Easton secures podium finish for Swan Honda
Stuart Easton secured his first podium finish of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season at Thruxton this afternoon following an epic battle for the final podium position, which has now elevated him to third in the overall standings.
Easton had one of his customary fast starts off the front row in the opening race, but later dropped to fourth and then fought his way to third place in the second race as he battled with the two Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducatis of Michael Rutter and Martin Jessopp.
Easton said: "Race one was a difficult one for me as the balance of the bike wasn't the best; it was good on the brakes but we suffered with it feeling loose turning into corners and that showed in our lap times. I was happy to salvage fourth, as that is another strong points scoring finish for us and it all helps. The lap times were not so fast because of it and I had to start from the third row in the second race, which put me at an obvious disadvantage.
"In race two we solved the problem and I knew I had a lot of work to do and I wasn't riding as smoothly as I would do normally as I wanted to get on the podium. I was up to third and started pulling in Josh and Tommy but by that point I had used the best from my tyres. I think my riding was in some places a bit erratic today and I have apologised for that, but some days you have to fight for the positions and today was one of those days."
Team Manager Shaun Muir said: "At the end of the weekend we managed to salvage a reasonable position with Stuart finishing on the podium in the second race after what has been a difficult and trying round for the whole team. Stuart really battled for his two positions today and he was struggling with grip so it was a good result for him, especially in race two from so far back on the grid. The whole focus is on him with James not racing so a fourth and a third place is moving in the right direction now after a wobbly start to the season after his crash.
"We are obviously bitterly disappointed about James' injury and we are still coming to terms with it. He has had his operation so we now have to wait and see how his condition progresses; this is the difficult part as it is just a waiting game for everyone."
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, race one:
- Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki)
- Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.818s
- Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +1.185s
- Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +1.510s
- Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +5.670s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Thruxton, race two result:
- Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda)
- Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.391s
- Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +17.112s
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +7.146s
- Martin Jessopp (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +7.263s
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Thruxton:
- Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 90
- Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 56
- Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) 50
- James Ellison (Swan Honda) 41
- Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 40
