Antrim’s John Simpson had a tough race day at Silverstone aboard his Trickbits/T3 Racing Triumph at round 11 of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship, where he finished in seventh place.

He had an excellent qualifying putting his Triumph into second place on the grid. He felt confident ahead of the race having previously won at Silverstone earlier in the season. Simpson made a clean start straight into lead and had hoped to gap the chasing pack.

His plan worked until lap four when he suddenly started to run wide through the turns. This allowed the other riders to catch and pass him. He battled to the end of the 10 lap race coming home in an uncharacteristic seventh place.

Following Simpson’s exclusion at Croft and the seventh place finish at Silverstone he is now in fourth place in the Championship, 20 points behind the leader.

Simpson said: “We tried a different set-up in warm-up and it felt good, so we went for it in the race but after four laps it started to drop off. I felt strong at the start of the race and pulled a gap which had been my plan. Then the bike started moving, I could run into the corners ok but as soon as I tried to get on the gas or drive out of the corner the bike felt really unsettled. It’s just frustrating but it’s really made the Championship close any of the top four could win the title. I like Oulton Park and usually go well there so I’ll just have to see what happens.”

The final round of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship will take place at Oulton Park in Cheshire on the 8^th-10^th October.

Source: (Louise) Triumph Triple Challenge

Antrim’s John Simpson picked up  his third consecutive win at Cadwell Park during round nine of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship.

Despite difficult weather conditions the lively Ulsterman put his Trickbits T3 Racing Triumph on pole position and as the lights went out he settled into second place. By the end of lap one he had been pushed back to third place but that didn’t last for long as he returned to second a lap later.

He was just 0.04secs off the back of Josh Wainwright and made a decisive move to take the lead at the gooseneck. As he was getting in the groove the red flags came out halting the race due to an incident on track.

Simpson had to do it all again on the re-start which would see the race run over just seven laps. Once again he got away second but by three laps in he was in the lead by a good 2.32secs. He got his head down and gapped the chasing pack who were battling amongst themselves.

He won the race by 2.542secs and came over the line punching the air in delight.

Simpson said: ”I was a bit frustrated that we had a re-start but I got out there and did it. I go good at Cadwell, this is my third win here, but I can go well at the other rounds too, I’m not just a one trick pony. I’d like to thank T3 Racing, Tony Scott and Dave Harris for giving me a great bike. I’d also like to thank everyone who has helped out over this wet weekend it has been fantastic.”

Simpson will be back on track at Croft in North Yorkshire on the 10^th – 12^th September  for round ten of the Metzeler National Superstock Championship.

Source:  (Louise) Triumph Triple Challenge

Ulster man John Simpson raced to second place aboard his Trickbits T3 Racing Triumph at round eight of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship at Brands Hatch in Kent.

He put his machine on pole position with a superb lap time of 1min 30.776secs, the only rider to get into the 1min 30s. His nearest rival was Danny Buchan who was just 0.7secs off his time so it was a close run qualifying.

Off the line Simpson slotted into fourth place and started to work his way forward. By lap four he was into podium contention taking third place just as the Safety Car was deployed due to an incident on track.

When the Safety Car pulled in Simpson got stuck back into the race promoting himself to second place. He tailed race leader Buchan for five laps before overhauling him for the lead. Unfortunately for Simpson the red flag came out due to fluid on track, the race result was taken back a lap and he was relegated to second place.

Simpson said: “Qualifying was awesome I got pole by just 0.7secs, but the race, well I’ve just been robbed, I was in the lead when the red flag came out. The Triumph felt good so thanks to Dave Harris and Tony Scott at T3 Racing, they built me a really good bike. It was very slippery out there and the tyres were not coping with the heat. I had to change my riding style to deal with it. I felt smooth and when I got the opportunity I took the lead. I’m not happy to have missed out on the win but I guess these things happen.”

Simpson will be back on track at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire on the 28^th-30^thAugust for round nine of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship.

Source:  Triumph Triple Challenge

John Simpson riding the Trickbits T3 Triumph took the victory in the seventh round of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship, a race that had been held over from the weather and delay ravaged Oulton Park round of BSB back in May.

The starting grid for the race was as it would have been at the Cheshire circuit, putting Josh Day on pole, with Jimmy Hill alongside him on a front row completed by Simpson and Adam Lyon.  Behind them, Anthony Rogers, Matt Bilton, Conor Behan and Luke Stapleford lined up.

Day made the running from the start with Simpson just adrift and Behan, Hill, Danny Buchan and Stapleford chasing them hard but by the third lap, Behan was on the ascendancy, charging into the lead, though not for long before Simpson had nosed in front, making the move stick as he completed his second victory of the season.

Behan and Buchan traded places with Hill running consistently in fourth ahead of Day who was seeing his lead in the title stakes cut to 22 points by Team Green Kawasaki rider Buchan who was maintaining his rich vein of form with second place in a race stopped after eight laps when Matt Bilton tumbled, escaping serious injury in an incident that left his bike in a dangerous position on the circuit.

Behan took third from Hill, Day, Stapleford, Nikki Coates, Jonny Blackshaw, Josh Wainwright and James East who completed the top ten finishers. Liam Lyon, Tom  Young, Grant Whitaker, Rogers and Jonathan Lodge completed the points scorers.

Witnessing again the chaos in the final lap of the British Superbikes Superstock 600 race at Cadwell Park in 2010

Trickbits Triumph’s John Simpson won an incident-packed Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship race, crossing the line a second up on Danny Buchan with Josh Day finishing third.

Simpson had made the early running, but as the safety car came out as race officials dealt with a heavy crash by Liam Lyon and separate incidents with Freddie Russo and Tony Blackshaw, his lead was cut-back.

He worked hard to re-establish himself but Jimmy Hill was hard on the charge, picking up a couple of places and then the lead but on lap 12, the back end of Hill’s MAP Group Triumph swerved out of line as he powered out of Park.

Hill was down and out, with Simpson going through to take the victory, though the drama was still being played out as Josh Caygill and Bruce Winfield tangled with the flag in sight.

Matt Bilton took seventh place to maintain his lead in the title stakes, though now 49-41 over Day.