Linxcel Racing Team
Liam Lyon Brands Hatch Race Report
Liam Lyon the young Scot from Kilcreggan reinforced his second place in the Bemsee/MRO 600 Super Sport Championship at Brands Hatch last weekend. Riding the Seton Tuning Yamaha R6 as team mate to Andy Weymouth the current series leader, he produced a solid performance to finish with a second and two thirds to extend his lead over third placed rider Dean Daniels.
Qualifying Saturday did not go so well as the best he could manage was 8th place that put him on the 2nd row of the grid.
Saturday Superpole race 18 started with Lyon gaining one place and by the end of the 1st lap he had passed several riders into 4th. He pushed hard for a lap and eventually passed Anthony Cooper (Yamaha R6) who had previously held the lead from the start to take 3rd place. John Barnett (Yamaha R6) had now taken the lead with Andy Weymouth (Seton Tuning Yamaha R6) in second waiting for a chance to take over, which he did, on lap four. The leading quartet were all challenging for 1st place, and the racing was becoming intense to say the least, with the two Seton Tuning riders and the other two protagonists Cooper and Barnett also joining the fray. Lyon was unable to maintain a consistent attempt at the lead and held 3rd place until lap six when he pushed past Cooper into 2nd place. He then attacked the lead on the last lap and managed to pass Weymouth out of Druids but was almost immediately swallowed up again by Weymouth and Cooper at Graham Hill Bend. The leading trio were swapping paint through Surtees and McClaren and into Clearways, and with no quarter given or expected the final dash for the line began with Weymouth eventually out-dragging the pair to finish in 1st place from Lyon by 0.178sec, with Cooper in 3rd 0.188 behind the race winner.
How close do you want it??
Sunday race 8 was declared wet, which it certainly was. No indecision over tyre choice here!
Lyon had a reasonable start into 3rd but was losing grip of the throttle due to the wet conditions and dropped to 4th which he held until lap 3 when a fading Andy Weymouth also suffering from a slipping hand grip temporarily pushed him back to 5th. But within a lap he had re-passed his team mate to hold 4th until lap 7 when Barnett retired and he took over 3rd spot. He held this position until the finish, 16.276sec behind Anthony Johnson (Yamaha R6) a runaway winner by 15.893sec (who rode brilliantly in the rain) from Anthony Cooper in 2nd.
For Race 20 Sunday a dry race line was evident and with the track drying fast due to some brief sunny spells and a stiff breeze tyre choice became a much discussed topic. Liam Lyon decided to stay on wet tyres and with a very real threat of more rain it seemed a reasonable choice. He took the lead into Paddock but by Druids was passed by Weymouth and Cooper, and on lap 3 Johnson also got past. He slipped down the order to 5th place when the race was red flagged due to an incident. At the restart with the track drying out and running on full wet tyres he was experiencing a loss of grip but he quickly got into his stride and settled into 3rd place behind the leading duo of Andy Weymouth and Anthony Johnson, who were passing and repassing each other vying for the lead. The race finished with Weymouth the victor from Johnson in 2nd by 0.204sec ahead of Lyon by 1.815sec.
“Saturdays qualifying position was disappointing as I should have done better than 8th place” said Liam after the race. “But come the Superpole race I concentrated on getting a good start, and this went to plan. I stayed with Andy and Anthony Cooper throughout the race, really enjoying the close battle. On the last lap I managed to lead out of Druids but it was short lived as Andy passed me entering Graham Hill Bend
followed closely by Anthony. However I managed to get enough drive out of McClaren to pass him again entering Clearways. It was a hard, but well enjoyable race.
First race on Sunday I struggled with gripping the throttle in the rain, so I
could not apply the power where and when I wanted to as it kept
slipping out of my hand. For the duration of the race I worked on catching
Anthony Cooper, and with Anthony Johnson the leader too far ahead to catch, I was happy to finish 3rd taking into account the conditions and the slipping grip.
Race two on Sunday began wet, and I was beginning to feel comfortable when the race was stopped due to an accident. On the re-start the track had dried during the delay and running on full wets resulted in a huge amount of grip loss at every section of the track. I stayed in 3rd throughout the re-started race close behind the leading two and finished in that position. Overall I am happy to come away with 3 podium finishes that has extended my 2nd place points advantage on Dean Daniels.
I’d like to thank my Family for their strong support, as well as all my sponsors and Phil Seton for preparing the bike and last but not least all the officials, medical team, and marshals who had a very busy weekend keeping the meeting going”
Unofficial Points Total:
Andy Weymouth Seton Tuning Yamaha R6 263 points
Liam Lyon Seton Tuning Yamaha R6 208 points
Dean Daniels Honda 600 CBR 180 points
