Team StoneBaker Yamaha served up their usual dose of thrills and excitement in the final round of the 2008 European Superstock 600 Championship, held at the new Portimao motorsports complex in Portugal. Rider Gino Rea took his first win in the series, finishing six-hundredths of a second ahead of Frenchman Loris Baz (Yamaha), to secure third place in the series. Dan Linfoot crashed out on the penultimate lap whilst lying third but in typical determined style remounted to cross the finishing line 11th and claim fifth position in the series overall.
The StoneBaker boys had dominated Practice and Qualifying over the previous two days with Rea starting from pole position and Linfoot third. It was Rea who got the holeshot at the start of the race, but both riders took turns at leading the pack during the first two laps before Baz moved through to the front on the third.
For a while it seemed the Frenchman could make an escape at the front of the field whilst Rea and Linfoot battled wheel-to-wheel between themselves and the chasing Mathieau Gines (Yamaha). Rea eventually broke away and by the end of lap six had reeled Baz in.
Just a few bike lengths apart on the seventh lap, Gino slipstreamed past Baz along the start straight but couldn’t make it stick. He tried the same move on the eighth and this time stayed ahead. With Rea riding defensively to protect his lead, Baz was forced to run wide off the track when he tried to make a pass at the start of the final lap. The Frenchman fought back for one last challenge towards the end, with both riders almost coming together as they approached the finishing line but it was Rea who got there first in a race where the circuit’s timing screens had struggled to keep up with all the changes of position.
Under constant attack from Gines throughout the race, Dan Linfoot slid off his machine on lap nine. Immediately remounting, the Yorkshireman rejoined the race in 12th position and made up one place on the last lap to finish 11th.
The race was a fitting end to the Somerset squad’s season. StoneBaker Racing has been the only team in the series to place both its riders on the winner’s rostrum this year, taking three victories and four additional podiums between them. The decision to disband after the race was taken months ago, but StoneBaker Racing had most certainly signed off their 2008 season in style.
Gino Rea (Race result 1st, Championship 3rd):
"Unbelievable! I’ve been chasing that win in this series for that last two years and to do it in the last race of the season - I’m lost for words. For the last three weeks all I’ve thought about is this race. I’ve trained harder than I’ve ever trained before. Andy (Stone) and I did loads of practice laps around this track on the scooter together. It all goes to show that if you put the extra effort in, it really works. When Loris came up on me on the last lap, I thought there was no way I’m letting him through now. I didn’t know he’d run off until he told me afterwards. It’s been a great end to a great year. Dan’s been a really good teammate too, and you don’t get that in a lot of teams. I want to say thanks to everyone in the squad for all their help, but especially Andrew Stone, Richard Baker and my mechanic, Andy Williams."
Dan Linfoot (Race result 11th, Championship 5th)
"I feel I could have got past Gino in the early stages, but things didn’t go to plan. The back stepped out on lap nine and it was race over. I just have to look back on the year as a whole. It’s been a great season with both of us on the podium. Gino’s not had a win until now, so good for him - that’s the way to end a season, it will stay with him all winter. I must say thank you to everyone in the team - it’s been the most enjoyable year I’ve ever had in racing. It’s been nothing like when I was in 250GP - I was the only Englishman in my class then and had no-one to talk to! This has been a great team. I’ve got on well with everyone and we all work well together. I’ve loved it!"
