Seton Interceptor Racing

Burke Extends Championship Lead With Oulton Podium

Over-exuberant riders and the deployment of the safety car played into the hands of Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton's Ben Burke as he stormed to his second podium of the season at Oulton Park. The young Australian rider has now extended his championship lead to sixteen points after round two of the 2011 Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship (2 May).

Starting from the outside of the third row in 12^th, out of a huge field of forty riders, Ben made a storming start blasting up the inside line to hit the first turn in fifth. A dramatic spill two riders in front on the opening lap nudged the Yamaha rider back to 12^th as he avoided the stricken rider and machine. Ben locked himself into battle with Blackshaw, Brown, Grinrod & Jeacock in the hunt for a top ten position during the opening laps.

With the leading trio making a break at the head of the field, Ben looked to consolidate his championship position, knowing that he may not have the pace to close the gap to them. However, with Kawasaki rider Tony Coombs crashing out on lap 6, the deployment of the safety car played right into Ben's hands as the field bunched up ahead of the restart two laps later.

As the safety car pulled back into pitlane, Ben made the break with the leading pack. Race leader East dramatically highsided out of contention exiting Shell Oils, taking with him second placed Irwin. Ben now had a real chance of a podium finish, but with fellow Yamaha rider Keith Farmer scything through the field over the latter stages to claim his debut win, Ben looked as if he may have to settle for fourth.

The gap ahead to Blackshaw in third looked too substantial as Ben rounded Old Hall for the start of the final lap. However, the sweet taste of Champagne still lingered from Brands and Ben closed in to make a superb move on the outside of the Triumph, late on the brakes into Lodge, before powering up and out of Deer Leap for the last time to hold off Usher and claim the final step of the podium by just three tenths of a second.

With East and Brown both out of the points, Ben has extended his championship lead to sixteen points over Oulton Park race winner, Keith Farmer.

Ben Burke: "I feel a bit lucky to have got third as I didn't think I had the pace to stay with the front runners to get on the podium. Thanks to a few other guys who crashed, things worked out in the end. The team worked really well together and I learnt the track pretty quickly. I think I proved today that you don't need outright speed to be competitive but to be consistent. I'd like to give massive thanks to the team, Impact Coatings, TK Cope Motorcycles, Australian United Timber, Standard Engineering and Seton Interceptor tuning. It's great to keep the lead in the championship into the next round."

Sam Warren put in a herculean performance to elevate his Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton machine to a top ten finish after 16 laps of the second round of the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship.

The Derbyshire-based rider, eager to make a mark on proceedings at his "home" round started from 20th on the grid and was caught in heavy traffic throughout the opening exchanges.

Locked in battle with Hipwell, Pekkanen and Jones, Sam got his head down as the team's harder Pirelli tyre choice started to pay dividends. Posting his fastest laps on successive circulations of Oulton's 2.69-mile undulating circuit from laps six to nine (1:40.566), Sam soon passed Hunt to close in on AJ Venter and the top ten.

With two laps to go Sam had brushed Venter aside, gapping the Triumph rider but unable to make ground on the trio ahead. Sam's superior lap pace would assure the 28-year old ninth position at the flag - a fantastic effort from 20^th on the grid. Coupled with three points from Sunday's 12-lap "Sprint", Sam has added ten more valuable points to his season's tally to move up to 12^th in the championship.

Sam is now one of only eight Supersport riders to maintain a 100% record of scoring points in all four races so far this season.

Sam Warren: "Going into Oulton, which is one my better tracks, I thought we were up for a good result. But unfortunately it didn't pan out again. I should have finished 11^th in qualifying but a disqualification of my fastest lap put me in 15^th. A bad set-up decision in the Sprint cost us, so Race 2 was similar to Brands getting a top 10 finish from way down. All we can do is hope for better luck at Croft."

Phil Seton, Team Manager: "Ben was slightly gifted the podium finish but rode a very mature and sensible race. Showing that consistency is the key and not to get flustered meant he got third place, so we're over the moon.

It was another good top ten result for Sam in Supersport Feature race. Coming from so far back on the grid, the harder Pirelli tyre choice really paid dividends in the second half and his lap times were on a par with the leaders. We just need to get the first half of the weekend up to speed and Sam will be challenging for the win. A big thanks to Greg, Will and Ben at AGP-Grafico for making the bikes looks so stunning."

The third round of the 2011 MCE British Superbike Championship moves to Croft in North Yorkshire over the weekend of 13-15 May.

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