Fresh from their highly successful Isle of Man TT campaign, Gloucester-based Smiths Racing were back in short circuit action with round four of the MCE British Superbike Championship taking place at Knockhill where both Peter Hickman and Lee Jackson enjoyed a strong showing with both scoring strong points.

Hickman was on the pace throughout free practice so was disappointed to have only qualified in 12th place but upped the pace in warm up to put him in confident mood for the first 30-lap encounter today. Completing the first lap in 12th place, he moved steadily forward and by half race distance was up to sixth which he held until the chequered flag.   Starting the second race from ninth on the grid, the Louth-based rider didn’t make the best of starts for the former double British Supersport champions and despite a concerted effort, the 30 year old had to settle for ninth at the chequered flag, to leave him in seventh in the title race.

Team-mate Jackson qualified in 16th place for the opening race, and he too made good progress, moving into the points on lap seven when he took over 14th place. By half race distance, he was up to tenth and in close company with former World Superbike Champion Sylvain Guintoli before moving up to ninth which gave him his best result of the season so far.   The Lincoln rider lined up on the fifth row later in the day for race two which proved to be a tougher proposition and after a great performance, he ended up in 13th at the flag to pick up three more championship points.

Peter Hickman: 

“It’s been a bit of a tough weekend to be honest and having been strong all weekend, it all went a bit awry in qualifying when the oil that had been laid on the track messed my head up. I just couldn’t ride the way I wanted and that made both races difficult as being so far back on the grid at a short circuit like Knockhill is near impossible to come back from. It’s not easy to overtake but I kept chipping away and whilst sixth and ninth isn’t where I want to be finishing, I’m only four points adrift of the top six so we’ll keep fighting hard and look to come out fighting next time out.”

Lee Jackson: 

“We’ve continued to make good improvements to the bike and I’m feeling more and more comfortable on the bike so it’s good to have come away with my best finish of the season so far. A few people crashed out in race one but getting to the finish is the name of the game and it just felt good to be racing again after six weeks since the last round. I got boxed in a bit in the second race and it’s frustrating not being able to finish in the top ten more regularly as that’s where I need to be. We’re all working really hard and will look to carry this weekend’s momentum into the next rounds.”

Alan Smith, Team Owner:  

“After being away at the North West 200 and Isle of Man TT, it’s good to get back to short circuit action and both riders had solid weekends. Peter’s obviously a bit disappointed with his results having arrived at Knockhill on such a high but he scored some solid points and is well in contention for a top six finish which is what our aim is. Lee’s crash on Friday set him back a little but he’s getting his confidence back with each and every outing and it was good to see both bikes finish in the top ten of race one.”

MCE British Superbike Championship race one (30 laps)

1 Jake Dixon (Kawasaki)
2 Luke Mossey (Kawasaki)
3 Shane Byrne (Ducati)
4 Jason O’Halloran (Honda)
5 Taylor Mackenzie (Suzuki)
6 Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW)
9 Lee Jackson (Smiths Racing BMW)

MCE British Superbike Championship race two (30 laps)

1 Jake Dixon (Kawasaki)
2 James Ellison (Yamaha)
3 Shane Byrne (Ducati)
4 Luke Mossey (Kawasaki)
5 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)
6 Dan Linfoot (Honda)
9 Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW)
13 Lee Jackson (Smiths Racing BMW)


Championship Positions (after four rounds)

1 Mossey 141 
2 Haslam 111 
3 Byrne 90 
4 Iddon 86 
5 O’Halloran 83 
6 Brookes 78 
7 Hickman 74

20 Jackson 14