British Superbike

Hill Keen To Move On After Pointless Start

2 Mins read
Tommy Hill - Photo Credit: Impact Images

Tommy Hill - Photo Credit: Impact Images

 

Tommy Hill has immediately turned his attentions to Thruxton after failing to score in the first race of his British Superbike Championship defence. The Swan Yamaha rider had to start 29th for race one after a crash at Graham Hill in qualifying and he fell at the same place in the race itself, leaving him without a point. Race two was cancelled after an oil spillage and Hill was left to reflect on a frustrating weekend.

“It is a disappointing start to the season and I am gutted that we didn't have a chance to try and make amends in the second race for myself, the team and the fans but the right decision was made as the conditions were bad. In the first race I had a bit of a problem with the rear and I knew something wasn't right. I just struggled with rear grip and was trying to score some points and that isn't what we wanted to do here. I crashed and it was unlucky but we had a problem with the rear shock and we then worked hard to resolve it for the second race but never got the chance to try it out in the end. We will now regroup and move on to Thruxton where we will be aiming for the podium again as I know we have the pace.”

Teammate Noriyuki Haga also had a tough afternoon and could only salvage 13th on his BSB debut. The Japanese rider made an awful start and fell back into the midfield where he remained for the entire race and he was disappointed with the outcome.

“I am just super disappointed with the result and I wanted a better finish to the race for sure. I was having a problem with the rear grip and it was very slippery so it made it difficult to push hard and I wanted to get points and not crash. It did feel like a long race and it is a shame because if we had better feeling then we could have pushed more and then maybe had a better finish. The cold conditions didn't help, but maybe we found a solution for the second race, but I was pleased that it was postponed as I think it was the best result in those conditions. I now look forward to Thruxton as I haven't seen the circuit before.”

Team Manager Gary Ekerold was sad to see the second race called off and now hopes to see Swan Yamaha's title bid kick into gear at Thruxton.

“We had a difficult race one here at Brands Hatch and both Tommy and Noriyuki suffered with rear grip issues. It would appear that they were separate issues though as we believe Noriyuki's was down to his tyre whereas Tommy had a rear shock problem. The Swan Yamaha team worked hard though and we believed we had solved it for the second race and were looking forward to making amends but we just didn't get the opportunity. It was the right decision so now the team will move on to Thruxton where we intend to get our championship back on track.”

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