Alastair Seeley's Faultess weekend

SEELEY CLOSES GAP IN CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER DONINGTON DOUBLE

Alastair Seeley completed his third British Supersport double of the season earlier today at Donington Park, rounding out a faultless weekend on his Relentless Suzuki GSX-R600. In doing so he reduced the gap to 36 points on series leader Ben Wilson after his sixth and seventh wins this season in the Supersport class.

After taking pole position and a race one victory on Saturday, the diminutive Ulsterman added a two-part race win today and yet another fastest lap, and now believes the championship will go all the way to the final race at Brands Hatch.

Josh Brookes had a frustrating weekend at Donington Park, having to dig deep and fight hard for two top six finishes [5th and 6th] in the Superbike Showdown. The Aussie will now look to re-group and come out fighting for podiums at Silverstone in two weeks’ time

Alastair Seeley says: "Perfect weekends are hard to find but we ticked all the boxes and the wee Suzuki never missed a beat. In today’s race I was contemplating not putting my hand up when it started to rain as I wanted to see it go two-thirds distance and get the result, but I also wanted to be safe and not sorry. All the hard work was undone, as it was re-started in a seven lap ‘dash for cash’ but we got away at the front again.I was actually happy to hear a Triumph with me as I knew someone else was up there challenging Wilson. Iddon showed me a wheel or two, but I just defended my lines and when the red flag went out with three laps to go we had our second win. We’ve taken quite a good chunk out of Ben’s championship lead this weekend and with a bit of luck we can take it right down to the last races at Brands, where I feel I’ll have a psychological advantage."

Josh Brookes says: "There’s not a lot to say really. I rode my backside off this weekend for fifth and sixth places. Everyone congratulated me at Brands when I won there, but that was easy. This weekend we rode really hard and got nothing for it. It just didn’t come good for us. All we can do now is prepare well for Silverstone."

Philip Neill - Team Manager says: "It was another great weekend for Alastair and a disappointing one for Josh. To take pole position, both race wins and both fastest laps, whilst also closing the gap in the championship – you just can’t ask for more than that. Alastair rode faultlessly all weekend and proved he really is the right man for the job. Seven wins now also proves the strength of the GSX-R600 package, which we are constantly improving with time. Josh is obviously disappointed, as we all are, after fighting so hard to make the top six for the Showdown. It’s frustrating to come away from Donington not having challenged the leaders, but Josh just couldn’t find a comfortable enough set-up to give him the confidence to push that little bit extra. A crash on Friday was not the perfect way to start any weekend, but we’ll get some testing under our belt and come out firing on all cylinders at Silverstone."

British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, race one result:
1: John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Suzuki)
2: Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +0.480s
3: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +0.781s
4: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +3.920s
5: Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +6.345s
6: Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +10.281s
7: Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) +13.141s
8: James Ellison (Sorrymate.com Honda) +18.578s
9: Martin Jessopp (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +22.154s
10: Graeme Gowland (WFR Honda) +22.543s

British Superbike Championship, Donington Park, race two result:
1: John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Suzuki)
2: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +1.986s
3: Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +3.315s
4: Martin Jessopp (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +5.978s
5: Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +8.324s
6: Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +12.236s
7: James Ellison (Sorrymate.com Honda) +12.541s
8: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +22.445s
9: Chris Walker (Pr1mo Racing Kawasaki) +16.308s
10: Graeme Gowland (WFR Honda) +26.746s

British Superbike Championship standings after Donington Park:
1: John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Suzuki) 568
2: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 565
3: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 543
4: Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 532
5: Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 530
6: Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 518

British Supersport Championship Race 2:
1: Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS)
2: Christian Iddon (Oxford TAG Triumph) + 0.128s
3: Paul Young (Oxford TAG Triumph) + 1.148s
4: Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) +3.210s
5: Billy McConnell (Oxford TAG Triumph)

British Supersport Championship standings
1: Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) 391pts
2: Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 355pts
3: Billy McConnell (Oxford TAG Triumph) 200pts
4: Paul Young (Oxford TAG Triumph) 181pts
5: Sam Warren (Bike Interceptor Yamaha by Seton) 151pts