The Gloucester-based Smiths Racing BMW team were back in action this weekend with the sixth round of the MCE British Superbike Championship taking place at their home track of Thruxton whereby both Jakub Smrz and Luke Stapleford enjoyed a productive meeting.
Czech Republic rider Smrz brought his form from the previous round at Snetterton, which saw him claim a fine 11th place in the first race, to the super-fast Hampshire track and his 13th in qualifying was his best performance of the season so far. It gave him a strong starting position for today’s opening race and he was running on the edge of the points when the race was stopped on the tenth lap due to a crash.
On the restart, it didn’t look like there’d be any chance of points as he completed the first lap in 25th place but he soon started to move forward on every lap and with the grip of the tyres staying constant, he crossed the line in ninth place to take his and the team’s best result of the season so far. He then ensured there were more reasons to smile when he took 12th place in the second race to record his first double score of the season.
World Supersport ace Luke Stapleford was having a one-off ride on the Smiths Racing BMW S1000RR this weekend which was only his second ever on a Superbike. The reigning British Supersport Champion put in some solid performances throughout the weekend and with his tyres also remaining constant, he was deservedly rewarded with 14th place in the opening race before finishing 17th in race two.
Meanwhile, in his farewell appearance for the double British Supersport Championship-winning team, Howie Mainwaring Smart put in two determined rides but there was to be no fairy-tale swansong as he retired from both races.
Jakub Smrz: “It’s the first weekend where I can say everything went pretty well and whilst I’m not totally happy, I’m a lot more satisfied with how we performed. I got two good points scoring finishes and neither of them were handed to me, I got them from riding well. We had some good ideas with the set-up which helped a lot and it was nice to be able to move through the field and overtake people. It was great to get a top ten finish in the first race and we weren’t far off in the second race so it’s good to be so much stronger this weekend.”
Luke Stapleford: “It’s been quite a frustrating weekend as it’s clear the team have everything in place to be competitive and inside the top ten but, for whatever reason, that’s not been happening. I thought I’d be higher up than what I was but it’s quite a hard bike to ride and things just weren’t all linking together. I tried my hardest and, as always, I gave 110% and hope the input I gave to the team was valuable.“
Howie Mainwaring Smart: “To end my association with Smiths Racing with a double DNF was disappointing and I wish them well for the rest of the season and thank them for the opportunity. It’s even more frustrating as we found something today and I felt the best I have done all season on the bike but now I’m concentrating on the next step in my career.”
Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: “It’s nice to come away from a weekend with better results and a better haul of points and Jakub proved how strong he is on used tyres. He was able to manage tyre life better than others and that could be seen in two good results. It’s been a difficult weekend after parting company with Howie and that’s been a new experience for us as we always have a close relationship with our riders. We’re going to go away and have a good long think about the direction we go in and will hopefully get some decent testing under our belts before the next round.”
MCE British Superbike Championship race one (12 laps)
1 Shane Byrne (Ducati)
2 Michael Laverty (BMW)
3 Luke Mossey (Kawasaki)
4 Tommy Bridewell (Suzuki)
5 James Ellison (Kawasaki)
6 Jason O’Halloran (Honda)
9 Jakub Smrz (Smiths Racing BMW)
14 Luke Stapleford (Smiths Racing BMW)
DNF Howie Mainwaring Smart (Smiths Racing BMW)
MCE British Superbike Championship race two (18 laps)
1 Michael Laverty (BMW)
2 Jason O’Halloran (Honda)
3 Glenn Irwin (Ducati)
4 Luke Mossey (Kawasaki)
5 Leon Haslam (Kawasaki)
6 Peter Hickman (Kawasaki)
12 Jakub Smrz (Smiths Racing BMW)
17 Luke Stapleford (Smiths Racing BMW)
DNF Howie Mainwaring Smart (Smiths Racing BMW)
Championship Positions (after six rounds)
1 Byrne 181pts
2 Haslam 166
3 O’Halloran 146
4 Laverty 135
5 Linfoot 118
6 Ellison 109
19 Smrz 19
23 Mainwaring Smart 15
26 Stapleford 2
The seventh round of the series takes place at Brands Hatch in Kent on August 5/7th . For more information, please visit www.britishsuperbike.com and www.smithsracing.co.uk.
Pictures attached (courtesy of Jon Jessop Photography) Smrz (96), Stapleford (81) and Mainwaring Smart (43)
ENDS
