MCE NEWS ARTICLE - 2024


Round 10 - MCE British Superbike Championship - Assen - Race Day

MCE Insurance As MCE BSB fans descended onto Assen they were met with damp conditions as the heavens opened onto the circuit overnight. Thankfully the conditions cleared up as the morning progressed, however it did mean the warm up session was on a damp track.

Josh Brookes has dominated the weekend so far, however was unable to top the time sheets as Richard Cooper topped the warm up session in the final seconds. Shane 'Shakey' Byrne finished first out of the Title Fighters, followed by Brookes.

In the build up to race one Club MCE members were invited on a priority pit walk to meet MCE BSB riders as well as spend some time in the vast pit area where a lot of the action takes place. Meanwhile we invited a lucky few to once more roar around the circuit in the safety cars and see what the incredible circuit has to offer!

In front of a packed grandstand the grid took their places for race one to commence. It was Josh Brookes who triumphed in the enthralling race in a rather comfortable fashion. The Milwaukee Yamaha rider had a strong start and attempted to break from the chasing pack.

He was followed by Ellison as the pair streaked away and left a five way battle for the final podium finish between Laverty, Byrne, Hopkins, Iddon and Cooper. In the final stages it was Laverty and Byrne who traded blows for the final position in the chicane, yet it was the Tyco BMW rider who was able to emerge victorious and bolster his Title fight contention.

Shakey settled for fourth, followed by Hopkins, Cooper and Iddon. Bridewell settled for eighth meaning he now drops below his teammate Laverty in the showdown standings. Linfoot had a weak race and had to settle for fourteenth place, damaging his title hopes somewhat.

Race two soon rolled around, but was delayed due to falling rain. In the wait for a decision to be made the riders and teams discussed tyre choices, all of the grid went for slick tyres as the circuit began to dry, except for Dan Linfoot who took a gamble and decided to go out on wets.

Linfoot made the best start as the rest of the grid was still tentative on their slick tyres, the Honda man began to make a gap on the riders behind, however as the track dried and the chasing pack gained more confidence the gap diminished and he was overtaken by the line of riders waiting behind.

Brookes took the lead and had a pack of riders behind vying to ruin his almost perfect weekend. Title fighter Tommy Bridewell finished the weekend prematurely, crashing out and doing his championship hopes no favours in the process.

It was Luke Mossey that was able to steal the lead from Brookes following a wobble on his Milkwaukee Yamaha and dropping back a few places in the process. Ellison saw a chance to take the lead and snatched it from Mossey in the following lap, the Quattro Plant rookie dropped back another place as Brookes had a commanding succession of overtakes that pushed him and Cooper back.

Brookes was able to overtake Ellison in a risky overtake that ultimately paid off, Ellison finished second for a second time today, with MCE BSB rookie Mossey completing the podium. Cooper finished fourth followed by Byrne, Iddon Kennedy, Walker, Laverty and Smrz making up the top ten.

Brookes now has a 28 point lead over championship rival Shane Byrne and will feel comfortable as well as confident heading into the next round at Silverstone. However, as we know Byrne can keep his head and knuckle down when he needs to and with two rounds remaining it is far from over.

Ellison currently sits only 13 points behind Byrne and after two second place finishes his confidence must be restored, it will be great to see what he can do over the next five races. Here at MCE we can't wait, it's going to be one to remember!

20.09.2015 - Big Ed

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