Difficult Day For MCE Ducati At Silverstone
The MCE Ducati pairing of Tom Sykes and Josh Brookes had a challenging day at Silverstone today with Brookes’ 11th place finish their best result in the two Bennetts British Superbike Championship races which comprised the opening round.
With conditions again perfect and following yesterday’s points scoring rides by both riders, the opening 30-lap race around the 1.64-mile National circuit saw Australian double BSB champion Brookes start from 14th on the grid with Sykes one row further back, which meant both riders had plenty of work to do to battle their way through the field on the factory-supported MCE Ducati Panigale V4Rs.
Unfortunately, the race ended early for Yorkshireman Sykes as the former World Superbike champion spectacularly crashed from the action on just the fourth lap, fortunately escaping injury, which left Brookes to fly the flag for Paul Bird’s Penrith-based team.
A good start saw him move up to 11th early on but although he dropped back at one stage, Brookes quickly regrouped and, lapping quicker than what he had done the day before, fought his way back up to 11th at the chequered flag for five more hard-earned points.
Brookes again started from the fifth row for the third and final race of the weekend with a battered and bruised Sykes again a row behind. The duo were immediately running inside the points and in the top 15 and by lap six it was Sykes who was the better placed in 12th, one place ahead of his teammate.
But as the race wore on, the duo were unable to move forward and, instead, slipped back through the field, the eventual result at the end of the 30 laps seeing Tom outside the points in 16th and Josh two places behind in 18th.
Josh Brookes: “We came here with high expectations particularly as we took two podiums last year but whilst we’ve been able to match our times from 2021, the pace has obviously moved on. We had a few issues in the last race so can’t really use that as a reference but we need to try a few things at the Oulton Park test next week to try and improve both the grip and the lap times. We tried a few settings this weekend and did make progress but not enough clearly, so we’ve got work to do. The test obviously has more importance now but it’s a circuit I like and suits the Ducati, so we’ll be working hard to get back to where we need to be.”
Tom Sykes: “The results certainly weren’t what we were expecting but it’s a unique circuit and in a lot of places the bike was working really well so I’m not panicking yet. The first race today was far from ideal and left me a bit battered, but the team made a few changes for the final race which helped. I got held up a by another rider and was losing about 0.4s in one sector so by the time I’d got by, the group ahead had gone. We definitely found something with the bike though so, all things considered, a top ten could have been possible so it’s something to take away. We’re playing catch up, but it gives us something to build on so let’s see what Oulton Park has to offer.”
Johnny Mowatt. Team Co-ordinator: “We’ve clearly struggled this weekend and, it has to be said, more than we thought. It’s never been our greatest of tracks, but we didn’t think we’d be out of the points so fair play to the lads at the front, they set a terrific pace all weekend. They’ve moved on whereas we’ve stayed stagnant so it’s back to the drawing board and, hopefully, the Oulton test will show we’re not as far away as we think. We’ll put this one behind us and start again at the next round.”
Round two of the series takes place at Oulton Park on April 30-May 2.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship race two (30 laps)
1 Glenn Irwin (Honda)
2 Kyle Ryde (Yamaha) +0.079s
3 Rory Skinner (Kawasaki) +0.994s
4 Lee Jackson (Kawasaki) +4.032s
5 Andrew Irwin (BMW) +4.321s
6 Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha) +4.979s
11 Josh Brookes (MCE Ducati) +11.748s
DNF Tom Sykes (MCE Ducati)
Bennetts British Superbike Championship race three (30 laps)
1 Glenn Irwin (Honda)
2 Bradley Ray (Yamaha) +0.864s
3 Andrew Irwin (BMW) +2.487s
4 Rory Skinner (Kawasaki) +2.550s
5 Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha) +2.693s
6 Danny Buchan (BMW) +2.969s
16 Tom Sykes (MCE Ducati) +14.388s
18 Josh Brookes (MCE Ducati) +17.386s
Championship Standings (after round one)
1 Glenn Irwin 75pts
2 Ryde 46
3 Skinner 42
4 Andrew Irwin 37
5 Ray 36
6 O’Halloran 32
12 Brookes 8
16 Sykes 4
Images courtesy of Double Red: Josh Brookes (25) and Tom Sykes (66).
