Pictures by Stephen Gilbert
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Brilliant Sunshine is not all that brightens brands
The sun shone brightly in Kent to make up for the last rain swept visit to Brands Hatch and, in this, the 7th round of the British Superbikes it was a scorcher. For the Hardinge Sorrymate team it was also another excellent weekend.
In the first race, qualifying in 31st, Jenny continued to show the better feel for the bike gained from Oulton Park and was soon lapping in the 1.29’s and finished in 24th.
Her laptimes in race 1 led to a grid position that was nearer the front for the second race and Jenny was pushing hard right from the start. She was soon dicing with Tom Tunstall and then also James Hillier for position. However Jenny was momentarily held up by Hillier, who later retired from the race and once past him, found herself trying to make up for lost time in a fight to catch Tunstall. Whilst lapping at 3-4 tenths of a second quicker than him, she unfortunately lost the front end at Druids and her race was terminated. However her lap times were now consistently in the low 1.29’s and the team has once again witnessed improvements that have closed the gap considerably on the front runners.
Rider Jenny Tinmouth said:
“It was great to be in a battle during the second race and as gutted as I was to crash out the positives outweighed the negatives. I was gaining on Tom with my laptimes being in the low 1.29’s and I was less than 3 seconds a lap off the leaders. The bike is really feeling good now and I am thoroughly enjoying my racing. We are hoping to get some testing in during the break before the next round and another positive was the fantastic support from the fans which was so much appreciated. I would once again also like to thank my sponsors Hardinge Machine Tools and Sorrymate.com for there support and also Martin Knighton for all his help and Greg and Donna from Manx Glass”.
Crew Chief Steve Bradley said:
“We didn’t manage to get too much feedback after our last visit here due to the weather but this time the improvements and feedback were immense. Never having lapped below the mid 1.30’s before, Jen was lapping consistently in the low 1.29’s by the end of the 2nd race. She is continuing to get quicker and quicker as the weekends progress. Having resolved the mechanical issues from the beginning of the season any changes now are purely set up for the rider and that, along with, Jen’s noticeable feel for the bike is also a sign of how things are moving forward and are only positive signs of what is to come. We have a few things to test in the next couple of weeks and will look to keep this momentum going when we head to Cadwell”
The next round is at Cadwell Park 25th-27th August over the bank holiday weekend, both races are shown live on British Eurosport 2.
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