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| 13.04.2009 |
| Race report from rounds 1 & 2 of the Focused Events KTM RC8 Super Cup |
| The first two rounds of the Focused Events KTM RC8 Super Cup took place over the Easter weekend at Brands Hatch Indy circuit, Kent. |
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Riders in the series include 990 Super Duke Battle champions, David Wood and Pauli Pekkanen, as well as front runners Kelvin Reilly, Ed Smith and Francis Williamson. With newcomers including Sam Bishop and Jon Railton looking to get in on the action.
All practice sessions took place in damp, difficult conditions with qualifying being the first time riders experienced their bikes in the dry. Even with this handicap, the front row of the grid managed to post times below 50 seconds, with David Wood taking pole position, followed by Ed Smith, Kelvin Reilly and Francis Williamson. The following 14 riders were separated by only 2 seconds, a sign of how close the action was going to be.
The ground shook as 22 RC8’s snarled their way off the start line in race one on Sunday. Making the best of his pole position, David Wood made a great start and held the lead into Paddock Hill corner. After a flying start from Kelvin Reilly he pressured David Wood and took the lead during the second lap. Wood instantly responded and re-took the lead in lap three. The leading pair developed a gap from the chasing pack, and held their positions until the chequered flag. Followed by Ed Smith in third and Francis Williamson in fourth.
The qualifying positions remained the same for race two on Monday and with the sun finally breaking through and warming the track, the action was guaranteed to excite the thousands of race fans.
Again it was David Wood who held his pole position start, keeping the chasing pack behind, but an incident during the eighth lap caused the red flags to be waved and the race stopped. The race was restarted for a shortened ten lap race, which saw some great action throughout the field.
David Wood again help his position from the restart, but was taken on lap 5 by Kelvin Reilly. The pair tussled for the next few laps, leaning on each other entering Druids entertaining the crowd with some great overtaking moves.
The battle for third was just as entertaining. Francis Williamson held the positon, but a chasing Ed Smith was determined to take the final podium place. As they passed the finish line for the final lap Smith took the inside line into Paddock Hill and held his line for a well deserved third place.
The Focused Events RC8 Super Cup now moves to Oulton Park for round 3, over the bank holiday weekend of 2-4th May. |
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 | | Kelvin Reilly in action
|  | | David Wood takes first place |
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