Mixed results for Arai’s MotoGP men in sunny California

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA

Race Position: DNF                         Championship Position: Second

“I COULDN’T DO ANYTHING, I WAS DOWN…”

Dani Pedrosa looked on course for a carbon copy of his stunning Laguna victory from last year and led for the first 11 laps, but the Spaniard was unfortunate to a hit a bump on the way into Laguna’s turn seven and crash out on lap 12. Pedrosa looked at his formidable best for the first part of the race, making one of his demon starts from fourth on the grid to lead into the first corners. He then edged away from his pursuers Casey Stoner and then Jorge Lorenzo and the race win looked a distinct possibility. However, while pushing hard he lost the front end and his U.S. Grand Prix was over. Obviously disappointed with the way the weekend finished, Pedrosa has taken encouragement from his continued front-running race pace and will come back fighting…

“At the time I that I crashed I was pushing hard to maintain the gap to Lorenzo and my rhythm was good. Unfortunately though I hit a bump on the way into the corner and I couldn’t do anything, I was down. It’s very disappointing obviously but this can happen when you’re trying everything to win. You have to push as much as you can and take risks; and I really wanted to win this race. The one thing we can do now is to remember that we were having a good race until this moment, and we were leading the race – this is what I want to take from the weekend. You cannot sit there with your arms crossed thinking about what could have been. For the whole weekend me and the team were working well and we put ourselves in a winning position. It hasn’t worked out for us but we’ll come back fighting at the next one.”

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI

Race Position: Fifth                        Championship Position: Sixth

“THE LAST FIVE LAPS I WAS OVER MY HEAD!”

Nicky Hayden started from seventh on the grid and eventually overcame his compatriot Ben Spies after a race-long battle that had the raucous crowd on their feet, chasing down Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso in their contest for a podium finish over the final few laps, and missing out by just 1.2 seconds. 

“We had a little problem with the bike when I did my practice start this morning and it happened again in the race but we put up a fight as best we could. The last five laps I was over my head, doing my fastest laps of the weekend almost because I thought there was a chance we might be able to get on the box if the guys in front made a mistake. I dug as deep as I could but it wasn’t enough today. My first two years here at Laguna Seca were much more fun, that’s for sure, but hopefully we can be back here fighting for the win next year; that’s the goal. I want to say thanks to all my guys for their hard work, and to all the fans at Laguna, their support was incredible and I’m just sorry I couldn’t be on the podium for them.”

COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3

Race Position: Seventh                 Championship Position: Eleventh

“I’M CLOSER TO WHERE I KNOW I SHOULD BE.”

Colin Edwards produced his best result of the season in front of his home crowd to score a thoroughly deserved seventh position. The 36-year-old showed all of his experience to patiently stalk Marco Simoncelli and Marco Melandri in the opening laps as the trio became embroiled in a thrilling fight for seventh. Edwards passed Melandri on lap 10 exiting the spectacular Corkscrew section and he grabbed seventh from Simoncelli on lap 15. Edwards’ superior pace saw him immediately pull away from the Italian duo to secure a seventh that puts him on the fringes of the top ten in the overall standings.

“I’m really happy with the way I rode all weekend and there was nothing more I could have done. Fighting for seventh is not really where I want to be in my home race, but compared to where I have been recently it is a big improvement and thanks to all my guys at the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew for all their effort. I had a good early battle with Melandri and Simoncelli and that was fun and I made a couple of good moves on them because I was quite a bit faster. Once I got by Simoncelli I put my head down to see if I could break them and that’s what I did. But I couldn’t even see the group in front of me and I just slowed my pace up a little bit because it made no sense to crash out of my home race when I was never going to catch them up. I was pretty much stuck in seventh all weekend and I never really had the pace of the leading group. But I’m closer to where I know I should be and the upgrades from Yamaha were a help and I can look forward to a good break confident of a strong second half of the season.”

The next MotoGP round is at Brno, in the Czech Republic, on the 15^th August.

