Brands Hatch Snowed Under!
There was bitter disappointment for everyone in the Relentless Suzuki team when yesterday’s opening round of the British Superbike Championship was abandoned due to heavy snow falling on the Kent circuit. Not the sort of weather any of us expected for April in the south of England, especially when the sun was shining back home in Ireland!
(the Relentless Rider Lounge - pre-snow!)
The opening round has now been rescheduled for the weekend of May 9/10/11. This is not ideal for many of the top teams in the paddock with the International North West 200 kicking off only two days later on May 13.
Up until the snow on Sunday morning, the Relentless Suzuki trio of Michael Laverty, Ian Lowry and Cameron Donald had been building themselves into strong positions in their respective championships. Laverty, who was returning to the superbike class on the GSX–R1000 K8 Relentless Suzuki posted a more than respectable 10th place on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Ian Lowry was taking a bit of time to build his confidence during the two days of free practice and qualifying but he did use the time wisely, setting up his all-new GSX–R600 Suzuki. Ian eventually finished 8th in qualifying.
New signing, Aussie Cameron Donald was making his British Superstock and Brands Hatch debut, but he put on a fine show also ending the qualifying in 8th place. This was Cameron’s first ever ride on the 2008 Relentless Suzuki superstock machine, showing many people why he must be respected on the circuit scene as well as the roads in 2008.
Philip Neill – Team Principal
“Obviously we are bitterly disappointed with the day being abandoned after such a promising start to the weekend, but I am also philosophical after gaining more track time with all our new Relentless Suzuki machinery. The atmosphere within the team has been great all weekend and we’ve brought everyone home in one piece. Sunday’s announcement didn’t suit anyone in the paddock but we will take positives from what we’ve learnt and move on now to Thruxton for round two.”