Tinmouth Secures Seventh Overall in British Supersport Cup
Report by Martin Knighton
18/10/08
Picture courtesy of www.bsbsuperbikes.co.uk
Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship final
Round 12 –Brands Hatch
10-12 October 2008
Jenny Tinmouth has completed her debut season in the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship aboard her Hollins Motorsport backed Honda CBR600RR, the final round having taken place last weekend at the 1.19 mile Brands Hatch Indy circuit in Kent. Her 28th position overall and seventh in the cup in Sunday’s race, secured her a creditable seventh place in the standings for cup competitors, a pleasing result as a class rookie.
However, the free practice sessions on the Friday didn’t go totally according to plan, with a new gear lever getting caught against the frame on the down shifts during the first session, meaning that she missed valuable track time whilst making adjustments in pit lane. In the afternoon free practice, she got much more into her rhythm setting respectable lap times. Unfortunately though, in the closing minutes, she lost the front under braking for Paddock Hill bend, whilst pushing hard, resulting in a high speed exit into the gravel. Thankfully she was relatively unscathed.
Commenting on her spectacular exit, Jenny said afterwards:
“I was pushing the front loads into Paddock Hill, as it’s one of my favourite corners, but I just over stepped the mark, and lost the front on the brakes, I did a full on tumble through the gravel trap and did quite a bit of damage to the bike, but Steve managed to get it all fixed for qualifying.”
Despite the glorious sunny conditions throughout the weekend, the track was still damp from the early morning dew for the Supersport competitors first qualifying session. Not all the riders took to the circuit, Jenny just venturing out for ten minutes, mainly to check that the bike was behaving as it should be after the antics of the previous day. The final qualifying session was the one that really counted, and despite her best efforts, Tinmouth couldn’t quite manage to improve her times, but her 34th place on the grid was only slightly over two seconds slower than pole position man, World Supersport rider, Josh Brookes.
Tinmouth was looking forward to the race, and as the lights went out at the start, she got away well, holding off Conor O’Brien for several laps until he crashed out chasing her for a position. Well and truly in the zone Tinmouth set her best times of the weekend, with a personal best time of 49.060 seconds, averaging 86.53mph. She was eventually caught and lapped by race winner Glen Richards, and second place man, Steve Plater, but importantly, took the chequered flag in 28th place, and seventh place in the cup, earning her sufficient points to secure seventh in the overall British Supersport Cup standings.
Jenny Tinmouth will be back in action for the final time this season over the coming weekend, 18-19 October at Donington Park (Saturday) competing in the Thundersport 600’s, and Mallory Park (Sunday) for the annual ‘Race of the Year’, where she will be competing against the likes of Rizla Suzuki’s Tom Sykes.