The Swan Yamaha team returned to the podium again at the sixth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Snetterton as Tommy Hill took an impressive second place in the opening race.
In race one Hill had been battling for the victory; leading the race in the second half before John Hopkins took the lead on the final lap at Riches. Hill was putting the pressure on his American rival but despite his best attempts he had to settle for second. Michael Laverty put in a strong performance to move from his twelfth place grid position through to fourth and score vital points for his title challenge.
In race two Hill got off to a flying start but on the opening lap he crashed out at Montreal as he clipped the rear tyre of Ryuichi Kiyonari who was forced to slow in front of him when the lead changed. He was able to return to the garage, but wasn’t back out on track in time before the red flag meaning he was forced to miss the restart. Laverty meanwhile took another solid finish in fifth with the pair now lying third and fifth respectively.
Hill said: "In the first race it felt good to lead the race but Hopper just had the legs on me down the straight and I couldn’t quite get in his slipstream. I felt confident though for the win and he just pipped me on the last lap. I gave it everything I could and there was just nothing I could do to get back into the lead without it all ending in tears! In race two I knew we had the pace to challenge for the win and I got off the line well and maintained third position. We just went into Montreal and Kiyo stopped directly in front of me and there was nothing else I could do other than brake hard but I had nowhere to go. I got back on and there was some damage to the Swan Yamaha and unfortunately
I couldn’t make the restart as I hadn’t made it back out before the red flag. I am gutted as I thought we could have won that second race and I desperately wanted to be out there rather than watching from the garage. We missed out in race two but next up we move on to Oulton Park where we set the pace before so I am looking forward to getting stuck in there."
Gary Ekerold: "The first race was fantastic for the Swan Yamaha team. Tommy was back on the podium and it was a great result for his championship. It was a case of either rider could have won on that last lap of race one and it was a brilliant show for the fans. Michael also had a great performance to come through from twelfth on the grid to take fourth place in race one. In race two unfortunately for Tommy he had that crash and sometimes these things happen; it is of course disappointing but he will regroup and next we go to Oulton Park where he had dominated until his warm up crash. Michael had another strong finish in fifth to score vital points and we are happy to leave here with both riders still inside the top six in the standings which is obviously out priority."