Reilly Battles Back
Kelvin Reilly recovered from a nightmare qualifying session to take a third and a
fourth place finish in the latest round of the KTM RC8 SuperCup. Reilly was made
to earn his points after starting from a lowly ninth place at his home track,
Brands Hatch.
The weekend began well, with Reilly posting the second fastest time in Friday's
free practice session.
Unfortunately, Reilly couldn't find his practice pace in Saturday's
25 minute Qualifier. In scorching heat, none of the riders could improve on the
times which had been set the day before. But Reilly struggled more than most, as
an unbalanced wheel gave him persistent front end problems. Reilly's best time
was only good enough for ninth place on the grid.
Reilly made the worst possible start to race 1, as he crawled away from the line
and by the end of the opening lap he was down in 11th. Now firmly entangled in
the midfield, Reilly was left with a mountain to climb to keep his championship
losses to a minimum. After forcing his way up through the field, Reilly had a
seemingly insurmountable gap to the podium. With clear track ahead of him,
Reilly found his rhythm, and bridged the gap to third-placed, guest rider,
Christian Iddon. With another lap Reilly could have made the podium, but
unfortunately the flag came just too soon and Reilly claimed fourth. As Iddon
was a guest rider, he does not take championship points, and hence Reilly got
the points for third.
The second race saw Reilly make an improved start, but being on the outside of
the track meant he was forced to go the long way round Paddock Hill bend. Having
moved up to sixth place by the end of lap 1, Reilly fought his way up to third
by lap five, and was chasing down his two title rivals. Again, once Reilly was
in clear air, he managed to show his real pace. In his efforts to catch his
InMoto Corse team-mate, Pauli Pekkanen, Reilly set a new lap record. Reilly was
again foiled by the flag and could not quite catch Pekkanen for second.
Two good points finishes means Reilly is third in the championship standings,
just 14 points behind Wood and 13 behind Pekkanen, with 50 points still on
offer.
After the race, Reilly said: "That was really hard work out there! I had to
fight so hard to get past some of those guys. We've managed to score good points
considering how yesterday went and there is still plenty to play for in terms of
the championship".
Sam Farrington
|
