McDougall declares himself lucky to finish at Brands Hatch
11-05-2008
BRITISH SUPERSPORT CUP
RD 03 - BRANDS HATCH
SUN 11th MAY - RACE - 18 LAPS
StoneBaker's Pat McDougall declared himself lucky just to get to the chequered flag, let alone finish fourth in today's incident-hit third-round race in the 2008 British Supersport Cup at Brands Hatch. McDougall was pushed wide onto the grass during his opening lap and then later miraculously saved an almost-certain highside aboard the Beowulf Yamaha. The 18-lap race saw the safety car deployed twice and a third of the field fail to finish. Despite the drama, Pat moves up one place into joint third position in the Supersport Cup standings with 40 points alongside Dean Hipwell (Yamaha) and Alistair Fagan (Triumph).
The race comprised the rescheduled opening round from April, which had to be abandoned due to snowbound conditions. Qualifying positions from the earlier event still stood for today, but as the Honda-mounted Dennis Hobbs was absent due to injury Pat found himself moved up one place on the grid into 16th position.
The Supersport Cup is a "race within a race" for all the riders in the main British Supersport Championship who receive no factory backing or assistance.
The drama for McDougall began almost from the second the race began. Making a good start, Pat came up behind four other riders at Surtees bend on the opening lap. Attempting to ride round the outside of them, McDougall was pushed wide onto the grass and lost eight places whilst he worked his way back onto the track. However the field quickly bunched back together as the safety car had to be deployed to allow the circuit's medical team to tend to an incident at Paddock Hill Bend.
The safety car was retired on lap four and racing began again. Pat started to gain ground on the riders ahead, putting in his best lap on lap five, timed at one minute 31.120 seconds. However, Surtees was to provide further mishap for McDougall on lap eight when he found himself ejected from his saddle and lucky not to completely lose control of his machine as he landed on the tank. Although he had moved back up the field during earlier laps, largely as a result of other riders crashing out, the incident cost the Guildford-based McDougall a further two places.
With the safety car being deployed again between laps 11 to 14, McDougall was left with a largely straightforward run through to the chequered flap for the final four laps. The Beowulf ace was the fourth Supersport Cup rider to finish and the 18th overall. Like most of the riders across all of the classes, McDougall had complained of a lap of grip throughout the weekend. The fact that only 22 riders from a 37-strong field actually completed the race showed how treacherous the conditions had been.
The series now takes a two-week break before recommencing at Donington Park on May 24th.
Pat McDougall, StoneBaker Supersport Cup rider
"I had a massive moment at Surtees on lap eight. I was in second gear and trying to get a good drive onto the back straight. I lost the back end completely, the bike spat me up and I landed on the tank. I had no hands on the bars and my legs were dragging along the side of the bike. I lost about six or seven second there. It wasn't the best of races: I think we were lucky to bring the bike back in one piece, to be honest. I wanted to finish second, that's what we were aiming for, but at least I've moved up one place in the championship."
David McDougall, Stonebaker UK Team Manager
"The number of crashes today have been pretty unbelievable. The result wasn't what we were after, we wanted to keep the momentum of the Oulton podium going. But Pat lapped quicker than several of the people who finished ahead of him and both he and the bike finished the race intact. Talking to a number of other riders, they've all complained of a greasy track due to the heat and anyone running traction control today would have been at a significant advantage. The bike is due to undergo further development before we set out for Donington in a fortnight's time, so we'll regroup there and make sure we get back on that rostrum."
BRITISH SUPERSPORT CUP
RD 03 BRANDS HATCH
RACE RESULT - 18 LAPS
1. Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) - 29:36.161
2. Andy Weymouth (Yamaha) - 29:37.301
3. Dean Hipwell (Yamaha) - 29:41.375
4. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 29:45.696
BRITISH SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP
RD 03 BRANDS HATCH
RACE RESULT - 18 LAPS
1. Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) - 29:26.947
2. Glen Richards (Triumph) - 29:30.188
3. Steve Brogan (Honda) - 29:35.578
18. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 29:45.696
BRITISH SUPERSPORT CUP
CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) - 75pts
2. Andy Weymouth (Yamaha) - 60pts
3= Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 40pts
3= Alistair Fagan (Triumph) - 40pts
3= Dean Hipwell (Yamaha) - 40pts
BRITISH SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP
CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Glen Richards (Triumph) - 65pts
2. Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) - 58pts
3. Steve Brogan (Honda) - 52pts
McD matches Saturday pace
11-05-2008
Having just completed the ten-minute warm-up session for today's third-round race in the British Supersport Cup at Brands Hatch, StoneBaker's Pat McDougall has matched the pace he set during yesterday's Free Practice sessions logging a best lap of one minute 31.772 seconds.
