Mackenzie wins Silverstone opener

Saturday wrap from Silverstone

Images Dave Yeomans

Tarran Mackenzie claimed a spectacular victory in the seventh round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Silverstone this afternoon, becoming the sixth different race winner of the season to give McAMS Yamaha their first win in 2020.

At the start of the race, Danny Buchan launched off the pole position to lead the pack for the Rapid Fulfillment FS-3 Kawasaki team, however it was short lived as Andrew Irwin was instantly on the attack and stormed ahead before they crossed the line for the first time.

Buchan was under fire from the opposition and soon it was the Honda Racing pairing at the front of the field, with Andrew leading Glenn and soon Jason O’Halloran was also in the fight for the lead, with Buchan then in fourth.

On the fifth lap, Glenn Irwin grabbed the lead from his brother and the pair looked like they would try and break the pack, however O’Halloran was in close contention, and Kyle Ryde was into fourth and proving to be a threat on the Buildbase Suzuki.

By lap eight Ryde had moved ahead of O’Halloran for third with the Australian also having his team-mate for company, as Mackenzie sliced his way through the field from his fourth row start position.

Mackenzie wasted no time in getting ahead of O’Halloran and by lap 12 he was into third place, before passing Andrew Irwin a lap later. The Honda Racing rider was trying to fight back, but a mistake into Brooklands meant he lost serious ground and then would have to do the work all over again.

At the front Mackenzie was soon putting the pressure on Glenn Irwin and a decisive move on lap 16 put him into the lead for McAMS Yamaha, with Glenn Irwin then having Ryde for company in the tussle for second place.

Ryde wasn’t able to make a move stick until lap 22 when he was able to move into second and then a lap later O’Halloran also carved ahead of Glenn Irwin to push him out of a podium position. On the final lap Mackenzie had the margin he needed to claim an emotional victory and his first of the season.

Ryde meanwhile celebrated his first ever Bennetts BSB podium finish, making him the eighth different finisher in the top three in 2020, with Buildbase Suzuki the fifth different team to celebrate a podium result.

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Glenn Irwin and Andrew Irwin finished in fourth and fifth ahead of a huge contest for sixth place with Josh Brookes holding off Lee Jackson, Christian Iddon, Danny Buchan and Tommy Bridewell, who started last on the grid, completing the top ten.

Tarran Mackenzie – P1

“My last podium was at Snetterton at round five last year so I was pretty emotional. I had a really strong start to last year and then broke my wrist at Thruxton, and after that it just became difficult with injuries and not having the confidence and I reset in the off season. During lockdown I worked really hard, and then thought ‘when I get to round one I will be strong and back up the front where I know I can be, and it didn’t happen. Then it didn’t happen at Snetterton and in the last race at Snetterton I had good pace, for a podium if not a win, so that gave me a lot of confidence. For me and probably the team as well, we didn’t understand the front tyre maybe as much as some other people did, and that was really hard. It was understanding it and getting the feeling and the confidence, and once I got that back, I knew coming in to this weekend I could be strong. I have been strong here since I started riding a Superbike, so I was really annoyed in qualifying to be starting 12th. I didn’t expect to be getting a win – maybe a podium, because of my pace I had in practice, but I got a really good first couple of laps. I came through to fifth or sixth, then picked them off and pulled a gap. I was really surprised to see I had a gap. I had to use my tyre a lot at the start and the middle of the race to make some ground on the leaders, so starting on the front row tomorrow should help that. I can maybe conserve it a little bit. The last couple of laps I just backed off slightly as I didn’t want to make any mistakes. It felt like a long nine laps when I was in front, but I am really happy so a big thank you to the McAMS Yamaha team, I am over the moon and can’t wait for tomorrow.”

Kyle Ryde – P2

“It’s been quite a few practices I have topped now and not really had a decent race, but that was the perfect race. The strategy we had was pretty good. I was really pleased when Taz came past me halfway through the race because it gave me an understanding of what I could do and gave me the same braking markers as qualifying. I was struggling at the start of the race being stuck behind a couple of people and I really lost my rhythm. Then when Taz set the pace, that got me a podium. It nearly got me a win but he was that fast! I would just like to thank the Buildbase Suzuki team, they deserve this just as much as me. We have had a bit of bad luck but they have fixed it and I can’t wait for tomorrows races.”

Glenn Irwin – P4

“Today in terms of the championship it was a really good race, I’m happy with that side of things and also happy with the fourth. I’m a little disappointed having led the race, but we have something to work on for tomorrow’s longer races. It’s a positive day, no trophy for this one but we extend our championship lead by 30 points and as I keep saying, if we take it race by race and can extend the points lead each time we’re doing a good job. So 30 is good and we’ll try and increase it more tomorrow.”

Andrew Irwin – P5

“I have to take today’s race as a positive, the past three races we’ve had, the results weren’t fantastic so it’s better than those. I led a race again which was a nice feeling after a difficult period, unfortunately I made a mistake around lap ten, which lost me a couple of seconds and I lost touch with the leaders. I think all in all it was a good race and we can take the positives from it and come back stronger for tomorrow’s two longer races.”

