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Round 4 of the Quattro Group British Supersport Championship required a short trip north of the border to Scotland’s iconic Knockhill Race Circuit. Set high up in the rolling hills of Fife, the tight and twisty circuit always produces some spectacular racing. Team Appleyard Macadam headed north after a very strong weekend back at Round 3 Donington Park, with Brad Perie taking the double win and Harry Truelove also securing a double podium.
Friday morning started out wet, and the boys venture out for FP1 in full wet set up for their first laps of the weekend. A strong opening session with both riders feeling positive before eventually finishing the session 4th (Perie) & 5th (Truelove). The sun managed to poke its head out and combined with some strong winds, dried the track ahead of FP2 and the boys rolled out yet again. However, now in a full dry set up and ready to put in some serious laps to round out the Friday practice sessions.
Both riders made progress throughout the session with multiple stops in order to fine tune the bikes ready to push for a lap time. Truelove rolled out to make his final run of the session, putting in a very strong lap time and ending the session P2. While unfortunately Perie was caught out by the windy condition and took a fast off at Turn 1, while starting his flying lap. Both rider and bike managed to escape relatively unscathed and rounded off the session in P7.
Saturday morning arrived, yet again with high winds but thankfully dry and warmer temperatures. The team worked hard over night with both riders to close the gap to the front. A good qualifying session sore Harry Truelove place his Yamaha R6 in 4th position on the grid, with Brad Perie just behind in 5th Position, ahead of that afternoons Sprint Race.
The Sprint Race would take place later that day and was set for 24 laps around the Knockhill circuit. The race got underway in dry conditions, although the wind was still very strong. Unfortunately an incident on lap 2 brought out the red flag. Organisers managed to get everyone attended to and the track cleared up and very shortly after we were ready for racing again. This time, as an 18 lap race. Brad initial broke away in a battle at the front with Stapleford and Kennedy. However, Kennedy broke the group quite quickly leaving Brad to battle it out with Stapleford, shortly joined by Truelove.
It’s was Truelove who had the late race pace and managed to put in a move on Perie in the later stages, before eventually crossing the line in 3rd position with Perie just behind in 4th. A strong performance from both riders, yet again battling it out at the front. A strong race pace, seen Truelove secure a 2nd place grid position for the main feature race on Sunday, with Perie behind him on the 2nd row in 4th position.
Again, another dry day as the team woke for the Sunday Race day. This time with the wind slightly calmer, the stage was set for the final race of the weekend. Perie venture out for warm up to try some new set up changes to the bike which paid off and was feeling stronger ahead of the main event.
At 15:40 the main 28 lap feature race got under way. This time it was Kennedy and Stapleford that broke the pack, leaving Truelove, Perie and McManus to fight it out for the final podium spot. A very close, and hard fought race, with the order changing at every corner. Eventually settled down and with a move on the last lap sore Perie take 4th position with Truelove in 5th spot.
“It wasn’t quite the weekend I was hoping for and the results don’t reflect the effort put in by myself and the team. Taking the positives, we’ve put some much needed points on the board and I’m feeling confident that we’ll be stronger at Brands Hatch” - Brad Perie
“Whilst it was a mixed weekend, I leave knockhill feeling happy at the steps we’ve made. I’m fighting closer to the front than ever and we’ve made some big steps forward. As much as I’d of liked to have closed the gap even further, I’m feeling very good about our progress and the position we find ourselves in heading into Brands” - Harry Truelove
Team Owner Robin Appleyard - “All in all a solid weekend for both riders. Perhaps not quite the results we’re aiming for but to come away saying a bad day at the office is 4th & 5th, is still very positive. Knockhill is a very difficult place and both riders worked very hard to deliver the results. The main take away, is that we leave knock hill with both riders 2nd & 3rd in the championship. The team will be working hard to make sure we arrive at Brand hatch, ready and prepare to have both riders back on the podium”
We’d like to thank all our loyal sponsors and partners for their continued support and we very much look forward to taking to team into Round 5 of the championship at Brands Hatch on July 22nd - 24th.