For more information and news on Arai Helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

A busy – but very productive – weekend for Arai riders in Norfolk…

JOSH BROOKES, HM PLANT HONDA
Race 1: First                        Race 2: First                        Race 3: DNF       
Championship Position: Second

“I JUST KEPT STEADY AWAY”
Josh Brookes fought his way through to take victory in the second race on Sunday after winning Saturday’s opening race. In race three the HM Plant Honda rider was in contention for the lead when he suffered an engine issue, similar to his team-mate Kiyonari’s in the previous race, and was forced to retire.

“In the second race I had another bad start and made my way through; I saw Kiyo seemed to be having problems so knew I didn’t have to make a pass. He retired and then I had Michael ahead of me and knew I had the time to catch him, but then he pulled off too. I just kept steady away and then just held it to take the win, which was a great result for me and HM Plant Honda. In race two everything was going well and I was stuck behind James for a few laps and then Kiyo got involved and I maintained the position as I knew Kiyo was quick after we got by Ellison. We just had an engine problem which put me out, which was disappointing but I know we can come back strong at Silverstone for the World Superbike Championship round, and then on to Brands.”

ALASTAIR SEELEY, RELENTLESS SUZUKI BY TAS
Race 1: Fifth              Race 2: Third                        Race 3: DNF 
Championship Position: Seventh

“I HAD TO HAVE A GO…”
Snetterton’s triple header saw Alastair Seeley taking third place in Sunday’s opening race. In Saturday’s re-scheduled Knockhill race two Seeley was fifth. In Sunday’s opening race Seeley didn’t let his slow start down in eighth place hinder his progress, and once the BSB rookie settled into his rhythm he forced his way past Chris Walker, closing in on the back of James Ellison and team-mate Michael Laverty. By lap eight he was up to third place and on lap 14 he moved up to second, just over a second behind Josh Brookes. Ellison and Hill became his main podium threats in the closing laps, and although fellow Suzuki rider Hill came through to take second place at the flag, Seeley defended third place valiantly on the final lap to take his second podium of the season. In race two Seeley crashed out while disputing fifth place with James Ellison on lap 14 of 24.

“In the last race Ellison left the door open and as I was catching Michael Laverty and Michael Rutter I had to have a go. Ellison looked like he was dropping off the pace after Rutter passed him. I just grabbed a little too much front brake and lost the front, or I’d have been through. My bike just tagged the back of him and he went down but that’s racing – it wasn’t intentional and thankfully, he’s not injured. In race one I struggled to get off the line but once I got into third place, I was determined to hold on. Ellison did have a sniff and nudged me into the Esses, so it was nice to get another podium. We are back at the sharp end now and I’m really looking forward to Brands Hatch.”

Quay Garage Honda rider Tommy Bridewell endured a weekend of mixed fortunes; the 21-year-old from Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire looked to be in good form on Friday aboard the ex-Gregorio Lavilla Honda Fireblade and hopes were high of a good performance in the three races. However, during free practice on Saturday, a sudden rain shower caught out Bridewell and he crashed at the Bombhole meaning the team had a race against time to get the machine fixed. In the first race of the weekend on Saturday, Tommy made up for a poor grid position and bad start to eventually climb the leaderboard and clinch a tenth place, but better was to follow in race two on Sunday when he scrapped his way to sixth. Sadly in the second race on Sunday, Bridewell was dicing for another top ten placing when an electrical fault sidelined the machine with just a few laps remaining meaning he didn’t see the chequered flag. He was typically pragmatic; “You could say I’ve had a pretty mixed weekend what with a crash, a top six placing and a breakdown but I’m reasonably pleased with how it’s gone. We always knew the bike would be down on top speed against some of the newer models and the last place you need a slow bike is at Snetterton but we did OK. It was my fault I crashed and gave the team a load of unnecessary work, which affected our qualifying but to bring it home in a best result of sixth is fairly good all things considered.”

BSB-EVO rider Steve Brogan took his first win of the weekend on Saturday and improved upon his performance with a further two wins on Sunday, under the eyes of BMW Motorrad World Superbike racer Troy Corser. The Australian spent the day at the East Anglian circuit commentating on the racing, meeting fans and spending some time with the Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad team. Brogan said: “Race one wasn’t too bad – though someone ran into the back of me at the Bombhole and nearly knocked me off, luckily I managed to stay on! I got a good start in race two – but the pace car came out with about seven laps to go. On the restart, I almost collided with a back marker who had rejoined the race from the pit lane and pulled right across on to the racing line in front of me. I was flat out but luckily managed to miss him – though it cost me a couple of positions. It was then a bit of a dogfight to the flag as I chased down the EVO leader but I managed to get him on the penultimate lap and hold on for the win. It’s been a tough but satisfying weekend and with the team’s help we’re walking away as the championship leaders.”

