The meteoric rise of young racing revelation Rory Skinner reached another height today at Donington Park, as the 19-year-old took the Quattro Group British Supersport Championship with a round to go, making it four titles in four years for Tysers Yamaha.
It wasn’t a straightforward weekend for the Perth youngster after he crashed out of the lead in Saturday’s ‘sprint’ race in horrendous conditions, before winning in some style to become the youngest ever champion in the 32-year history of the renowned British Supersport Championship.
Team mate Brad Jones also fell in the rain hit opening event on Saturday but rode a superb longer ‘Feature’ race. Hampered by a row four grid start (11th) Brad made a lightning start to power his way up to the leading group, before catching Rory and switching the lead several times.
The pair were almost inseparable all weekend with a 1-2 in practice and qualifying, both taking to the gravel in Saturday’s event with another superb formation flying 1-2 Appleyard-Macadam display in the final race.
Rory now has an unassailable championship position whilst Brad sits just one point behind second placed James Westmoreland, with everything to play for at the finale at Brands Hatch.
After the event Rory explained that he’d never ridden his bike or any YZF-R6 in the rain, made even more amazing he had visited Knockhill three times!
The Championship role of honour for the Appleyard-Macadam team:
2017 – Keith Farmer
2018-19 – Jack Kennedy
2020 – Rory Skinner
Brad Jones said: “Yesterday was tricky in terms of conditions, I was slightly unsure in the wet and it obviously caught me out. I know we could be strong in the dry and sure enough we managed to battle through from eleventh to take it to Rory. I had a little bit of arm pump right at the end which maybe stopped me having that last lunge. Fair play to Rory this year he’s raced an awesome Championship and I have the fight for the runner up slot to fight for at Brands.
Rory Skinner said: “We didn’t have any preconceived ideas for this year and never tried to think about the championship. We enjoy the results on a Sunday night then hit the reset on Monday morning, that’s just the way we operate. That said yesterday was tough as I’d never been on the bike in the wet. Today I felt comfortable so I knew I could aim for the win. It’s been an amazing year and fantastic to get this tied up before Brands, takes the stress off and enjoy the last round of the year. I can’t thank the team enough, what a season!”
Team Owner Robin Appleyard summed up: “Its mission accomplished after taking on a young lad and half an hour into our test in Spain we realised that he could be in the fight for the title. After our success with Keith Farmer and Jack Kennedy, it’s great to get another title and this time with an almost rookie rider! Our focus is now on getting Brad secured in second in the Championship at Brands Hatch.
I want to thank Alex, Gary and the entire Tysers Yamaha team. They work so hard to build a bike that is as good as anything in the world. I would also like to thank all of our sponsors for their support this season and great to have Doug and Margaret Macadam with us this weekend to savour the moment.”
