supported by
8th August 2011
Doodson
Motorsport debutant Glenn Allerton was tantalisingly close to a podium
finish at his first attempt in the British Superbike Championship
before misfortune saw his Evo BMW run dry of fuel on the final lap at
Brands Hatch.
With
regular rider Tom Tunstall still recuperating following a broken
pelvis, Australian Superbike Champion Allerton was drafted into the
Doodson team only days before the eighth round of the British Superbike
Championship.
Staged
on the demanding 2.4mile Brands Hatch GP circuit, learning the track
was only one of the challenges facing the 30 year old from Sydney.
Fresh to the Pirelli slick tyres and with the schedule reduced
from three to two days on track, time was not in favour of the Aussie.
Allerton’s
pace was immediately impressive, having posted the third fastest Evo
time in the opening free practice, however FP2 saw the Australian lose
the front end of the BMW S1000RR into Druids bend, after only a few
laps - luckily escaping without injury.
With
just over an hour before qualifying and despite the team’s best
efforts, there were was not enough time to repair the damage caused
to the Doodson Motorsport BMW, leaving the likeable Australian
placed last on the grid for race one.
Only
moments before Saturday’s race start, a rain shower wreaked havoc for
tyre selection and the choice of a front wet only lasted a few laps
before the front gave up on the drying track. Pitting to change the
front tyre along, with a large portion of the grid, Allerton
ended the race as seventh Evo and ruing the lack of dry track time.
Sunday’s
first race was fully dry and gave Allerton a chance to gain more vital
time, ending the 20 lap outing in seventh but crucially doubling his
experience around the Kent circuit.
With further tweaks to the
machine for the third race, Allerton launched off the line and cut his
way straight up to fourth by the end of lap one. After passing American
Jake Zemke for third on lap five Allerton started to pull along a four
rider battle for the rostrum.
With
Zemke taking the place on Lap 18, Allerton had him well in his sights
until the bike started to cut out with half a lap remaining and
abruptly causing Glenn’s helmet to smash through the screen, before he
could nurse the bike back home to sixth.
“I
came to BSB confident I could get the bike on the Evo podium. It’s been
a challenge to come to a new circuit that’s not easy to learn and I was
picking it up pretty quick but the accident put us back with time on
the track. The team worked really well to get the bike back together as
fast as they did as there was a lot more damage than first appeared and
a short turn around.”
“Sunday’s
first race was difficult as we didn’t have the set up. A lot is
different to the BMW I have in Australia, there’s a whole bunch of
variables that are different with the tyres, suspension package, and
electronics that I had to get used to”
“The
second race I was happy with, I got a good start and set a good pace
and looked like I was going to be on the Evo podium and the first BMW
home, but had the problem with the fuel even though the tank was full
to the brim, all in all I was happy with how it went considering it has
been a learning weekend.”
“Hopefully
we can test and get the feel of the bike closer to how I’d like it and
I’m sure we’ll get better results in the future”.
Glenn will now fly back home to Australia where he looks to extend his 56point lead in the Australian superbike championship.
The next round of the British series takes place at Cadwell Park over the August bank holiday weekend [27th-29th August].
