Ian Lowry finished the 2009 British Superbike season with one of his best-ever fighting performances in the final race of three at Oulton Park in Cheshire yesterday, taking fourth place. The 23-year-old also confirmed his unofficial ‘top rookie’ title to end the season fifth in the final standings for Relentless Suzuki on his 2009 GSX–R1000 Superbike.
In the opening race of three Lowry battled hard in a five rider strong freight train for fifth position. The Moira man eventually finished 8th. In race two he was again making good progress when the chain on his GSX–R1000 snapped – smashing through the engine casing to halt his progress. Then, in the aforementioned final race, he took the scalp of former MotoGP rider Sylvain Guintoli to secure his end of season top five in the overall standings.
2009 British Superstock Champion Alastair Seeley had a tough baptism on his first full British Superbike start with Relentless Suzuki. The ’stock champ qualified impressively on row three and was involved in the same race one battle as Lowry, but crashed out on the penultimate lap.
In race two Seeley was a little more tentative in mixed conditions scoring points in 13th place, but in the third and final race he was the victim of another rider's mistake, getting taken out on the opening lap. Thankfully the diminutive Ulsterman suffered only superficial injuries. Alastair also collected his National 1000cc Superstock winners' trophy at Oulton to round out a very successful year.
Ian Lowry
“It was really good to end the season on a high. The boys in the team worked really hard all weekend with bike set-up, especially for the final race. I didn’t get the best of starts but came up through the pack pretty well to take fourth place. It’s a fantastic result for the whole team and I’d like to thank the boys on my side of the garage. Roll on the Sunflower this weekend.”
Alastair Seeley
"It has been a tough weekend but I learned a lot and also found out that I can run in the top ten in BSB, even at this early stage. The competitive season ends next week in Northern Ireland at the Sunflower Trophy races and I'm still upbeat for top results."
Philip Neill – Team Principal
“It was not an ideal weekend, but that last race was the kind of performance we have been looking for from Ian. It was a real gutsy ride and if he can get his bike off the line at the start, he is more than capable of running with the front five. He just needs to learn to do that more consistently, but to take on a beat someone as experienced as Sylvain, on a final lap, demonstrates his talent and desire.
For him to finish fifth in his rookie season, taking into account that it is only our second year in the Superbike class as a team is pleasing. It also shows the development and progress we have made with the GSX–R1000 Superbike and I have no doubt we can be challenging right at the front in 2010.
Alastair had a baptism of fire in the Superbike class but overall his performance was satisfactory. With so much to learn in a short space of time he coped very well. It’s just a pity we didn’t get to see him in that last race, as I do believe with the set-up changes, he would have been well inside the top ten.
His first race crash was down to a bit of over exuberance, but I can’t fault him as he had worked his way onto the back of the bunch fighting for fifth and looked very strong on the 2009 GSX–R1000.
In the final race he was brought down in Simon Andrews' crash but there was nothing he could have done about it and he missed the re-start. It’s valuable experience for him and he’ll come back stronger.
As this is the final BSB race of the year I’d just like to thank everyone that has helped us, especially Suzuki, Relentless and Beacon. A big thanks also to all the guys in the team. It has been a testing year all round, but what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger and we’ll be back fighting in 2010.