Padgetts’ Glen Richards was flying as he added yet another podium to his tally for the year in the Superstock 1000 race and narrowly missed making it two on the day by taking fourth in the Supersport event. Having qualified third in Superstock Richards made a great start and established himself in the lead before the race was red-flagged due to an injured rider. Starting the re-started race from pole, Richards was not quite able to repeat his initial dominance and in the early laps found himself in third place behind Scott Smart who was ultimately disqualified for an underweight bike. Richards managed to get the better of Smart on the track, but a hard charging Tristan Palmer forced his way past and into the lead to eventually take the chequered flag 5 seconds ahead of third placed Richards – the top placed Honda rider in a quartet of BMWs.

 A major off in qualifying meant Richards had it all to do in the Supersport race, but, true to form, he took no prisoners as he fought his way through from tenth to fourth, showing that, with only a little more luck in qualifying he could have netted Padgetts their long overdue first Supersport podium of the year. Team-mate Ian Hutchinson found himself battling the crowd in the mid-field as, he too, took away a useful, but ultimately slightly disappointing after previous performances, 5 points for eleventh place.

In the 125GP class Dakota Mamola, son of Randy, took second and was only .119s off of a win, while Racing Steps Foundation rider Wayne Ryan bagged fourth.

The next round of the BSB Championship takes place on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit on 8th August.

For more information and news on Arai Helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

Top step of the podium for patriotic Pedrosa

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: First                         Championship Position: Second

“WE ARE BACK WINNING RACES AND IT’S A GREAT FEELING”
Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa rode immaculately to secure a dominant win in the German Grand Prix, setting the five fastest laps of a shortened race at the Sachsenring and setting a new lap record along the way. It was Pedrosa’s second victory of the 2010 season and his tenth since he moved up to the MotoGP class with Repsol Honda in 2006. The win for the 24-year-old Spaniard closed the gap in the World Championship standings by five points to Jorge Lorenzo, who finished second today. Pedrosa and his Honda RC212V looked very strong all weekend at the Sachsenring and were clearly the fastest combination this afternoon. In the first part of the race Pedrosa and Lorenzo took off at the front, with Lorenzo fractions of a second ahead when the red flag came out on lap 10 after a crash involving Randy De Puniet, Alvaro Bautista, and Aleix Espargaro, during which De Puniet was unfortunate to suffer a broken leg. At the restart, Pedrosa took the lead into the first corner and led lap one before being demoted by Lorenzo to second place, where he stayed in close attendance for eight more laps. At the end of lap nine, Pedrosa made his decisive move, getting a better drive out of the final corner and sliding alongside Lorenzo on the start-finish straight before holding a tight line into turn one. From that moment, he never looked back and relentlessly stretched away at the front to win by 3.355s. On the podium, Pedrosa wore the shirt of the Spanish national football team in homage to Spain’s victory in the World Cup final in South Africa.

“I’m very happy because we are back winning races and it’s a great feeling. It wasn’t easy because when the race is stopped and restarted like that, sometimes you don’t have the same feeling on the machine in the second part. Also, you get nervous again on the grid and it’s possible you won’t have the same pace after the restart. But it went very well for us in both races. In the first one, I was very close to Lorenzo and the pace was good, but then they stopped the race and we looked at each other saying, “Why?” It was even better in the second part. We just made one small change with the rear suspension to get a bit more traction, but we didn’t change the tyre because we didn’t have any new tyres left; we went with the same ones. I made another good start and in the first laps after Lorenzo had passed me I was pushing very to try to take him back. I couldn’t do it with my first attempt, but when I got a second chance, I just went for it. Then it was a great feeling to stretch ahead and get the victory - the team deserve it. This victory is even better than the one in Italy because at Mugello I just went away in front and there was no battle with anybody, but here I was battling with Lorenzo in the first and second race, and finally beat him, so this is even more important.”

