Westmoreland vows to come back stronger after grip issues at Brands Hatch cause disappointing finish.
The bright sunshine at Brands Hatch during the warm up session on Sunday morning raised everyone’s hope for a dry British Superbike event.
Motorpoint Yamaha’s James Westmoreland started 16th on the grid for the first race of the day.
He was in good fighting spirit before the race and upbeat thanks to Saturday’s sixth place finish. Unfortunately, with a third of the race left, Westmoreland’s tyres were slipping and he had to come to the garage and try switching to softer compound tyres.
After rejoining the race Westmoreland was only able to finish 25th.
However, the gamble of changing tyres paid off. By producing the ninth fastest lap of the race he secured ninth on the grid for race two.
An hour before the second race, British summer rain took everyone by surprise.
It stopped well within time but left teams wondering about tyre choice.
This time Westmoreland had a flying start, riding his way through to seventh place.
Once again, a grip issue prevented him from progressing, and the Motorpoint rider gradually slipped back to 14th where he remained for the last 10 laps.
James said:
“It’s not the finish that we wanted for the weekend, really.”
“We had a good setting yesterday. I did everything I could. I had a good start, up to seventh, but I couldn’t go with the group in front of me, they just ran away from me. I didn’t have the grip in the rear to go forward.”
“I am disappointed but I am a racer! We will work out what went wrong and come back stronger. I look forward to the next race at Cadwell Park.”
Armed with optimism and determination, James Westmoreland is already in the mood to show what he is capable of at the next British Superbike round.
Do not miss the races at Cadwell Park on Bank Holiday Monday (29th of August).
