MANAGER SEES POSITIVES FOR TEAM COLIN APPLEYARD

11/8/2010

The sun shone and the large crowd enjoyed a cracking day’s racing at Brands Hatch for Sunday’s round of the British Motorcycle Championship.  Whilst Team Colin Appleyard/Macadam Racing riders enjoyed a mixed weekend, manager Robin Appleyard saw quite a few positives.

Once again Jack Kennedy did not ride to his full potential in qualifying for the Supersport 600 race, ending up fourteenth on the grid.  One or two minor changes were made to the bike’s set up after Sunday morning’s warm up and this made a big difference.  After an aggressive first lap he was soon passing the riders immediately in front of him and was up battling for seventh place and in touch with the leaders.  During those earlier laps he even set the fastest lap time.  Unfortunately at the start of the seventh lap he slipped off entering the Druids hairpin ending his race.

Afterwards Robin commented, “Jack was unlucky. I am convinced there was oil on the track following an earlier crash.  In total ten riders fell off during the race.  Having said that Jack is not making it easy for himself at the moment.  He needs to be more aggressive in qualifying.  He should be aiming for the front two rows for every race.  As his performances on race days show, he is perfectly capable of it.”

The team’s other Supersport 600 rider Ashley Beech again struggled all weekend qualifying thirty second.  Following concerns about the bike the backroom boys burnt the midnight oil and changed the chassis. It made little difference but he did manage to finish seventeenth, mainly due to riders crashing out in front of him.

In the 125cc Championship young Deane Brown put in a committed performance during the two days of practice to eventually qualify on the second row.  Robin Appleyard ordered a few minor changes to the set up prior to the race but this only left Deane struggling with the bike’s front end and he had little corner speed.  He did however stick to his task to bring the bike home in sixth place.

In hindsight Robin regretted his decision to make the last minute changes.  “Deane rode very well. I have to hold my hand up and say I should have left things as they were.  You never stop learning in this game!  Overall though, whilst the results didn’t go our way, we can take away positives from the weekend.”

Next up is the August bank holiday meeting at Cadwell Park where the team will be looking for improved results.