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21st April 2014
MORE FIRSTS FOR THE TWO WHEEL RACING BRITISH SUPERBIKE TEAM AT BRANDS
Jenny Tinmouth led her team into Q2 for the first time at Brands Hatch on the opening round of her 2014 British Superbike Campaign, this Easter Bank Holiday weekend and whilst the races themselves didn't quite end as well as she had hoped there were still 2 strong finishes to take home and a wealth of knowledge gained from their garage neighbors and racing legends, Padgetts, who offered invaluable advice and help all weekend.
The first round of the season has notoriously been a difficult one for Two Wheel Racing due to either inclement weather or mechanical issues and following a delay in the arrival of the teams new 17" wheels, inline with the new technical specifications, this weekend was looking like following that trend. However the wheels were collected on route to Brands Hatch and the team took part in the test session on Good Friday in the bikes new stealth colour scheme with pleasing results. More was to follow in the Saturday Free Practices with Jenny posting lap times over half a second quicker than her previous personal best following discussions with Clive Padgett regarding suspension settings in-between sessions.
The Brands Hatch bad weather closed in on Easter Sunday and qualifying took place in a torrential downpour. Having been in a Q2 position for the majority of the session Jenny looked to have missed out in the dying seconds of Q1 but crossing the line seconds before the flag she put in her quickest lap of the day to elevate her position from 21st to 17th and into Q2 and her best qualifying result of her fledgling superbike career.
Race 1 proved to be a stop/start affair after oil was deposited on track mid way through the race and after a lengthy delay racing finally got under way with Jenny finishing in a strong 27th place. In Race 2 Jenny struggled to find a decent rhythm but her pace still steadily increased as the laps counted down and despite finishing in 23rd place she posted her fastest lap on her last lap of the race.
Rider Jenny Tinmouth said; "I was so pleased with qualifying this weekend having arrived here with no great expectations. Clive Padgett has been such a huge help with his teams wealth of knowledge and experience and whilst the races didn't pan out as I had hoped we leave here stronger than ever. We have a test day at Oulton Park before the second round in two weeks time and we have so many positives to work on I can't wait to get back on the bike"
Crew Chief Steve Bradley said; To qualify 17th in those conditions was very impressive indeed and shows how far her and the team have come. It was a real bonus sharing a garage with Padgetts and they have been on hand with help and advice all weekend which has given Jen such a confidence boost and we head to the second round more optimistic than ever."
The next round of the Championship is at Oulton Park over the May Bank holiday weekend 03-05 May with qualifying and all races being shown live on British Eurosport
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