by Terry Hibberd
Although TeamWFR weren’t amongst the top three at Brands Hatch it was another round with all three riders in the top ten as they continue to prove any doubters wrong and cement their place amongst the elite of the BSB championship.
After round seven, Alex Lowes is leading the hunt for the showdown spots in ninth place, some 21 points behind Swan Yamaha’s Noriyuki Haga who currently occupies sixth spot in the chase for the title. James Westmoreland slips out of the top ten but sits just four points away from Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki rider, Stuart Easton who returned to the track after missing the Oulton Park meeting a fortnight ago.
Practise and early qualifying brought some well-deserved recognition for WFR, with Graeme Gowland topping the timesheets ahead of the chasing pack. Both Q1 and Q2 finished with the #81 quickest around the Kent circuit, but the title chasing trio of Tommy Hill, Shane Byrne and Josh Brookes were all to step up the pace when it mattered in Q3 leaving Gowland back in 8th spot. James Westmoreland was to out run his teammate and hop into 7th on the grid with Gowland the meat in a WFR sandwich as Lowes finished 9th quickest.
Race One was full of incident, starting as early as lap one with Westmoreland losing control of his bike and crashing out as Byrne, Brookes, Haga and Hill raced to open up a gap after an initial burst from Michael Laverty on the Samsung Honda had seen him get into first position. Lowes pushed up the field and was to pass reigning champion, Tommy Hill, to get into fifth before the Swan Yamaha rider fought back to re-pass the #22.
A slight mistake from Lowes saw him drop down the field a little with Gowland taking advantage, moving up into 8th spot. The action at the front saw Brookes slip past Haga into second with Byrne in P1 and a battle ensued right to the latter stages of the race.
Gowland was passed by Tommy Bridewell before a problem caused him to crash out on the penultimate lap and Lowes got on the gas to get into 8th spot replacing his now departed teammate but a last lap crash from Haga saw Lowes promoted to 7th place behind eventual winner Byrne.
Race two began with Lowes the fastest of the three Hondas from race one, with him starting in fifth place, Westmoreland and Gowland in 10th and 15th respectively. Westy got off to a rocket start, making up four places to catch up to Gowland within a matter of laps, with Lowes going down four places to ninth.
Up front Byrne raced into an early lead at Hawthorns on the opening lap, again with Brookes and Laverty in tow. Chris Walker and Stuart Easton were to both have an off, which meant Lowes and Gowland were up to 7th and 8th with Westmoreland momentarily dropping out of the top ten with Tommy Bridewell and Alistair Seeley breathing down his neck.
It was the Supersonic BMW of Bridewell which was to gain on all three WFR riders, but he couldn’t catch Lowes who was running in a very respectable sixth spot after chasing and overtaking Ian Lowry on the Padgett’s Honda who was to finish less than a tenth of a second in front of Bridewell for 7th spot behind the #22 of Lowes.
Gowland again finished in the top ten and along with Westmoreland who managed to wrestle his way past Seeley on the Tyco Suzuki on the final lap to get into tenth place as they raced over the line.
Next up is Cadwell Park and the Mountain for the BSB Championship in a month’s time with everyone still pushing for a spot in the showdown and the all important podium credits.
