Rapido Sport’s Tristan Palmer claimed his first Pirelli National Superstock 1000 victory for his new team at Knockhill this afternoon. It is the Tamworth rider’s first time out on the Ducati Panigale machine and the racer led from the start, and proved uncatchable out on the Scottish track.
The race ended abruptly because of a red flag on lap eighteen when Vision Express rider Sam West crashed at the Hairpin. The rider was unhurt but his bike was in a dangerous place, stopping the race just when the battle for second started to heat up.
Palmer was two seconds ahead of the rest of the pack on lap eight, but JG Speedfit’s Joe Burns began to close the gap on first place, but the Geordie had to contend with challenges from Homer Racing’s Hudson Kennaugh and SMT Racing’s Adam Jenkinson. But with two thirds of the race distance completed the battle for second started to hot up, with Burns, Kennaugh and Jenkinson all pushing for the second step on the podium. But when the chequered flag came out unexpectedly it was Burns who found himself in second followed by South African Kennaugh.
Current championship leader Jenkinson narrowly missed out on the podium and had to contend with a fourth place finish, but the Knutsford rider is still leading the Superstock 1000 championship. ILR’s Filip Backlund made his debut this weekend at Knockhill and in the early stages of the race was a high as third in the opening laps. He could not retain his pace, and was overtaken by Jenkinson and Burns, and the Swedish rider ended the race rounding off the top five.
Be Wiser Kawasaki’s Josh Day ended the race in sixth, followed closely by Idaq Motorsports Peter Ward who both had consistent races, and remained inside the top ten for the eighteen laps.
Throughout the lappery emerged a battle for a top ten finish between Team WD40 team-mates Joe Railton and Tommy Aquino. Railton was getting the better of the Californian but on lap seventeen Aquino pushed his way up to eighth and that is where he finished the race, and in doing so claimed his best result of the season. Four Anjels Racing’s Danny Johnson and Formwise Racing’s Luke Quigley rounded off the top ten.
There were many retirements over the course of the race, with five riders entering the pits because of technical problems. Most notably twenty-time Isle of Man TT winner, Padgett’s John McGuinness who’s race ended on lap nine, and Steve Brogan Racing’s, um, Steve Brogan race ended after only seven laps as he entered the pits with a technical issue.
