04/11/2011

Endurance Success For Warren And Seton

The Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton pairing of Sam Warren and team manager Phil Seton blasted to success at the eighth and final round of the 2011 Hottrax Motorsport Sorrymate.com Endurance championships at the exhilarating Snetterton 200 circuit last weekend (29-30 October).

For team manager Phil Seton, this was his first taste of race action for a number of years after a serious shoulder injury forced him into early retirement. With his National Superstock 600 duo of Ben Burke and Andy Lawson both returning to Australia for the winter after the final round at Brands Hatch, Phil grabbed the opportunity to get back in the saddle again for a taste of race action.

Saturday’s qualifying session took the guise of a forty minute ‘Superpole’ race, with the Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton securing fourth overall and top in the 600cc class against a number of season MCE British Superbike Championship campaigners.

Phil Seton took first shift in Sunday’s 3-hour endurance race. Racing across the track to his YZF-R6 in a Le Mans style start, Phil grabbed the holeshot, powering away into the first corner for the opening exchanges in a mixed field of 1000cc and 600cc machines.

Pulling clear of the 600cc field, Phil and Sam took it in turns to lock horns at the sharp end with the leading litre-class bikes. After the first hour, the pair were nestled inside of the top five overall, and extending their class lead with every lap. Moving up to fourth at the end of the second hour, the pair maintained this position as the chequered flag signalled the end of a hard-fought race. Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton had claimed first in class by six laps from M&M Racing, and fourth overall with Sam posting a lap time only two tenths of a second shy of the leading 1000cc bike of Team GB Moto.

At the start of the weekend, Phil welcomed back Alex Lowes to the Bike Interceptor by Yamaha camp for a test session onboard the Supersport machine. The Lincoln-based rider posted a string of fast laps throughout the test, his quickest no less than three seconds underneath the existing Supersport lap record, proof of the evolution of the Seton-tuned Yamaha. Sam Warren also used the test/trackday to put some miles on the Supersport machine and gain valuable data ahead of the 2012 season. As with Alex, Sam ducked under the lap record, his best by a staggering four seconds, sending out an early warning to his rivals for next year.

Phil Seton: "It was great to be back at Snetterton racing, something I haven’t done since 2006. We put in a great team performance, the bike was super-fast and the whole event provided a good test for next season.It was great to come back to racing and take the win, I felt that I could have gone even quicker and pushed a little harder at the end, but it was great to get the win in our class and the perfect way to end our year."

Sam Warren: "The 3hr endurance race on sunday was the first I’d ever entered. It was good fun and brilliant track time on the bike. We had a few little things to try on the bike and I'm pleased to say we've made a small step forward. Winning our class was a bonus and if I'm honest, unexpected because of our inexperience at these events. What's more we nearly finished 2nd in the overall standings, our strategy went slightly wrong meaning we finished 4th. All in all very enjoyable."

Images © Sam Palmer

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