Josh Brookes – P6

“That was a tough race and definitely not where we wanted to be. I didn’t have the confidence early on to push like I needed to so lost a few places which compounded the situation. I’m just lacking confidence in the bike in the early laps which leaves me vulnerable but that gives me lots of work to do later in the race when I get into a rhythm. But that’s no good in a race and we need to improve early on. I need to find speed in the last sector as the rest of the lap is ok but, in this series, you can’t give the opposition a head start. We plan some changes in warm-up to hopefully give us that tiny bit of what we are missing.”

Christian Iddon – P8

“I felt pretty good from my poor grid position and for the first part of the race I was Christian Iddonrunning with the front bunch and was in a good position. It’s where I felt I should have been and then we encountered some issues which we’d not had all weekend, but they decided to rear their ugly head and I struggled massively. I was hoping to get a fifth place at worst but had one or two other issues in the final stages and I was lucky to finish. I’m still up there in the championship but eighth place is a bit of a kick in the teeth. Hopefully, we can learn from today and do better tomorrow.”

Race Results

Championship Standings

British Supersport Championship & British GP2 Cup

Rory Skinner continued his dominance in the Quattro Group British Supersport class, taking his seventh consecutive win of the season. It was James Westmoreland who grabbed the holeshot, but series leader Skinner immediately responded to be leading his team mate Brad Jones by 0.6s by the end of the opening lap. A rare mistake from Skinner on lap three saw him run wide and slip back to seventh, seeing Jones takeover the lead at the front.

With seven riders battling for the lead over the opening laps, Perrin, Perie and Jones all took turns leading, however impressive pace rom Skinner saw him set a new lap record, fighting back to the lead by the end of lap seven. Following Skinner through the pack, Lee Johnston was able to climb up to second, entering a fierce battle with Jones and Perrin.

Race Results

Championship Standings

With Skinner edging away at the front, Johnston too was able to pull a gap from Jones and Perrin who were battling for the final rostrum position. Coming down to the final lap, Jones was able to get the better of Perrin to complete the podium. James Westmoreland was fifth, ahead of Ben Currie, Harry Truelove and the leading GP2 machine of Alastair Seeley.

British Superstock 1000

Honda Racing’s Tom Neave claimed victory in the opening Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race at Silverstone, strengthening his lead in the series standings. New Zealand rookie Damon Rees grabbed the holdshot, leading Tim Neave and Chrissy Rouse over the line at the end of the opening lap. Tim Neave made his move into the lead on lap seven, with Tom Neave and Rouse swiftly finding a way past Rees too.

However, disaster struck Tim Neave just moments later when he tumbled out of the lead, leaving a four rider battle at the front. Tom Neave and Rouse were able to work together to break away from the pursuers, with the win eventually going the way of Neave. Danny Kent found his way past Rees to claim the final podium slot, with Lewis Rollo fifth.

Another Kiwi also scored a top ten finish with Shane Richardson coming home in P8 just ahead of South Australia’s Billy McConnel while his countryman Brayden Elliott unfortunately recorded a DNF.

Tom Neave – P1

“I’ve not found myself in this position before so it’s all a bit surreal! We’ve got some really good momentum going now and I’m really enjoying riding the new Fireblade, the whole team is working together really well and we’re just going to keep our head down, feet on the floor and keep doing what we’re doing. We have another race tomorrow, but I’m just treating each race as a fresh start and thinking race by race, and trying not to think about the championship too much and just keep enjoying it.”

Championship Points

British Junior Supersport Championship

Osian Jones claimed the opening win in the opening British Junior Supersport bout ahead of Cameron Dason and Zak Shelton while young Australian Seth Crump just missed the podium, crossing the line in P4.

Race Results

Championship Standings

Ducati Performance TriOptions Cup Race One

Josh Day took victory in a last lap Ducati TriOptions Cup thriller. It was title rival Levi Day who grabbed the holeshot to be leading across the line at the end of the opening lap, with Elliot Pinson in second. However, just moments later Pinson crashed out unhurt, promoting Ed Best and Josh Day up to podium.

With both Days edging away from the pursuing pack, they maintained positions until the final lap. Finding their way through backmarkers, it came down to the final corner and Josh Day was able to grab victory by just 0.068s. Best had a lonely race in third place, nine seconds behind the leading duo, but some seven seconds ahead of David Shoubridge in fourth.

Craig Neve claimed fifth place, ahead of John McGuinness, Alberto Solera, Carl Stevens and Sam Middlemas.

Levi Day – P2

“Gave it everything today and had an epic battle with Josh Day, but couldnt quite get it done! Crossing the line in 2nd place by 0.068 of a second! We go again tomorrow for race 2 and as always will give it my all! Thank you to my team for giving me a great bike, we both went under the previous lap record today by a decent amount. I’ll start tomorrow race from P2. Thanks to all the sponsors who make it possible!”

Race Results

Championship Standings