BRM’s British Superbike correspondent, Michael Wincott, fills us in on the first three rounds of the championship, following the progress of Kiwi racer Shane Richardson. Shane, who suffered life-changing injuries after a crash in pre-season testing a couple of years back, has managed to make it back to the grid for the first time in 2024. So we’re all excited to see how quickly he can get back to fighting at the front of the field.
Round 1
The opening round of the 2024 British Supersport Championship took place at the Circuito de Navarra in Northern Spain on the 20th and 21st April. The Championship visited the circuit for the first time last year for the official test. This year New Zealander Shane Richardson has returned to the Supersport class and will ride for HIPPO Suzuki who will be run by Astro JJR. The sponsorship marks HIPPO’s first venture into the adrenaline-fueled world of motorsports, as well as Richardson’s first major superbike sponsor.
The opening free practice session of the 2024 season got underway Friday morning in perfect conditions in Spain. It was not the start of the season that Richardson was expecting, he was only able to complete one lap during the 20-minute session due to technical issues. Free Practice Two took place later in the afternoon where Richardson completed nine laps and set his fastest lap of the session on his seventh circulation, 1:40.610 seconds and ended the opening day of the season with the ninth-quickest time.
Saturday’s qualifying session took place mid-afternoon around the 2.42-mile Navarra circuit, Richardson completed nine laps and qualified ninth with a lap time of 1:40.424 seconds. Macadam Triumph Racing’s, Luke Stapleford took the opening pole position of the year ahead of Australian Ben Currie in second and Brad Perie in third.
The opening 12-lap supersport sprint race of the 2024 season took place in ideal conditions in Circuito de Navarra. Richardson ended the opening lap in eleventh position just 0.308 seconds behind his teammate Rhys Irwin in tenth. With two laps remaining Richardson had progressed up to ninth where he would finish. The opening race of the year was won by Stapleford ahead of Currie in second and Davey Todd in third. Late drama for second-placed Currie when he was handed a 28-second ride-through penalty which dropped him to eleventh and promoted Richardson to eighth.
Feature Race
The 18-lap feature race took place Sunday afternoon under blue skies in Spain. Richardson made a positive start, unfortunately, he had to take avoiding action when several riders crashed in front of him at turn two which dropped him to the back of the field. On lap four the safety car came out which bunched the field back together. Throughout the remaining laps of the race, Richardson was able to battle his way through the field and had fought his way to twelfth by mid-race. With two laps remaining Richardson had progressed up to ninth where he would finish. The second race of the year was won by Currie with Stapleford in second and Todd in third.
After the opening round of the championship, Stapleford had the championship lead with 47pts ahead of Todd in second 42pts and Jack Kennedy in third 36pts. After a strong start to the year, Richardson left Spain in eighth in the championship on 18pts.
Round 2
The British Supersport Championship returned to the UK for the second round at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the weekend of 5th and 6th May.
Free practice one took place in mixed conditions after heavy overnight rain. Richardson completed twelve laps during the session and set his quickest lap on his final circulation, 1:46.608 seconds. The second free practice session of the weekend took place in improved conditions on Saturday afternoon. Richardson completed fifteen laps during the 25-minute session and set his fastest lap on his fifth circulation, 1:38.621 seconds.
Sunday qualifying took place early afternoon around Oulton Park, Richardson matched his free practice two times and qualified tenth for the weekend’s races. Pole position once again went to Stapleford ahead of Currie in second and Kennedy in third.
The opening 12-lap sprint race of the weekend took place late Sunday afternoon around the 2.69-mile Cheshire circuit. Richardson got a good start and had made up one position as the riders entered turn one for the first time. Halfway around the open lap Richardson had lost three positions and was down in twelfth, by the end of the lap he had reclaimed one of the positions and was in eleventh as he crossed the line for the first time. By midrace, Richardson had been caught by a fast-changing Alastair Seeley who had charged back through the pack after an earlier mistake. With three laps remaining Richardson had been demoted to eleventh after being passed by Seeley. Richardson held on to eleventh at the flag and eventually finished 1.838 seconds behind Seeley. Stapleford took the honours in the opening race of the weekend ahead of Currie and Kennedy.
Feature Race
Richardson’s second race of the weekend took place early Monday afternoon over 16 laps in front of a packed crowd. Richardson was able to hold on to his starting position of tenth during the opening laps and had progressed up to ninth by lap two. On lap four he had set his fastest lap of the weekend at 1:38.358 seconds and had moved up to ninth. By mid-race, Richardson was involved in a three-way battle with Seeley and Perie for seventh where he would finish. The feature race was won by Currie ahead of Kennedy in second and Eugene McManus in third.
After a challenging opening race of the weekend, Richardson dropped to tenth in the standings on 35pts. Irelands Kennedy took over the championship lead, 78pts with Currie in second 77pts and Stapleford third 72pts.
Round 3
The third round of the British Supersport Championship took place at Donington Park over the weekend of 18th and 19th May. Friday’s free practice sessions of the weekend took place in warm conditions. Richardson completed twenty-two laps over the two sessions and ended the day with the thirteenth quickest time 1:32.691.
Saturday’s 25-minute qualifying session took place in cool conditions and determined the grid for Saturday’s sprint race. Richardson was able to improve on his Friday time by a staggering 0.969 seconds and qualified in thirteenth with a time of 1:31.722 seconds.
The opening race of the weekend took place Saturday afternoon in hot conditions over 12 laps. Richardson got a strong start but was pushed wide at turn one, by the end of the opening lap Richardson was in fourteenth. By mid-race, Richardson had settled into his rhythm but was unable to close on the group of riders ahead of him and crossed the line at the end of the short race in fourteenth. The sprint race was won by Can ÖNCÜ with Tom Booth-Amos in second both who were making wild card appearances at the round in preparation for the World Superbike meeting in July, Currie rounded out the podium in third.
Feature Race
The 18-lap feature race took place late Sunday afternoon, Richardson got a good start as the riders entered turn one for the first time. Unfortunately, there was an accident at turn one with two riders crashing in dramatic style, the race was immediately red-flagged. The race was restarted with a new race distance of 15 laps, Richardson lost two positions off the start and crossed the line for the first time in fifteenth. By the end of the fourth lap, Richardson was involved in a four-way battle for twelfth. With five laps remaining Richardson was involved in a battle with Eunan McGlinchey for twelfth.
On lap twelve Richardson made his move and passed McGlinchey for twelfth. There were several fallers late in the race which promoted Richardson to tenth by the chequered flag. The race was won by Booth-Amos ahead of ÖNCÜ in second and Stapleford in third.
Australian Currie retained his lead in the championship on 115pts ahead of Kennedy, 112pts and Stapleford, 92pts in third. After a tough first race of the weekend, Richardson dropped to twelfth in the championship 43pts.
The fourth round of the championship will take place in Scotland at Knockhill over the weekend of 15th and 16th June.
