It was the perfect culmination to Tysers Yamaha fourth consecutive British Supersport title at Brands Hatch last weekend, as the Macadam supported squad cemented 1-2 in the title race and maintained their 100% win rate! Nineteen-year-old racing protégé Rory Skinner took another pair of victories for the Colin Appleyard Motorcycles based squad, to chalk up an incredible 10 out of 12 wins, and gain the attention of team bosses from across the BSB paddock. Brad Jones fought his way through the field to take two podiums and the runner-up position, a fantastic achievement after a challenging start to the season.
Going about his business in his usual manner despite the considerable attention, the quietly spoken Rory topped each practice session and qualifying, putting the freshly adorned no.1 plated Yamaha YZF-R6 into pole position. It was a frustrating final few minutes of qualifying for Brad as he missed his opportunity for a fast lap, leaving him with only the tenth fastest time and a row four grid position.
In traditional Supersport fashion, the riders had a couple of hours to regroup after qualifying before lining up for the Supersport Sprint race on a chilly afternoon atop the North Downs in Kent. Rory was immediately thrown into a three-way battle for the lead, before he moved to the front and set the pace to take win number nine. Brad made a lightning holeshot start from row four and immediately started working through the pack, ending up an impressive third at the flag.
Sunday’s longer ‘Feature’ race was set up for an all-out battle and it turned out to supply some great racing. This time out Brad had another strong start whereas Rory had to fight on through, reaching third by lap two and almost inevitably moved into the lead. Rory pulled out a good gap and duly crossed the line with a four second lead as Brad faded slightly with arm pump. The team set off back up to Yorkshire with another haul of silverware as they also collected the Team Award to finish off a perfect season of racing.
Brad Jones said: “Saturday we had a really strong race to power through but Sunday I struggled big time with arm pump, which I need to sort out over winter! All in all we’ve turned the season round, I started a bit of the pace but the team put their arm around me and really helped me and the bike to gel. I’m chuffed for the team to get another 1-2, I just wished it was the other way round!”
Rory Skinner said: “It’s been such a good season, almost perfect! I’m not sure I would have imagined taking ten wins although once they started coming it looked good but we never got too ahead of ourselves. The team have been awesome since the very first test and supplied me with everything I could have needed to get the job done, massive thanks to them all.”
Team Owner Robin Appleyard summed up: “What a year, to get 50 wins, a fourth title and another 1-2. It actually didn’t go exactly how we thought it would turn out to be honest, I imagined Rory would take a little while to get up to winning pace but he was just stunning from the off. The Pace has been really strong all year and this weekend Rory was lapping quicker than Kennedy last season and there were a load of lads in the low 28’s so the class is strong, which is what we need. Another massive thanks to all the lads in the team and our loyal sponsors.”