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: Seventh                 Championship Position: Fifth

“I GOT RUBBER ON BOTH SIDES OF MY LEATHERS!”
Nicky Hayden made a stunning start to the first race, charging from fifteenth on the grid to ensure sixth spot on the reformed grid. He made up another position in the second race but was unlucky to be passed by two riders after losing the front of his Desmosedici GP10 just three laps from the end, leaving him in an otherwise creditable seventh.

“On paper seventh place doesn’t look like a great result but after qualifying fifteenth yesterday actually it’s not so bad. I was running fifth but with a few laps to go I lost the front coming through the Waterfall and went back to seventh, after which I couldn’t really get back to them. Also, on the last lap, the bike jumped out a gear and I almost crashed so I’m happy to have picked up points. Of course fifth would have been a lot better but I’m proud of my team because yesterday was probably the worst day of our season so far but they worked so hard to change almost everything with the set-up, from the forks to the pivot and the shock. We tested it in the wet morning and it felt okay; I was fifth fastest and comfortable so we rolled the dice and went for it in the race. At the start I was able to recover a lot of positions and got up to sixth when the red flag came out, which did me a favour because it closed the gap back up. I had not the best feeling with the bike for a couple of laps, I was running wide in a lot of places and it was difficult. From there I got into a very aggressive race with Dovi and Simoncelli - I got rubber on both sides of my leathers but you expect that in MotoGP when starting fifteenth. It was a good battle with those guys and overall this is a much more positive result than it looks ahead of my home race at Laguna.”

COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: DNF                         Championship Position: 12th

“I’M MORE MOTIVATED THAN EVER”
A difficult weekend for Colin Edwards ended in disappointing fashion. Despite numerous changes to the set-up of hi s Monster Yamaha YZR-M1 machine throughout the weekend, Edwards was unable to discover a setting that allowed him to push at the fast pace he is capable of. And his hopes of maintaining his proud record of scoring points in every race were ended when he crashed out of 16th position shortly before the race was red flagged.

“I got pushed around a bit at the start and lost time and I was just pushing because what I would lose on acceleration I would try and catch it all up on the brakes. It was my mistake. I ran into the last corner wide and was probably a metre off line and when I tried to pull it back I lost the front. This wasn’t the result I wanted going into my home race next week at Laguna Seca but I’m more motivated than ever to get back on track and recover from a pretty difficult period in the season for me. I love Laguna and the atmosphere created by the fans and rest assured I’ll be aiming to get myself much closer to the front where I know I belong in front of my home crowd.”

The next MotoGP round is at Laguna Seca on Sunday 25th July.

For more information and news on Arai Helmets visit www.whyarai.co.uk

MOTOGP ROUND 7, CATALUNYA, SUNDAY 4th JULY

Podiums and hard graft for Arai riders under the Spanish sun

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: Second                 Championship Position: Second

“I WAS PUSHING AS HARD AS POSSIBLE”
Dani Pedrosa took a closely-fought second place in an action-packed Grand Prix of Catalunya; it was a great result for the 24-year-old Spaniard who came close to disaster on lap one when he was forced to run wide in the first corner and dropped back to 11th place, before mounting a rapid recovery. He immediately mounted a fight-back, recovering five positions before the first lap was over and another place on lap two. Pedrosa moved forward again when he overtook the LCR Honda of Randy De Puniet on lap six and quickly inherited one more position when Casey Stoner ran wide, also in turn one. Now in third, Pedrosa benefited from his team-mate’s misfortune when Andrea Dovizioso fell from second position, and he spent the rest of the race fending off Casey Stoner behind him. The gap as they crossed the line was rarely more than two tenths of a second and Stoner was a menacing presence for the final 10 laps.

“I made a really good start and was leading towards turn one. I had a bit of a front-end shake on the way to the first corner but I didn’t think anything of it until I hit the brakes and… for a moment there was nothing. I was surprised because it was not such a big shake, but anyway I pumped a few times and it came back, but by then it was too late and I had to run wide. I took it slowly to get back on track because I didn’t want to be to be penalised [for cutting the corner]. And then I tried to recover as quickly as possible and make up the positions I’d lost. I got past Casey when he made a mistake and we raced together for many laps. I was pushing as hard as possible but we had a bit of a front-end issue through the race and the front end was closing in the corners; I think many riders were having this problem today though. I was able to hang on until the end of the race though and I’m happy enough with second place after that first lap. We’ve linked two good results together which was our target and now we must maintain this consistence and fight for the win at the next races.”

