LOWRY MAIDEN VICTORY IN RELENTLESS SUZUKI DOUBLE PODIUM
Team boss Philip Neill is having to pinch himself after yet another successful weekend for the Relentless Suzuki team with Ian Lowry taking his maiden victory in the British Supersport class. Teammate Michael Laverty, who now heads Lowry in the championship by 21 points, made it a double GSX–R600 Suzuki podium taking the second step on the box after one of tightest races of the season.
Lowry didn’t do himself any favours posting 11th place on the opening lap but the young Moira rider rattled off successive fastest laps around the high-speed 1.9517-mile Snetterton circuit as he reeled in Dennis Hobbs and teammate Laverty at the front of the field. Once in the lead, Lowry looked unstoppable not only taking 25 points for the victory but also the fastest lap of the race.
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Ian Lowry
“I just can’t seem to get it off the line can I! After a bad start I just put my head down and concentrated on posting consistent lap times, making sure not to get too held up on the way through as I picked them off. We went for a harder compound rear Pirelli tyre today and it worked perfectly throughout, so when I caught Michael and Dennis I was able to gap them slightly. The team worked really hard this weekend along with Pirelli and WP Suspension to find a suitable setting and I knew after morning warm-up that it was pretty good. It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’ve won my first race but I know there’s more to come and hopefully I can bring that gap down in the championship race by race. This coming weekend I’m racing in the Suzuki GSX–R Cup at Silverstone so that gives me more track time and I’ll be out to hopefully win again.”
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Michael Laverty
“I’m certainly happier this weekend going into the four week break as I was able to fight with Dennis and Ian after they passed me. I’m still learning about the Pirelli tyres and discovered that I can really push them to the limit over the full distance. When I’m following and not pushing that’s when I notice the problems going slower. I went to sleep a bit and I could have won that race today but it’s a positive result and as I say, I’m still adapting to the Pirellis. A 1 – 2 for Relentless Suzuki is also a great result and Ian now looks like my main championship rival. He’s riding really well and letting the bike move about below him whereas I’m still riding a bit too much in line – possibly not loose enough and certainly not aggressive enough – but I showed today that I can fight and I’m happier than I was at Oulton. Mondello is a strong track for me so I’m pretty confident I can do the business at my home round.”
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Philip Neill – Team Principal
“This has become a bit of a team fairytale. I just hope it at least holds out to the Isle of Man TT or even better, the end of the season! In fairness today was Ian’s race and although Michael went marginally quicker in qualifying on race tyres, Ian was on it all weekend. We chose a harder compound Pirelli after they brought us new tyres and compounds to suit the circuit this weekend, and to be fair Pirelli couldn’t be working any harder for us as a team. We had very few set-up changes to make this weekend but WP Suspension did their job and inspired confidence in the boys at the right time.
In the race it was important for them both to get in front of Dennis at a crucial time as I knew he would have a go at a ‘do or die’ move towards the end. It was a very tense race but a 1 – 2 in front of the Suzuki ‘top brass’ was very pleasing and our GSX–R600 Suzukis certainly had a speed advantage over the Honda, which is vital at this circuit.
Ian has been knocking on the door all year for that elusive first win and what a way to do it coming from 11th on lap one. Only for that bit of bad luck at Thruxton he would have been only a single point behind Michael in the championship, but he is showing more and more maturity as the seasons progresses. Today he rode so dominantly yet so aggressively and that’s the combination required to win a championship. I suppose we now have to class him as a title contender, but in saying that, I told both boys to forget about the championship today and to just go out and enjoy it. It’s the kind of nightmare that you dream of having as a team manager but we haven’t reached the half way point yet so we’ll not get carried away. Dennis Hobbs is still very much in the championship race.
Michael possibly rode a little bit conservatively today but I am happy to say that he did snap out of it and came back fighting in the last three laps which pleased me. Our bikes are set up for hard riding and Michael found that out in the last three laps when he pushed close to the limit, forgetting any potential problems he could have been having. He’s good enough to do that as a rider and I’m sure he goes away from here a lot happier than he did two weeks ago.
Mondello is another good track for both Ian and Michael and with the team spirit we are currently carrying at Relentless Suzuki I’m really looking forward to our home round in Ireland.”
Results
Maxxis British Supersport Championship – Round 5 of 13
Winner – Ian Lowry [Relentless Suzuki] 22:58.589; 2nd – Michael Laverty [Relentless Suzuki] +0.256; 3rd – Dennis Hobbs [Honda] +0.335; 4th – Billy McConnell [Yamaha] +6.020; 5th – Jamie Robinson [Honda] +13.494; 6th – Paul Young [Triumph] +14.430
Fastest Lap – Ian Lowry [Relentless Suzuki] 1:08.069 [103.22mph]