Strong Results for TENA for Men Honda
The TENA for Men Honda riders Tristan Palmer and Michael
Howarth both completed a successful weekend for the team at
the ultra fast Thruxton Circuit. Howarth was making his return
appearance after badly breaking his femur at round one of
the Championship in 2007. He secured two strong finishes in
the Daily Star Cup Championship with a 10th and 7th place
respectively. His team-mate Tristan Palmer gained two 13th
places in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship.
After the cancellation of the opening round of the Championship
at Brands Hatch the pair were eager to get back to racing.
With mixed weather conditions over the weekend at the Hampshire
circuit it tested the pair to their limits. Both rode well
during qualifying and Palmer qualified in 17th and Howarth
in 24th (5th in the Cup). The qualifying session was wet and
neither had tested the bike in the wet conditions before and
therefore were having to test various different options to
suit their style and the bumpy circuit.
Conditions drastically dried out for the two 20-lap races
on the Sunday and Palmer and Howarth had to change the setting
again on the two Honda's. Palmer gained a fantastic start
and had gained two positions by the end of the first lap and
had already got himself into a point scoring position. He
carried on battling with John Laverty and Billy McConnell
for 13th place and managed to get the better of the factory
Kawasaki of McConnell when the chequered flag was shown. Another
cracking start in the second race saw the 2007 British Superbike
Cup winner shoot through to 11th after lap one. The Hydrex
Honda's of James Ellison and Guy Martin got the better of
Palmer but he managed to fend off a hard attack from the factory
Suzuki of Atsushi Watanabe.
Commenting he said "I'm really pleased to have finished
my first two races in the main British Superbike Championship
and come out of both with points. It was a challenging weekend
and we did have a few issues with the bike on Saturday but
nothing that we couldn't sort for the races. I was really
in the thick of it in the races but I managed to stand my
ground and bring the bike home in one piece with a couple
of decent Championship points. I'm really looking forward
to Oulton Park now and I think we'll be able to make more
improvements there."
Michael Howarth rode two very strong races in his first meeting
back since his terrible accident last year. The 30-year-old
from Rochdale made a good return to the series and is currently
standing in ninth position in the Daily Star Cup Championship.
He said "It's really nice to be back racing again and
I'm glad to have finished both races and got some points in
the Cup. I enjoyed it today and even though I was slightly
weary at the start of the weekend I'm feeling much more confident
now about being back out on the bike and I'm sure that will
only grow as the season progresses. I'm really looking forward
to Oulton Park as it's my local circuit and I have lots of
friends and family coming to support me there."
Race One Result
1, Shane Byrne, (Ducati)
2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda)
3, Michael Rutter (Ducati)
13, Tristan Palmer (TENA for Men Honda)
Race One Cup Results
1, John Laverty (Ducati)
2, Chris Burns (MV Agusta)
3, Steve Mercer (Yamaha)
10, Michael Howarth (TENA for Men Honda)
Race Two Result
1, Cal Crutchlow (Honda)
2, Shane Byrne, (Ducati)
3, Michael Rutter (Ducati)
13, Tristan Palmer (TENA for Men Honda)
Race Two Cup Results
1, John Laverty (Buildbase NW200 Ducati)
2, Martin Jessopp (Honda)
3, Malcolm Ashley (Kawasaki)
7, Michael Howarth (TENA for Men Honda)
Championship Standings
1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 45 pts
2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 45 pts
3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 32 pt
14, Tristan Palmer (TENA for Men Honda) 6 pts
Daily Star Cup Championship Standings
1, John Laverty (Ducati) 50 pts
2, Martin Jessopp (Honda) 30pts
3, Malcolm Ashley (Kawasaki) 29
9, Michael Howarth (TENA for Men Honda) 15 pts
2008 Races
Round 2 -18th - 20th April - Thruxton
Round 3 -3rd - 5th May - Oulton Park
Round 1 -10th - 11th May - Brands Hatch (Re-Run)
Round 4 -24th - 26th May - Donington Park, Leics
Round 5 -13th - 15th June - Snetterton, Norfolk
Round 6 -27th - 29th June - Mallory Park
Round 7 -18th - 20th July - Oulton Park, Cheshire
Round 8 -8th - 10th August - Knockhill, Fife
Round 9 -23rd - 25th August - Cadwell Park, Lincs
Round 10 - 12th - 14th September - Croft, North Yorkshire
Round 11 - 26th - 28th September, Silverstone, Northants
Round 12 - 10th - 12th October - Brands Hatch Indy, Kent
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