McWILLIAMS SIXTH IN GERMANY
Jun 2008
Jeremy McWilliams finished sixth in today's third round Suzuki GSX-R European Cup at Nurburgring in Germany in a race dominated by Frenchman Emeric Jonchiere.
Starting as a wildcard rider from the front row of the grid for the nine-lapper around the 5.1km circuit, McWilliams started brilliantly but was unable to capitalise on his advantage going into the tight first right-hander.
Jonchiere dived inside the Irishman to open a commanding lead, which was never threatened and he eventually crossed the line 4.5 seconds ahead of Spain's championship leader, Ismael Ortega.
Team Suzuki GB's Tom Bridewell was thirteenth in his first race back after breaking his leg in an Italian Superbike race at Mugello in April. The 19-year-old Wiltshire rider opted to sit out yesterday's wet qualifying session and was unable to improve on his 14th position on the grid from Friday.
Bridewell's Team Suzuki GB team-mate, Grant Molloy, got into the points once again, finishing in 17th place; but, with wildcard riders not eligible to score, the Irishman took four valuable points.
"I had some problems with the brakes at the last round in Monza," said McWilliams afterwards, "and the same thing happened here. I was trying not to T-bone other riders going into the corners and it meant having to adapt my riding style to brake maybe 30m earlier and try to carry more corner speed.
"It's a fantastic championship, though" added the former MotoGP rider, "and the 750 is a great bike to have some fun on. I've really enjoyed my two outings and hope that I've given a bit of guidance to the other two British guys."
Suzuki GSX-R European Cup, round three - Nurburgring, Germany.
Results (nine-laps, 46.23km) - wildcards (W) do not score points:
1 Emeric Jonchiere (FRA) 18m43.441s, 2 Ismael Ortega (ESP) +4.370s, 3 Roland Resch (AUT) +5.169, 4 Dani Ribalta (ESP) (W) +8.076, 5 Simone Saltarelli (ITA) +8.206, 6 Jeremy McWilliams (GBR) (W) +12.531, 7 Lars Reichelt (GER) +12.777, 8 Kevin Wahr (GER) (W) +14.276, 9 Michels Steven (GER) (W) +14.793, 10 Timo Gieseler (GER) +21.336.
Championship points after three of six rounds: 1 Ortega 65, 2 Jonchiere 56, 3 Resch 47, 4 Saltarelli 39, 5 Arturo Tizon (ESP) 32, 6 Alessandro Colatosti (ITA) 24, 7 David Juhasz (HUN) 23, 8 Reichelt 20, 9 Gieseler 18, 10 Nicolas F.Ferreira (ESP) 18, 11 Tom Bridewell (GBR) 16, 14 Grant Molloy (GBR) 11.
