Reid thrilled to return to the top step after last year’s bad break
THE weather threatened to wipe out yesterday’s British Superbike meeting at Donington Park, but organisers persevered and after a long delay racing got under way at 2.20pm — and Newtownabbey man Andy Reid will be glad it did.
In the Superstock 1000cc race, it was a great day for the EHA Jewson RSV4 RF Aprilia team with their riders Reid and Joe Collier finishing one-two after 13 pulsating laps, Reid the first British Championship race-winning Aprilia rider in 23 years.
Reid — who crashed out of race one on Sunday and was returning to action after breaking his femur in the second half of 2017 — made no mistakes yesterday as he moved straight into the lead and never looked back, putting in fastest lap after fastest lap to lead by two seconds at the halfway mark.
Collier and veteran Michael Rutter started to make inroads in the closing stages, but the 24-year-old Reid got the best run through the slower riders to register his and the team’s first victory in the class.
He won by two seconds from team-mate Collier, with Keith Farmer on the Tyco BMW snatching the final podium position on the last lap with an inside pass at the Melbourne Loop.
Josh Elliott was sixth on the Morello Kawasaki, with the second Tyco BMW of Manxman Dan Kneen 10th and Alastair Seeley 13th on the GM Stauff Kawasaki.
Reid said afterwards: “This is unreal, so strange. I was determined to make up for Sunday when I slipped off and out of third position.
“I watched my pit boards and felt comfortable throughout, but I knew Joe was coming. It was a great ride by Joe, however I was confident I could hold him off. It’s great to stand on the top step of the podium again.”
Despite different conditions and a different track temperature, 20-year-old Bradley Ray won his second Superbike race of the weekend with a wire-towire victory over 18 laps.
With the majority of riders on slicks in patchy conditions with the track drying out, the Buildbase Suzuki rider made a lightning start and had over a one-second lead at the end of lap two.
He extended that to 3.450 seconds over Leon Haslam at the finish with Dan Linfoot, Danny Buchan, Shayne Byrne — who recovered from a crash during the warm-up — in third, fourth and fifth respectively.
Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) just held off a fast-finishing Glenn Irwin by a tyre width in the race for sixth, the latter having earlier been forced to take evasive action to negotiate the fallen James Ellison and dropping outside the top 10.
Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW), who suffered brake problems on Sunday, finished 10th.
The Supersport feature race was won on tyre choice and Ben Currie, who opted for wets, blazed off and stretched his advantage lap after lap to win by 24 seconds from the intermediate shod Yamaha of Jack Kennedy.
The EHA Yamaha of David Allingham, son of team owner Edward Allingham, finished in fifth while Eugene McManus’ Ryan Saxelby Suter was the first GP2 machine home.
For Aghadowey rider Eunan McGlinchey, it was a productive weekend. Having won Sunday’s Junior Supersport race, he took second yesterday, a mere 0.099 seconds behind winner Kade Verwey with Ed Best a further 0.095 seconds back in third. Jordan McCord from Cookstown finished in fifth position.
The second round of the Ulster Superbike Championship scheduled for Kirkistown yesterday fell victim to the weather, with the B&D Club forced to cancel the meeting.