Peter Hickman had a Bank Holiday weekend to remember after claiming his first BSB podium in race two at Thruxton.
The Louth based rider was on the pace all weekend and was the quickest Honda in qualifying, taking fifth ahead of Ryuichi Kiyonari.
Hickman led a BSB race for the first time after a first lap move on Michael Rutter at the start of race one. He dropped back to fifth but produced a determined performance in race two to resist the challenge of Rutter to take second, his best ever BSB result.
The Tyco Honda rider was ecstatic at the end of the weekend and explained his tactical approach in the battle with Rutter in race two.
“My bike is mega. We go from track to track and don't even touch the chassis – apart from a few clicks to suit the circuit. If it's not broke, don't fix it. In the first race I turned the traction control up at the start to save the tyre for later in the race but it was too much at the end and held me back a bit. It was good to lead a BSB race for the first time – but when Lowes came by me I couldn't see a thing.”
“I learned from race one about the traction – when and where to use it,” he said. “But when Rutter came by me at the end, I could see he still had a little bit more grip than me at Goodwood and Church. But I just thought, 'I can't let him go,' and did him straight back each time he passed me.”
Teammate Tommy Bridewell had a frustrating time though as he struggled with handling problems on the CBR1000RR Fireblade. The Wiltshire man retired in race one and finished outside the points in race two and admitted “it's been a tough weekend and disappointing to come away with no points at my local circuit. We'll have to regroup at Knockhill.”
In the mirror.co.uk EVO class, Patric Muff finished on the podium in race one while also taking his first outright points of the year in 15th. The Swiss rider was fourth in class in the second race and admitted Thruxton was his toughest challenge so far.
“I'm really happy with my weekend. When I first saw the circuit I just couldn't believe how fast and wide the track was – with so many bumps. The team has worked really hard to help me understand the circuit and now I'm looking forward to the next challenge at Knockhill.”
Ian Woollacott, Team Owner of Tyco Honda, was full of praise for his riders after the teams' best weekend of the season.
“I'm delighted for Peter. He's chipped away every weekend since joining us, improving every time he rides the bike and, to be honest, this kind of result has been on the cards for a while. My hope when we started the year was for Peter to be in the top ten in the first half of the year and top six place in the second half of the year. To be leading BSB races and be on the podium by round four is beyond my wildest dreams.”
“It's been a tough weekend for Tommy though. We've got to put this behind us and go to Knockhill and get things back on track for him.”
“And as for Patric – what a brilliant job he's done this weekend. Thruxton is a really demanding track but he's got stuck in scored two more top four finishes in BSB EVO and was a really impressive 15th overall in race one, beating several of the more experienced BSB riders.”
