TOUGH WEEKEND AT ASSEN - SMITHS TRIUMPH RACING

Smiths Triumph Racing Team have vowed to draw a line under their weekend and look toward the rest of the season after a tough visit to Assen as the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship made its annual visit to The Netherlands.

Reigning champion Glen Richards and fellow Australian team-mate Billy McConnell had a difficult weekend as the series returned to the Dutch circuit, a track which didn’t bring the team the best of luck in 2012.

Saturday’s 12-lap Sprint race had initially looked like it would be a good one for the pair, with Richards qualifying in second place and McConnell lining up seventh. Richards crossed the line in third place at the end of the first lap with his team-mate close behind in fifth. But seconds later Richards crashed out and then McConnell retired at the end of the lap with a problem with a gear selector.

For Sunday’s 15-lap Feature race, Richards started from 10th with McConnell behind in 15th, both getting great starts and launching themselves to seventh and eighth spots respectively. Glen soon found himself in a race-long battle where he moved up and down between sixth and third over the course of the 15 laps, the 2012 champion eventually crossing the line sixth. Billy, meanwhile, was involved in a similar battle further back, emerging 11th after several laps embroiled in a five-bike scrap.

Billy McConnell:  “All in all it was OK. Qualifying wasn’t bad but in yesterday’s race we suffered with a technical problem and had to retire. I thought I was going to be starting at the back but it was 15th in the end which wasn’t too bad. Today I got a really good start and got straight up to eighth but then I found myself stuck mid pack. There were about five of us battling and we just didn’t have the pace to get any further forward. You need to be starting from the front two rows and for us we didn’t have that this weekend. It wasn’t the best but we’re all in one piece and we can just move on now and look to do better at Silverstone.”

Glen Richards:  “Finishing sixth, especially after yesterday’s crash is never good. It just hasn’t been a great weekend for me. After yesterday I wanted to make up for it today but it was tough out there. There were a couple of areas on the track where I was struggling a bit and on the whole I feel like I should’ve gone better. It just hasn’t been a great weekend and I’m pleased it’s done.”

Rebecca Smith, Team Manager:  “We were apprehensive about this round after last year but it’s a new Triumph Daytona 675R, a new year and we were hoping we could put last year’s problems behind us. After being on the pace in FP2, qualifying was good and we felt we were in a good position. In the first race Glen crashed out early and Billy was just very unfortunate with the pin in the gear selector. It’s one of those things that can happen at any time, and unluckily it chose that moment. We had high hopes for the second race because we knew we had good pace. Starting 10th and 15th didn’t worry us and both Glen and Billy had good races. Glen’s lap times were good and Billy worked hard but it just wasn’t to be for them. From here we just draw a line under this one and move on to Silverstone where we’ve already had a lot of track time this year. We just want to move on and try to end the season with two strong rounds.”

Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race 1 – 12 laps

1. Stuart Easton (Yamaha)

2. Richard Cooper (Triumph)

3. Jason O’Halloran (Honda)

4. Luke Mossey (Triumph)

5. Alastair Seeley (Kawasaki)

6. Kervin Bos (Honda)

DNF. Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph)

DNF. Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph)

Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race 2 – 15 laps

1. Stuart Easton (Yamaha)

2. Jason O’Halloran (Honda)

3. Ben Wilson (Kawasaki)

4. Alastair Seeley (Kawasaki)

5. Richard Cooper (Triumph)

6. Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph)

11. Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph)

See more at http://www.smithsracing.co.uk/