Linxcel Racing Team
Brands Hatch Race Report
The Seton Tuning team were out in force at the first round of the BMCRC/MRO championship which took place at Brands Hatch circuit.
The riders this year are Andy Weymouth, former British Supersport rider, and Liam Lyon, former Superbike 400 rider.
Phil Seton asked the two riders to join the team for different reasons, Andy has always been a very talented rider but I felt that in the past the bikes he has had to work with have let him down. I’m sure that with a high performing machine Andy can achieve the results he deserves. Liam is very level headed for an 18 year old and I could see that he has the core abilities to take him far.
Saturday began with two qualifying sessions. The 1st qualifying saw Weymouth come out on top from Dean Daniels (his nearest rival throughout the event) by 0.193 sec with Anthony Johnson in third place some 0.745 sec further back, and Lyon just behind in 6th position with a time of 51.144.
2nd qualifying was again Weymouth with a time of 49.442 from Daniels by 0.362 sec with David Twyford 1.15 seconds adrift in third, and Lyon moving up to 4th his lap time dropping down to 50.583.
Both riders were full of enthusiasm for the super pole race which decides the starting positions for the Sundays race, the top four positions in this are the most important. Superpole saw Weymouth get a great start and he was so dominant that by the end of the first lap his lead was almost unassailable. He proceeded to draw away from the pack to finish an uneventful race in first spot 7.141 seconds ahead of Daniels and 11.377seconds ahead of new teammate Liam Lyon. This was Lyons first race in the 600 class, so a 3rd place is very impressive.
The first race on Sunday proved equally as fruitful as Andy ploughed ahead to receive another first place, and Liam who had a bad start pushed his way into 3rd place, but with gaps between them of 2.711 sec and 13.288 sec respectively.
The second race on Sunday continued to increase Andy’s excellent record, with not only another first place trophy, but with the fastest Supersport 600 lap time of the weekend of 48.841 at an average speed of 90.381 mph, Andy was the only rider in this class to reach the 48’s. He was making the running from the front , riding superbly and with Daniels chasing hard and not giving up, the race finished in that order by a winning margin of 2.628 sec. Liam however was in his own battle which was noticed by the commentators. There was a huge amount of position changes between 3rd, 4th and 5th place. Unfortunately Pat Sheridan managed to get the better of Lyon to take 3rd place by just 0.167 seconds.
It all looked too easy on the day, but it will not always be so, racing is never predictable and I’m sure some of the other riders will be looking to improve on their performances and give Andy Weymouth a run for his money. Dean Daniels showed a true competitors spirit, not giving up and striving to the finish, just waiting for one mistake, and it is just this attitude that will bring him some well-deserved success.
Liam Lyon is another contender for honors’ as he is already improving his performances on an unfamiliar machine, and I would expect him to be a regular on the podium in the near future.
A brilliant start to the season for Team Seton Tuning with riders Andy Weymouth first in The Championship on three race wins with firsts in both qualifying sessions, and Liam Lyon in third place in The Championship with a fourth in qualifying, and two thirds plus a fourth in races. All this and no bent bikes!
When asked how he felt about his performance Andy said: “Having just come back early from my first snowboarding holiday I felt a little bruised and I was determined not to fall off and continue the pain so I was a little cautious at first, but the bike handled so well that I soon forgot the aches and soon settled in to a rhythm. It’s a great help to be able to concentrate on my riding and not get too involved with the bike preparation so having Phil to take care of that side of things is a great benefit and because the bike performs so well I don’t have to push too hard. He expects to get more power from the engine pretty soon so hopefully this will keep us ahead of any improvements that the competition may come up with. I don’t think it will always be like it was this weekend, someone will make a challenge and that will be great because it’s all about competing and I don’t want to get complacent as that can be disastrous. I am really pleased for Phil and all the team as the hard work is paying off early in the season so hopefully we can maintain the high standard we have set and build on our success throughout the year”
Phil Seton team manager was delighted with the results, he said “The team worked faultlessly throughout the weekend and we came up with some brilliant results. Andy is an exceptional rider and I new I could rely on him to win races, but even he surpassed my expectations. He seems to have developed a previously unseen side to his riding that enables him to lap as fast as before but with a higher margin of safety which makes him more consistent, and this means he will stay on the bike and finish more races without damaging himself or the bike. Liam did extremely well considering that it is his first competitive ride on the Yamaha, and we made several adjustments to his machine over the weekend that suited his riding style and this enabled him to steadily improve his times and race position. He is really keen to do well and is able to give me some useful feed back that allows me to improve the bike set up, so hopefully by mid season he will be well established and challenging for honors’. A great weekend for the team, no broken bikes so I can concentrate on improving rather than repairing and hopefully gain some more power for the next round at Lydden Hill at the end of March. . I would also like to congratulate all our other sponsored riders, particularly Chris Jones in the Clubman 600 Championship for starting the season with 3 wins and 1 second place, and Sy Langford in the Rookie 600s who secured some excellent results. I would like to thank all our sponsors:
Linxcel, Comms4less, Solo Corse, T K Cope, MBC Dispatch, North Essex Signs, Only Kitchens, Power Bronze, Racer, Daytona paints, Venhill, www.systemcms.com. and all my team, for without their help this would not be possible.
Last but not least, thanks to all the marshals, medical team, Bemsee/ MRO officials, and Brands Hatch staff who work tirelessly to ensure the meetings go without a hitch."
