Snow means no-go at Brands Hatch
06-04-2008
2008 British Supersport Cup Rd 01
6th April, Brands Hatch
With the predicted snowfall arriving with a vengeance this morning at Brands Hatch, there was disappointment for Beowulf Racing as the organisers were left with no other option than to abandon the meeting on safety grounds.
It followed a superb performance by team rider Pat McDougall during Qualifying yesterday, who had powered the Beowulf YZF-R6 Yamaha to second place in the standings for the British Supersport Cup and 17th overall on the main Supersport grid. The meeting has been rescheduled to run at the Kent circuit on the weekend of the 10th and 11th May with yesterday's timings standing for the race starting positions.
"I'm really upset the weather's come to this," said a downcast McDougall afterwards. "We knew the snow was forecast, but you can never trust the forecasts. I woke up this morning, looked out the window and there was the snow. I'd hoped the races would be shortened not cancelled, so I could go for a win in the Cup and pick up some points in the main series as well. I'm gutted, but I'm also looking forwards to Thruxton."
Pat's father, David McDougall, is also the Beowulf UK Team Manager and took a philosophical view to the day's outcome: "We've come back from testing in the sunshine of Valencia to the snow of the UK - which is a bit of a shock to the system. We can take away a lot of positives from this weekend: we're very pleased with our performance in Qualifying yesterday and the whole team has performed really well, especially our new technician Craig Broom. That's racing in the UK I guess, we just have to take a positive outlook going into the next race."
The next round of the British Supersport Cup takes place at Thruxton on the weekend of April 18-20th.
Podium for Beowulf Racing at Valencia opener
05-04-2008
The new look Beowulf Racing team of Dan Linfoot and Gino Rea got their European Superstock 600 campaign off to an impressive start at Valencia today (Saturday). After an extensive winter testing programme onboard the all new Beowulf Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 both riders were able to fight at the front with Linfoot claiming his maiden podium and Rea backing up his team-mate with a solid ninth place finish.
Qualifying for the opening race of the season went well with both men securing their place on the second row with Rea sixth and Linfoot seventh. With the front row made up of factory supported Yamaha and Suzuki teams the British squad were satisfied with their performance and confident in their potential for the race.
The scheduled 11 lap race got underway in warm, sunny condition with Rea making his trademark strong start with Linfoot just behind as the two British young guns became embroiled in a high octane opening four laps. Linfoot soon began to make his way up to third position, but had his progress cut short when race leader Greg Black crashed his Yamaha, which subsequently burst in to flames causing the race to be stopped.
After a short delay a five lap restart was declared with the final result calculated on aggregate times from the first and second heat. Starting from second position on the grid Linfoot initially dropped to fifth before clawing his way up to third place, but a slight lack of grip on the final lap meant he was unable to hold the position. Linfoot was relegated to fourth place, but with the subsequent disqualification of Daniel Arcaz for a technical infringement, Linfoot took the podium and 16 valuable championship points.
Meanwhile Rea was unable to match his initial pace in the restarted race due to a slight overheating problem on his Beowulf Racing Yamaha, but the determined 18 year old fought hard to secure a solid top ten result.
Dan Linfoot - 3rd, 16 points
"The aim was to be on the podium, and after the disqualification that's what we achieved so I'm really happy with the result. It was an aggressive race that's for sure. I didn't know what to expect so I just pushed as hard as I could and found myself fighting in the top six. I was gradually working my way through to the front and when it got stopped I restarted in second place."
"In the final laps there was a lot of fairing bashing and I was happy to keep it upright and score some good points. Some of the title favourites have already thrown it away by crashing out so to get 16 points first time out is a great start for myself and the team."
Gino Rea - 9th, 7 points
"I'm disappointed with ninth to be honest, I was struggling a bit for grip and because of the temperature the bike was running at I think we lost some speed down the straight. It's frustrating because I wanted to be on the podium today, but it's also important to be in the points. It's a ten round championship and we need to start racking up some good results. I'll be going all out for a podium next time out, that's for sure."
Team Manager - Andy Stone
"This is a very competitive championship with strong riders and factory supported teams so to be on the podium at our first meeting is a good result for the entire team. We've got the first meeting under our belt and we've learned some important lessons and we need to come back even stronger next time out at Assen."
Beowulf second on grid for opening Supersport Cup race
05-04-2008
2008 British Supersport Cup Rd 01
5th April, Brands Hatch
Combined Qualifying Result
"Awesome" was how Beowulf Racing's Pat McDougall (22) summed up his day after completing the two Qualifying sessions for the opening round of the 2008 British Supersport Cup championship at Brands Hatch today. The Guildford rider's time of 1:30.894 puts him in second place for the Cup rankings and 17th overall on the main Supersport grid. It is also three seconds faster than he managed to lap the 2.3-mile Grand Prix circuit the last time he was here in 2006. Back then, McDougall was aboard the more powerful Beowulf Suzuki 1000 rather than the team's Yamaha R6 he's campaigning this year.
Yesterday's two free practice sessions also saw McDougall lying second with a time of 1:32.330. In this morning's opening Qualifying session he slipped to fifth, a result of the damp circuit drying more quickly than the team expected. The second session was held in dry but overcast conditions and McDougall was on the pace from the start. When the session re-commenced after a temporary stop Pat saw his chance: running on fresh tyres and with a clear track ahead of him, he upped his pace to log his best time of 1:30.984 and secure second spot on the Cup grid. When the first drops of rain began to spit down five minutes from the end, McDougall wisely retired from the proceedings and although his second place for the Cup grid was secure he was relegated from 16th place overall to 17th by Irish rider BJ Toal who shot up into 14th place in the final five seconds of the session.
"It's all gone really well today," gasped an exhausted but smiling McDougall afterwards. "To be honest, I think I could have gone faster but I was happy with my time of 1:30.8 and there didn't seem much point in throwing it all away in the dying stages. The team are doing a great job in preparing my bike especially my new mechanic Craig Broom, he is so relaxed yet efficient. I've gone faster today than I've ever managed before at Brands Hatch - even though I've been on more powerful bikes than the R6. There are perhaps some slight alterations we could make to the front and rear suspension this evening but I'm tempted to leave everything alone, the bike is running well enough. Now it's just a case of waiting for tomorrow's race and seeing how things turn out."
Sunday's 18-lap race is set to start at 3.30pm.
2008 British Supersport Cup
Final Qualifying Positions
1. Craig Fitzpatrick (Yamaha) - 1:29.797
2. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 1:30.894
3. Dean Hipwell (Yamaha) - 1:32.004
2008 British Supersport Championship
Final Qualifying Positions
1. Hudson Kennaugh (Yamaha) -1:29.077
2. Glen Richards (Triumph) -1.29.322
3. John McGuiness (Honda) -1:29.509
17. Pat McDougall (Yamaha) - 1:30.894
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.
