Snetterton: Round 5 – 6 & 7

Bennetts British Superbikes

The Bike Devil team recruited 26-year-old Kent rider Tom Ward this weekend at Snetterton and he rode three really strong races making his debut in the Bennetts British Superbike class. He gained three 16th places in the races over the weekend, which is a great start for him and the Bike Devil team.

It was a big ask for the former Superstock 1000 rider but he approached the weekend with maturity and tackled everything that was put in his way. During practice and qualifying, he continued to improve his times and his grid position did not reflect the effort he put in. He did lap after lap and made progress in every session.

He started the opening Superbike race on Saturday from 18th place, a steady start saw drop a place after the opening lap but he soon got his head down and into a routine. He narrowly missed out on a Championship point finishing in 16th.

His lap time put him in 18th for the second race of the weekend, again another steady start and he was soon into a rhythm and finished the 16-lap race in 16th again. The pace was fast in race two and his lap-time dropped him to 21st place on the grid for the final Superbike race of the weekend.

Tom:

“It was a really good weekend; we progressed quite a bit over each session and made some big improvements on the bike. It’s great to be working with Pete and the whole team; it was great to be working with someone with so much experience. It’s been really positive to get one round under our belt and extremely excited to get to Silverstone and hopefully now we’ve got used to the bike we can take a step forward, mix with the faster riders and get in the points.

I’m really grateful for this opportunity and look forward to working with the Bike Devil team for the rest of the season.”

Quattro Group British Supersport

It was a tough weekend for the Supersport duo at Snetterton. Rob Hartog has only done one test at Snetterton prior to the season starting so it was difficult for him to run the pace of the front runners. He worked hard in the races and secured a 15th place in race one and a solid 11th in race two. His team-mate Jamie Perrin had another mixed weekend; suffering problems on Friday on the MV he was able to run his old Yamaha on Saturday and finished a good 10th place but due to a problem on Sunday was unable to start.

Rob continued to make progress throughout the weekend but with little track knowledge, it was difficult to make huge steps forward on the timesheets. He qualified in 23rd place for the opening race on Saturday, he worked hard throughout the 12-lap race to push his way through to 15th place in the Supersport class. Rob was placed in 23rd for the second race on Sunday and once again he was finding his feet and really made positive progress securing a strong 11th place.

Jamie Perrin struggled on Friday on the MV and the team were unable to fix the problem this weekend and therefore he was given permission by BSB to run his old Yamaha on Saturday for qualifying and the race. He qualified in 19th place on the grid and was eager to get some track time and show his worth during the race. He rode exceptionally well to secure 10th place in the Supersport class. A tyre pressure issue on Sunday before the race hindered Jamie’s progress and he was unable to start.

Rob:

“We are not too happy with how the weekend went; we hoped to be faster after Donington. We made some good progression every session almost 1.5 seconds but we stayed in the same position as everyone else went faster too.

In the second race I managed to do the best lap time of the whole weekend, I just need some more time on the bike to get the full potential out of it. Hopefully it will be a better one at Silverstone as I think that will be a track that will suit me so we will try again there.”

Jamie – “It’s really difficult to know what to say, it’s been such a tough start to the season. I just hope we can get things sorted and moving forwards properly for the next round. I’m gutted.”

Dave Tyson – Team Owner:

“Tom has come in and done a great job over the course of the weekend and improved in every session he’s been in. He was a real pleasure to work with and he did a really good professional job We are looking forward to seeing him gel more with the bike and improve at Silverstone.

In the Supersport class, I had hope for a good weekend but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Rob improved each session but he was and we were hoping for results with the top eight. Silverstone can hopefully be a step forward for us all.

Jamie isn’t getting any luck at all, after checking the bike numerous times prior to the event with no problem we arrived and in first practice, a problem occurred. It was seen to be something we couldn’t fix at the track so we have to work on a solution for Silverstone.

It’s very frustrating for all involved and all we can do is apologise for the problem with the MV, which is electrical.

It will be tested and ready for the next round for him to show his true potential and that of the bike.”