See StoneBaker LIVE today!
07-09-2008
Remember, if you can't get to Donington Park today to watch the eighth round of the 2008 European Superstock 600 Championship, you can still see the race LIVE over at http://www.worldsbk.com/pubb_EN/sbkTV.php
The bikes will be lining up on the grid from about 4.30pm, with the 10-lap race due to begin at 4.45pm.
StoneBaker to start fourth and fifth at Donington
06-09-2008
2008 European Superstock 600 Championship
Rd 08 - Donington Park
Qualifying 2, Saturday September 6th
StoneBaker Racing riders Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea will start tomorrow's eighth-round race in the 2008 European Superstock 600 Championship from fourth and fifth place on the grid respectively following a nail-biting second Qualifying session at Donington Park today.
Going into the half-hour timed period both riders had very different objectives. Rea wanted to hold onto or improve on the second place he secured on Friday. Having crashed out of yesterday's Qualifying period on his first flying lap, Linfoot's goal was simply to get on the grid.
Although the rain that has plagued this race meeting finally abated just before the start of the session, the track was still wet from an earlier downpour. For that reason Rea was held in the pits until the field began to improve on their Friday times. Linfoot, on the other hand, was sent out immediately and soon worked his way into the top ten, heading the timesheets for a few brief moments at one stage.
By the halfway point, a dry line had begun to appear around the track and the lap times started to tumble. Rea was dispatched into action and ran with the front six straight away. His final lap of one minute 50.478 seconds looked set to secure the Epsom rider fourth place on the grid with less than a minute of the session left. But teammate Linfoot had his own ideas: a final scorching time of one minute 49.290 seconds in the dying moments snatched fourth and pushed Rea back to fifth.
The team was overjoyed with the performance of both riders after having to contend with such a difficult set of circumstances. Tomorrow's ten-lap race looks set to be full of drama and incident.
Dan Linfoot (4th: 1'49.290)
"I've a mixture of feelings at the moment. I'm annoyed with myself for the crash yesterday but now I'm on the front row and I've a fighting chance of a good race tomorrow. Perhaps if I'd gone faster sooner I could have improved upon my position but I was conscious of what happened yesterday and didn't want to do something similar. I kind of hit a plateau at the halfway point as I couldn't find a gap in the traffic. I pulled back a bit, got steadily faster and banged in a quick one at the end."
Gino Rea (5th: 1'50.478)
"I'm disappointed with that session to be honest. I've lost second place but I'm right behind the front man on the grid. Perhaps we left it slightly too late to go out - the track was drying and there wasn't much time left to get a good lap in. There was quite a bit of traffic, which made it difficult to get a clear lap in. We'll see what happens with the weather tomorrow. If it's dry it will be lottery as none of the overseas riders will have a good set-up."
Andrew Stone (Joint Team Owner)
Normally we aim to qualify both our riders on the front two rows of the grid and today we've succeeded. We've shown our consistency today, as we have done all year, and normally we podium from that position. With the weather the way it is today, you need to bring both bikes back at the end of the session and both our riders have done the job we asked them to do. A couple of our rivals are having a bad weekend while we're where we need to be - the fight is still on!"
2008 European Superstock 600 Championship
Rd 08 - Donington Park
Final Combined Qualifying Result
1. Marco Bussolotti ITA (Yamaha) - 1'48.011
2. Alex Lowes GBR (Kawasaki) - 1'48.530
3. Davide Fanelli ITA (Triumph) - 1'48.679
4. Dan Linfoot GBR (Yamaha) - 1'49.290
5. Gino Rea GBR (Yamaha) - 1'50.478
StoneBaker second after Q1
05-09-2008
2008 European Superstock 600 Championship
Rd 08 - Brands Hatch
Qualifying 1, Friday September 5th
It's been a day of mixed fortunes for StoneBaker Racing at the end of the opening Qualifying session for the eighth round of the European Superstock 600 Championship at Donington Park. Rider Gino Rea claimed second place in the standings, missing pole by the narrowest of margins. After dominating this morning's Free Practice session teammate Dan Linfoot crashed out, uninjured, on his first flying lap of the timed period.
Having to contend with constant rain throughout the day, the morning belonged to Linfoot. The Knaresborough rider immediately set the fastest lap and then continued to up his pace. Pulling in after six laps because he couldn't see his pit board due to the spray on the track, Linfoot was confident that his time of one minute 53.455 seconds would not be beaten and retired from the session to conserve his tyre supply. Rea in contrast took a "no risk" approach to the wet conditions and steadily increased his speed to end the half-hour in ninth pace with a lap timed at one minute 56.853 seconds.
This afternoon saw Rea take control. Never out of the top four throughout the session, Gino's final lap saw him look set for pole position with a lap of one minute 51.943 seconds. Just as the team began to celebrate, Italian Marco Bussolotti (Yamaha) - whom Rea had just usurped for the top spot - suddenly reappeared at the top of the scoreboard with a lap just four-hundredths of a second faster. For Linfoot, there was disappointment. Exiting Redgate corner just two minutes into the session, he was thrown into the dirt as the rear of his StoneBaker Yamaha swung round on him. Whilst the damage to his machine was not extensive, it was bad enough to leave Dan unable to remount and continue.
With more rain forecast for tomorrow's second Qualifying session, the two StoneBaker boys will have very different objectives. Rea will not want to fall back from his second place whilst Linfoot will simply want to get on the grid.
Andrew Stone (Joint Team Owner)
"I feel despondent for Dan who's had an unlucky off, but Gino has kept the team flag flying. We are still chasing the team goal of having both riders standing side by side on the podium. There's only three rounds left to do this but things are far from over - I know Dan will be there in the second Qualifying session. Fingers crossed we keep the rain coming in - we don't want a dry session tomorrow!"
Gino Rea (Rider)
"That was a pretty enjoyable session. I'm just getting so much more confident with the bike - riding in the wet was an absolute pleasure. I took it really easy this morning. We made some changes to the bike during the interval, but they didn't improve things so I pulled in during this afternoon and we changed them all back. I was feeling more and more confident and put in that flying lap at the end which I thought would be good for pole, but Bussolotti has just beaten it by a tiny margin. As for tomorrow, I just want things to stay as they are. I won't be bothered if the rain is worse because that means no one will be able to go any faster. That said, the wetter the track gets, the less greasy it seems. I heard the surface was re-laid recently, so perhaps that has something to do with it."
Dan Linfoot (Rider)
"It's been a day of two halves. These are the ups and downs of racing. This morning I was fastest and felt really happy and confident going into the afternoon. I wanted to replicate that or even go a bit quicker. Exiting Redgate I had the bike dead upright and the back suddenly swung round really violently throwing me up into the air. I thought I could save it but landed on my chest and was thrown into the mud. The bike was too damaged to continue. I've now just one session left to qualify. Today has been wet and if tomorrow is half-wet or even dry, I should be ok. If it's wetter, today's times will be hard to beat. I can't afford to make any mistakes."
2008 European Superstock 600 Championship
Rd 08 - Donington Park
Qualifying 1 Result
1 Marco Bussolotti, ITA (Yamaha) - 1'51.899
2. Gino Rea, GBR (Yamaha) - 1'51.943
3.Davide Fanelli ITA (Triumph) - 1'52.681
DNQ Dan Linfoot, GBR (Yamaha)
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.
