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."
McDougall on the pace for Sunday Supersport Cup race
10-05-2008
BRITISH SUPERSPORT CUP
RD 03 - BRANDS HATCH
SAT 10th MAY - FREE PRACTICE
Beowulf Racing's Pat McDougall is looking forward to tomorrow's third round race in the 2008 British Supersport Cup having completed two free practice sessions at Brands Hatch today. The Guildford-based rider lapped the 2.3-mile Kent circuit in a best time of one minute 31.761 seconds which placed him as third fastest Cup rider and 20th in terms of the overall Supersport Championship.
The race tomorrow is the rescheduled opening round from April which had to be cancelled due to snowbound conditions. In contrast to the previous Arctic weather, the Kent circuit has today been blessed with a sun-kissed day with more sunshine predicted for tomorrow.
Qualifying positions for the race will remain as previously recorded. In April, Pat qualified in 17th place with a time of one minute 30.894 seconds. Due to the injured Dennis Hobbs (Honda) not being able to take part tomorrow, McDougall will move one place up the grid onto the end of the fourth row.
In this morning's opening session Pat ran as high as tenth overall, before dropping back to 15th with a time of one minute 31.922 seconds at the end of the 35-minute period. Completing another 16 laps this afternoon, McDougall shaved a further two-tenths of a second from his earlier outing. Although, like the rest of the field, Pat is lapping almost a second slower than he managed in April, he is most certainly on the pace: less than a second separates McDougall from the 15 riders in front of him.
Having solved chatter problems that plagued the Beowulf Yamaha this morning, the team will be looking at providing McDougall with more front-end grip this evening. Despite this, Pat is looking forward to Sunday's 18-lapper with his usual levels of enthusiasm.
Pat McDougall, Beowulf Supersport Cup rider:
"I really wanted to match my earlier times and do a one minute 30 lap today, but like the rest of the field I'm a bit slower than I was in April. Ironically, the warmer weather seems to be providing less grip on the track. We had front-end chatter this morning but that's largely gone now. I am still lacking a little bit of confidence in the front-end though, the bike squirms a little in a few of the corners, particularly Westfield. Hopefully we'll get those problems ironed out tonight and in tomorrow's warm-up and in any case I'm looking forwards to tomorrow's race."
BRITISH SUPERSPORT CUP
RD 03 BRANDS HATCH
FREE PRACTICE CLASSIFICATION
1. Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) - 1:30.640
2. Andy Weymouth (Yamaha) - 1:31.269
3. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 1:31.761
BRITISH SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP
RD 03 BRANDS HATCH
FREE PRACTICE CLASSIFICATION
1. Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) - 1:29.501
2. Glen Richards (Triumph) - 1:30.229
3. James Westmoreland (Honda) 1:30.553
20. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 1:31.761
WSBK Rd 3 Monza. Mixed outcome from Saturday qualifying.
10-05-2008
Both Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea had engine failure in qualifying this morning but not before Gino secured a 6th place on the grid for the race this afternoon. Dan's bike broke early in qualifying and with his spare bike already out of action from earlier mechanical failure at Monza, Dan will not be able to run in the race this afternoon. Gino will ride his spare bike in the race and hopes for his trademark quick start to give an opportunity to battle for a podium finish.
Sponsors
Team Beowulf Racing.
StoneBaker Racing contests the 2008 World Superbike European Superstock 600 championship with riders Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea.
We have just recorded our second-best result of the year with Gino Rea taking the runner-up spot at Brands Hatch. In the championship standings, Gino currently lies fourth and Dan fifth.
There is now a month-long break in the series before the action resumes at Donington Park between September 5th-7th.
