place.
Taylor Mackenzie: “I was really happy with our work as a team at the weekend. We took a solid 20 points at a tricky circuit which puts us in a really strong position going into the last 3 rounds. Oulton, Donington and Brands were three of our best rounds from earlier in the year so I’m already looking forward to getting back out at Oulton in two weeks’ time.”
Lee Jackson: “Thank-you to the team for doing a great job all weekend and rebuilding my bike for race two. After a fantastic start to the weekend I’m gutted I couldn’t get my first podium and gain some more solid points!”
Steve Hicken, Team Manager: “It was a mixed weekend for Lee and Richard. The weekend started positive and we were set to battle at the front. It’s a shame the practice didn’t follow through into the racing. A few unfortunate events set us back. We managed to re-build the bike from Lee’s crash and get him back up and running for race two. He rode well at a tricky circuit and was the second BMW to cross the line, coming in just shy of top ten. We have some areas to work on read for the next round. I hope to get Richard back into the top six and Lee challenging at the front end. Taylor rode well and it was a tight battle at the front, we’re still at the top of the championship standings which is great.”
Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko