The Smiths Triumph Racing Team ended their 2013 Motorpoint British Supersport Championship on a solid note at Brands Hatch over the weekend as both Billy McConnell and Glen Richards each took a best finish of fourth place aboard their respective Smiths Triumph 675R machines.

With unpredictable weather all weekend, Saturday's wet qualifying session saw both riders in fine form and Billy and Glen lined up in second and third respectively for the 10-lap Sprint race. In damp and tricky conditions, the Australian pairing found themselves running inside the top four for the majority of the race but towards the end, they were pushed back by the charging Alastair Seeley and Luke Jones. With second to sixth split by just three seconds, Billy clung on to fourth with Glen back in sixth.

Sunday's longer 15-lap Feature race saw equally treacherous conditions as a rain shower just before the start made tyre choice a lottery but Billy's race ended on the fifth lap when he crashed out after being forced to take avoiding action at Druids to miss Jones who had crashed. That just left Glen to fly the flag in his final race for the team and he was in contention for the race win throughout. Positions were changing all the time but with heavy rain falling just after two thirds race distance, the race was stopped early with Glen in fourth, thus denying him a fairytale final podium finish.

The weekend's results meant that Billy hung on to his third place overall in the championship with outgoing champion Glen closing out his illustrious career in eighth.


Billy McConnell:

"It's been a frustrating weekend where you only needed to be off line a fraction to be in trouble. I got a decent result on Saturday but not really what I was looking for so I was keen to make amends in the longer race. When Luke went down in front of me I had to take avoiding action, running wide onto the damp part of the circuit, and I was down before I knew it. It's disappointing to end the season with a crash but I have finished third overall in the championship again and am happy to be staying with the Smiths team again next year so we'll come back fighting in 2014."


Glen Richards: "I would've loved to have finished on the podium in my final race but I didn't want to get involved with the championship battle between Stuart and Alastair so was content to stay at the back of the group. It's been a tough weekend all round with the weather conditions being what they've been and obviously it's been a tough season, firstly developing the new bike and then suffering with injury which affected me for a few rounds. However, it's been nice to end competitively and run at the sharp end in both races so a big thank you to the team for two excellent years and congratulations to Stuart on winning this year's championship."

Rebecca Smith:

"It's difficult to know what to say, it's been one of those up and down seasons with highs and lows along the way. This weekend has obviously seen a bit of emotion in the garage with Glen announcing his retirement but he's proved all weekend that he's still extremely competitive and more than capable of winning races so he could well be questioning his decision to retire already! I felt for Billy as he rode hard all weekend but he took a good third in the championship and we're all geared up and ready for 2014 already. He's got the title firmly in his sights and with a good winter testing programme already in place, with Billy and new signing Graeme Gowland we're confident we'll have two riders contesting the championship all season long."

Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race 1 - 10 laps
1 Richard Cooper (Triumph)
2 Alastair Seeley (Kawasaki)
3 Luke Jones (Triumph)
4 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph)
5 Jason O'Halloran (Honda)
6 Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph)

Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race 2 - 10 laps
1 Stuart Easton (Yamaha)
2 Richard Cooper (Triumph)
3 Alastair Seeley (Kawasaki)
4 Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph)
5 Glenn Irwin (Yamaha)
6 Danny Buchan (Yamaha)
DNF Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph)

Final Championship standings (after 12 rounds)
1 Easton 422pts
2 Seeley 409
3 McConnell 327
4 Wilson 303
5 Gowland 245
6 O'Halloran 211
8 Richards 186


Pictures courtesy of Jon Jessop: Glen Richards (1) and Billy McConnell (3) in action at Brands Hatch.



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