Double win for Tech2 Racing.

Tech2 Racing stunned the paddock yet again on Sunday 16 June as riders, David Jefferies, Tom Sykes and Cal Crutchlow delivered another set of outstanding results at round seven of the Superstock and Junior Superstock Championships at Brand Hatch.

Pidcock Suzuki GSXR1000 rider David Jefferies was to take to the track with an air of confidence after just returning from a record-breaking trip to the Isle of Man.

The pressure was on for the Shipley born 29-year-old to see whether he could continue the winning streak that led him to three triumphs and a new outright lap record over on the Island.

Storming to pole position with a margin of over half a second over current Championship leader Chris Burns in qualifying it was obvious from the start that the Tech2 star rider was definitely not out to disappoint.

An initial poor start from the line saw DJ back in third place as the riders hit the first corner, but just 1 minute 36 seconds later as the field made it around the 2.5 mile circuit Jefferies was already back in the lead.

As the battle raged for the places further down the field no one could get close to, let alone challenge, the multiple TT winner as his lead was stretched to an unprecedented 6.8 seconds by lap 13, and was still at over five seconds as he took the chequered flag.

"That was just a fantastic race," explained an elated DJ.

"As I set off from the line I knew that Crockford and Burns had managed to get the advantage, but I could see down to the hairpin and I just got alongside Chris and got past, then I took Crockford as I came through Dingle Dell.

"From that point on it was just a case of getting my head down and concentrating.

"I honestly couldn't fault a thing from that race everything just worked faultlessly, and I'd like to thank the Tech2 Team for making it happen. The bike was brilliant, my tyres were outstanding, and even the pitboarding was great - I can't explain how good it felt to see the times going up on each lap."

With Jefferies missing the last round of the Championships due to his TT commitments Chris Burns had made it back to the top of the championship standings. But with seven rounds still to be raced, and DJ sitting only 16-points behind thanks to his Brands Hatch win - the Championship is still well in Tech2 Racing's grasp.

Jefferies is now looking forward to Round eight at Rockingham next weekend where he will be racing in, not only the Superstock series, but also British Superbikes as a stand-in rider for Karl Harris in the Rizla Suzuki/Crescent squad.

It was an unnerving start to the weekend for the Tech2 Racing junior squad of Tom Sykes and Cal Crutchlow after both riders were forced to watch their respective hard-fought first qualifying positions of pole and fourth disappear as they failed to participate in the second qualifying session.

Both riders were unable to defend their positions, ultimately leaving them to start from fourth and eighth, but Tom and Cal were undeterred and started the race anxious to make amends.

Resolved to break his second place curse, 16-year-old Tom Sykes came to Brands Hatch fired with determination, and last minute suspension tweaks seemed to have given him the extra confidence that allowed him to raise his game.

As the race began both riders settled into third and fourth around the first corner and it was then that Sykes started to edge forward in the field, battling with pole position winner Benjie Cockerill for second place.

By lap four, current Championship leader Craig Jones had established a lead of over a second but Sykes was not to be outdone and charged away from the rest of the field.

Joining Jones at the head of the pack the two riders battled a fairing-bashing ride that saw them exchange positions with heart-stopping regularity, and extend their lead from the rest of the field by over eight seconds.

Back in third and fourth place however, a similarly bitter challenge was also being fought as Cal Crutchlow re-found his form and was giving it his all to try and steal the final podium position.

Rounding Clark curve, all eyes were on the fight for first place and as both bikes flew down the Brabham straight Sykes just managed to keep the front wheel of his Pidcock Suzuki GSXR600 ahead of Jones to elatedly take his first win of the season.

"That was just beautiful," said a grinning Sykes as he came down form his podium presentation.
"It was a brilliant race. I didn't get the best of starts and was finding it quite hard to pass Cockerill and by the time I did Craig had set up quite a good lead.

"I knew how I could catch him though, and when I passed him he just kept passing me back so for the whole of the rest of the race we were just swapping paint and holding on.

"I thought I'd got him but on the last lap I wasn't quite on the pace and that's what let him back in with a chance. As we came up to the last left-hander I could hear his engine echoing in my ears, so I just had to go for some late braking into the last corner and get the power down as soon as I could - and luckily I just beat him to the line."

"I couldn't have asked for anything else for the team, they've all been brilliant, and the win is just what we all needed to see us into the next round."

Meanwhile team-mate Crutchlow just couldn't quite reach Cockerill by the line and finished in fourth position.

"That was a really hard race but it was great fun and I'm very pleased with fourth," explained Crutchlow.
"My tyre went off really early in the race, and I had to try really hard just to keep up with Cockerill.

"I managed to put a few fast laps and I tried to get past on the last but it just wasn't meant to be - but that's racing.

Both riders are now looking forward to next weekend and a new challenge at Rockingham.

British Superstock:

Race result:

1 No 5 David Jefferies 24:25.1952 No4 Chris Burns +5.0043 No3 John Crockford +5.429

Championship positions after round seven:

1 Chris Burns 131 points
2 David Jefferies 115 points
3 Ross McCulloch 77 points

British Junior Superstock:

Race result:

1 No36 Tom Sykes 22:06.4132 No1 Craig Jones +0.0313 No44 Benjie Cockeril +8.7894 No35 Cal Crutchlow +9.149

Championship positions after round seven:

1 Craig Jones 145 points
2 Tom Sykes 123 points
3 David Johnson 76 points
5 Cal Crutchlow 70 points