In total Pat completed six laps of the 2.3-mile Kent circuit, with his fastest being his third.
Although problems with the front-end suspension of the StoneBaker Yamaha persist, forcing Pat to stop mid-session for adjustments to the front forks, most of the field ran at a slower pace than they managed yesterday.
Dean Hipwell (Yamaha) was one of the few riders to improve his times, knocking Pat down to the fourth fastest Cup rider in the process. "McD" remains in 20th place overall.
This afternoon's 18-lap race is set to begin at 3.30pm. Cooler temperatures than Saturday are forecast (and hoped for), but looking at a cloudless blue sky this morning the team ain't convinced that will be the case....
Tough weekend for StoneBaker at Monza
10-05-2008
The two man StoneBaker team of Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea experienced the highs and lows of racing at Monza this weekend. Coming into the third round of the European Superstock Championship, Linfoot led the championship standings after his impressive victory last time out at Assen, but a string of technical problems onboard the Beowulf Racing Yamaha R6 prevented him from starting the race today. Meanwhile team mate, Gino Rea put in another trademark gutsy ride to secure eighth place and eight valuable championship points.
Having raced at the historic Italian circuit last weekend in the Italian Championship in preparation for the event, the team arrived in confident mood and focussed on another podium finish. On the first day of qualifying Linfoot was unable to replicate the pace he'd shown during last weekends race and elected to replace the engine, but a technical problem saw his number one motor blow. The team worked until 1am this morning to prepare another bike but experienced another engine blow up during the first lap of the second qualifying session, which left him without a bike to ride in this afternoon race.
Despite the no point score the 19 year old from Harrogate has only slipped two positions in the championship standings and now holds third spot with seven rounds remaining.
Whilst Linfoot was unable to race, team mate Gino Rea secured another strong result for the StoneBaker team despite having to deal with his own technical problems that meant he couldn't run his number one engine in the race.
Despite the set back Rea qualified on the second row and secured his best result of the year with a determined eighth place finish. In the two-part race, which was red flagged following a huge multi rider crash at the first chicane, Rea showed that he had the pace to run with the leaders and, finished just 6.5 seconds off the race winner Loris Baz.
Rea's consistency has now seen him secure three top ten finishes in the opening three rounds and move up to eight overall in the championship standings.
Dan Linfoot - Non starter, Championship position 3rd
"It's obviously disappointing not to start the race, but I'm philosophical about it and we'll be back at the front at the next race that's for sure. It would have been good to get points on the board and keep my championship lead but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. A few of the front guys ended up fourth or fifth today so points wise we're still well in the mix."
Gino Rea - Race 8th, Championship position 8th
"I'm disappointed with the finish to be honest because we were lacking some speed on the straight, which meant it was very hard for me to overtake, but easy for me to lose places.
"In both the starts I got off the line well and made up some places and I'm actually happy with how I was riding through the corners because I was as fast as anyone today. It's frustrating because I honestly believe that if I could have used the faster, number one engine I had in qualifying I could have been on the podium."
Andy Stone - Team Manager
"Gino has done a good job this weekend. He's secured more points for the team and rode really well in the second half of the race with lap times as fast as the leaders.
"With reference to Dan, it's been a tough weekend and we've had some really bad luck. In a way we've been a victim of our own success and have run into problems due to all the testing we've been doing, which has allowed us to run at the front of the championship. We've got a break now until the middle of June so we will go back to the workshop, regroup and come back even stronger."
Sponsors
Team StoneBaker.
The great race at the new Portimao circuit brings an end to our season in World Superbike Superstock 600, with riders Gino Rea and Dan Linfoot.
The season has been a success with Gino third and Dan fifth in the championship standings following three victories and five additional podiums in total. The results have also acted as a stepping stone to the riders for next season, with both securing high profile, career progressing rides for 2009.
Thank you for all of the emails, calls, texts and visits throughout the year. It has been much appreciated.