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: Eighth                   Championship Position: Fourth

“I HELD MYSELF UP ON MY ELBOW A FEW TIMES!”
Nicky Hayden, who struggled to find the right balance for his Desmosedici GP10 in practice finished in eighth place, a result that lifts him to fourth in the championship.

“What a tough race! We thought we had found something in the warm-up this morning using a worn tyre but in the race with the extra grip from a new tyre the balance just wasn’t the same. I was really struggling over the first few laps and held myself up on my elbow a couple of times. The situation improved in the second half of the race, I was able to push a little harder to the point where I thought I could make up some positions. I lost too much time behind Melandri though and we finished eighth. It’s not a great result but at least we have brought some points home and we’re now fourth in the championship. If we want to stay there we have to do much better and get back to the level we were at a couple of races ago.”

COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: Eleventh               Championship Position: Ninth

“THAT WAS A TOUGH RACE”
Colin Edwards maintained his record of scoring points in every race so far in 2010. But 11th was little reward for a gritty performance. A sluggish start cost Edwards five places on the opening lap but he fought back superbly and claimed 11th from compatriot Nicky Hayden on lap nine. But just as he prepared to shadow team-mate Spies he ran into front-end grip issues and eventually had to settle for 11th position.

“That was a tough race. I had big problems all weekend and I tried a completely different set-up this morning. I put some more weight on the front and it seemed to work this morning when the temperature was a bit cooler. At the start of the race it felt good, even though I got an awful start. But I started pushing really hard and was able to get ahead of Nicky but immediately I started having a lot of trouble on the right side of the front tyre. After that it wasn’t a whole lot of fun because I couldn’t ride the bike how I wanted and kept running wide. I tried carrying less lean angle but nothing I could do was going to help me go any faster. I was riding as hard as I could and finished but 11th is not where I expect to be or where the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team expects to be.”

MOTO 2
The Tech 3 racing team celebrated a famous milestone when Yuki Takahashi stormed to a fantastic maiden Moto2 victory. A fast start from the front row of the grid helped Takahashi avoid a multi-rider pile-up at the first corner of the 23-lap race and he was fourth at the end of lap one. He quickly passed world championship leader Toni Elias on lap four and then hunted down Thomas Luthi and Julian Simon in the leading group to begin his challenge. Gaining confidence with the improved turning performance from a new chassis only finished on Friday night, Takahashi claimed third from Luthi on lap five. And he wasted no time in claiming second from Simon a lap later to try and prevent Andrea Iannone from scorching to another runaway victory. Takahashi produced a determined and concerted effort to close in on Iannone, but the key moment of the race came when it emerged the Italian had overtaken the Japanese rider under a yellow flag following the major incident at the first corner. Iannone eventually was penalised with a ride through penalty having failed to give up the position gained, leaving Takahashi with a comfortable lead of close to three seconds on lap 16. His win moves him to eighth place in the overall rankings.

He was ecstatic after the race; 

“I am a little bit speechless right now because I expected to be on the podium but this win is like a dream for me. Luckily I got on the front row in qualifying yesterday and that meant I wasn’t involved in the big crash at the first corner. I didn’t have a very good pace in the early laps while I gained some confidence with the front tyre, but once in my rhythm I could easily catch Luthi and Simon. My bike was working fantastic out of the last corner and it meant I could pass them both on the brakes at the first corner. I tried to follow Iannone but it was very difficult. He was riding very fast and I didn’t realise he was penalised for passing me under a yellow flag. My board said P1 even though I was second and for a while it was a little confusing. But when I saw him pull into the pitlane I understood the situation because I’d seen the penalty board and his number but I wasn’t sure what was happening. Then it became incredibly hard to maintain concentration because Iannone was a good reference. I settled down though and it was an amazing feeling. I can’t thank my team enough; they’re like a family and everybody works incredibly hard. They have unbelievable passion for racing and for me, and this win feels a lot more special than before because it is with a bike we’ve all developed.”

The next MotoGP round is at Sachsenring, on Sunday the 18th July.

For more information on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

BSB ROUND 6, KNOCKHILL, SUNDAY 4th JULY

A Stormy Sunday for Arai riders, but job done…

JOSH BROOKES, HM PLANT HONDA
Race 1: Third                       Race 2: Cancelled  Championship Position: First

“I AM NEVER HAPPY WITH THIRD”
Josh Brookes moved into the BSB championship lead after a podium finish at a rain-struck Knockhill; he had started from pole position to lead the race before it was red flagged on the opening lap when there was a torrential downpour. The race restarted but a crash involving Dan Linfoot and Chris Walker bought out a second red flag. The race restarted for a third time and Josh got off to a flying start leading Kiyonari at the front of the field on the opening lap. Kiyo passed Josh for the lead, before Michael Rutter stole the front runner position to win the race. With his third place Josh is now elevated to first in the overall championship standings.

The second race of the day was cancelled due to the conditions and will now take place on the Saturday of the Snetterton round.

“I am never happy with third, but a podium means that I now have the championship lead and that is what I am here for. The conditions out there were very similar to what we had at Oulton Park and I was having a bit of a problem with the stability; as the conditions were improving when I had the bike upright the tyre was spinning up and I couldn’t move forward as fast as I needed to. I had two good starts in the first race when it was restarted; I didn’t get the holeshot but I could make the passes without too much problem. In the third restart I was up there and then Kiyo and Michael passed and I was watching them but there wasn’t anything I could do. I could change direction and be hard on the brakes but I was losing time getting forward drive. I just suffered it and came home in third, which is important for the championship, as I knew I had a gap to fourth. It is disappointing to not have had a chance to try and win the second race, but the right decision was made and now I just want to get to Snetterton.”

ALASTAIR SEELEY, RELENTLESS SUZUKI BY TAS
Race 1: Fifth                        Race 2: Cancelled              Championship Position: Seventh

“I PICKED THEM OFF…”
Series rookie Alastair Seeley got nudged out on the opening lap from his second row grid spot to 11th place but fought back, eventually following his team-mate home for a well-deserved fifth placed finish on his GSX-R1000.

“I dropped back down the pack on the opening lap in race one, but I picked them off and got right back onto Michael at the end. Unfortunately by that stage, my tyre had chewed up and I was sliding going in and out of the turns. We got some good points on the board today but it’s just a pity the second race was red flagged. I made a good start and had just passed Kiyo for third place and was lining up Rutter when the red flag went out. We are still in the hunt though, with the extra race at Snetterton and I have a good chance to get back into that sixth place in the championship standings.”

Quay Garage Racing rider Tommy Bridewell’s long trip north to Scotland proved fruitless as he added zero points to his haul after a problematic weekend. Race day dawned wet and windy and after a solid session in the wet, Tommy was hopeful of a good result but then, on the warm up laps, the ex-Lavilla CBR1000RR developed a gearbox issue meaning Bridewell was up against it, the problems being compounded with a grip issue in the wet conditions of race one which saw him eventually retire. Tommy was philosophical; “It’s been one of those weekends and it’s been a long drive for not a lot really. We were hit with a penalty in qualifying which was unfortunate and was something that wasn’t deliberate on my part but we accepted the decision and hoped for a good result today. That wasn’t to be as we suffered a few niggling problems and I was nearly crashing on every corner so the safe thing was to pull in. We made some big changes for race two but that didn’t happen and it was the right thing to do to postpone it.”

Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad’s Steve Brogan, racing in the Superbike EVO class, also had a weekend to forget. In spite of a great qualifying performance, which saw him take pole, 22nd was the best he could do. He remains second in the EVO standings.

In the Supersport race, Ben Wilson and Dan Cooper finished second and third respectively, while Padgetts Honda rider Ian Hutchinson secured fourth, with his team-mate Glen Richards in seventh place. Riding a Honda CBR1000RR Richards took a very close win in the Superstock 1000 race, taking the chequered flag just over half a second ahead of GSX-R1000-mounted Luke Quigley

The next round of the BSB championship takes place on the 18th July, at Snetterton.

For more news and Information on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk