Adaptaflex "The UK's leading flexible conduit system manufacturer" has again teamed up with top motorcycle racer Tommy Hill for what promises to be a fantastically exciting season as he challenges for the 2010 British Superbikes Championship with the highly competitive Worx Crescent Suzuki team. You can follow his progress on our Tommy Hill blog below.
Consistent podium finishes in all three races at Snetterton this weekend (July 16 – 18) put Tommy Hill and his Worx Crescent Suzuki back on top of the British Superbike championship.
In the re-scheduled race from Knockhill Tommy, sponsored by Adaptaflex, took up third place early on with an excellent passing move going into Riches and despite attention from Alastair Seeley managed to hold on to the flag.
The team had worked tirelessly with the bike to improve the set-up for the Snetterton round and the perseverance certainly paid off with two more podium finishes only this time both second slots for Tommy to take valuable points over his rivals.
On an action-packed Sunday, Tommy briefly lead the first race before Michael Rutter took over going into Sear and after a succession of moves in the first half of the race Tommy found himself out of the podium positions. Determined to succeed he pushed on regaining third and then saw the opportunity to move into second with just two laps to go holding his position to cross the finishing line.
Explained Tommy Hill, “We were running less electronic aids on the bike this weekend and maybe it affected my early race pace, but it seemed to work to my advantage in the second half of each race. The bike had a consistent feel that allowed me to confidently push hard during the closing stages.”
That proved to be the case in the last race of the day in what was a hard fought contest. In the lower leader board positions at midway Tommy again found the power in the latter stages moving into third position.
With just two laps remaining he repeated a successful overtaking manoeuvre on Michael Laverty for second place pushing on to challenge race leader Ryuichi Kiyonari, but could not force his way past in the final stages. The result gave Tommy back the lead in the Championship by a slender two points over Josh Brookes who had to retire on lap 12 with a technical problem.
“We've had a very consistent run this weekend and I can't deny it's been very satisfying to get back on the podium in all the races and to take the Championship lead back,” added Tommy. “A little bit of luck fell into our hands with Brookes going out in the last race, but it helps to be in the right place at the right time when these things happen. No question, I'm really looking forward to the Brands Hatch GP round now.”
Commenting on the weekend Worx Crescent Suzuki Team Manager Jack Valentine said, “It's been a very good weekend for us. I think the results have really boosted Tommy's confidence and this will help as we head to the Brands Hatch GP round. The bike has always been good but it's the very last little details that are making all the difference. We've now got a very good basis on which to build for the coming races.”
In the two National Superstock 600 Championship races Tommy's brother Jimmy Hill, also sponsored by Adaptaflex, finished in 5th and 8th positions respectively on his MAP Group Triumph.
The next round of the British Superbike Championship is at Brand Hatch GP circuit on August 6-8, an all-important three race event which comes at a crucial time in the season.
Heavy rain and high wind brought disruption to the sixth round of the British Superbike championship, so much so that it was only possible to complete one race. Throughout the race Tommy Hill battled tyre issues, but still managed to bring his Worx Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 home in a creditable eighth place.
As race day went on conditions just got worse despite the best endeavour of the Knockhill circuit team who worked tirelessly to keep the racing on. Following a six-rider crash the second BSB Championship race was abandoned.
A consistently good performer in the rain throughout previous championship series Tommy was extremely disappointed with the setback. “With that result I've also lost my championship lead, although I'm only four points behind."
The decision to abandon the meeting due to deteriorating conditions was the right call as far as Team Manager Jack Valentine was concerned. “Today has been a total washout. Tommy was more than happy with his wet set-up and we changed nothing for the race. The tyre never gripped from the off and was shredded by the end of the race, which had been shortened to 15 laps after two stoppages. The next round at Snetterton, now with three races on the programme, will become a very important round.”
Meanwhile, in the National Superstock 600 Championship race at Knockhill Jimmy Hill, also sponsored by Adaptaflex, finished in 7th spot riding his MAP Group Triumph. Despite the cloudy and wet conditions Jimmy's Triumph was the leading British bike to finish the race from a field of 36 starters.
Having already secured the sponsorship of British Superbike Championship leader, Tommy Hill, Adaptaflex has moved swiftly to tie up a similar sponsorship arrangement with Tommy's younger brother and talented Superstock 600 rider Jimmy Hill.
The UK's leading flexible conduit system manufacturer will support Jimmy as he continues his Superstock season.
“It's a challenge for everyone who competes at this level to get a decent sponsorship arrangement,” explained Jimmy Hill, “so I was delighted to have Adaptaflex come on board”.
The Superstock 600 season covers 12 races, as part of the support series for the British Superbike Championship and Jimmy is in no doubt which are his favourite circuits, “I love racing at Cadwell and Brands Hatch and hopefully the fans like watching a British rider on a British bike”.
“It really is tough for youngsters coming into the sport to get sponsorship,” said Duncan McKinlay, Managing Director of Cable Management Group. “So we were delighted to be able to sponsor Jimmy who is an extremely talented young rider on a British bike. Now we are looking forward to working closely with both Jimmy and Tommy on a number of promotions and of course supporting their continued progress throughout the rest of the season”.
It was a tough weekend at Mallory Park for British Superbike Championship leader Tommy Hill and the Worx Crescent Suzuki team.
The Adaptaflex sponsored rider started from a familiar front row on the grid, but mechanical problems saw him in trouble from the start. However, an incident caused the race to be red flagged and gave the team the opportunity to change the clutch on the bike. Unfortunately it didn't have the desired outcome and Tommy was forced to retire.
Speaking after the race Tommy explained, “Today has been quite a disappointment having enjoyed very productive tests here at Mallory and especially as we were going so well through practice and qualifying. Dropping out of race one with technical issues I was looking forward to getting my head down and chasing a top-six result in race two. I got shut down in the first turn and after that it was a long hard race trying to make up places.
There was a remarkable comeback for Tommy Hill at Cadwell Park in the fourth round of the British Superbike Championship, May 21-23, after he spectacularly crashed out of the first race, but managed an incredible recovery in race 2 to take second place and retain overall leadership of the Championship.
Despite a good start Tommy, who is sponspored by Adaptaflex, on his Worx Crescent Suzuki was behind Ryuichi Kiyonari and working hard to maintain contact. Going through Hall Bends he caught the engine casing on the kerb and crashed out of the race. “I messed up with the crash, but I knew that Kiyo was going to get into a rhythm and if that happened he would be gone so I just pushed a little too hard and caught the engine casing on the kerb.”
“A second place is more podium credits and points for the Championship so we still lead the standings thanks to a really great team effort,” added Tommy.
Before the race Tommy met up with Tony Marston and Dave White of Adaptaflex who were hosting a group of customers at the race day. Tommy gave them a personal briefing on the Worx Crescent Suzuki and a real close-up of just what goes on during race days. There was an insight to race tactics and an explanation of the technical differences the circuit demands on the rider and his machine.
British Superbike Championship leader Tommy Hill, the Adaptaflex sponsored rider on the Worx Crescent Suzuki, was on the Adaptaflex stand during the second day of Infrarail and lot of visitors took the opportunity to collect a signed poster and say hello to the BSC star.
Six lucky visitors to the Adaptaflex stand will receive a signed Tommy Hill T-shirt having entered a special prize draw at the show.
As part of the Adaptaflex promotion throughout the show visitors could leave their business cards to enter the special prize draw to win an original signed Tommy Hill T-shirt. And that's just what our lucky winners did. They are: Andy Deane, Babcock Rail; Collin Avis, GE Transportation; Graham Humphries, Hydrex Equipment; Nigel Bish, Network Rail; Mark Rex, Colcrete Eurodrill and Matthew Traherne, Rail Vision.
“We were really delighted with the interest that Tommy received at Infrarail and at times he was hard pressed to keep up with demand,” explained Ann Timmons of Adaptaflex. “Tommy is a very popular rider and having him along with the Suzuki race motorcycle certainly generated a lot of interest for us.”
Not only did visitors take advantage of the signed posters and some even had photographs taken with the British Superbike Championship leader.
Commented Tommy, “You know, the exhibition was really good and something completely different. I was a little surprised by the number of motorcycle enthusiasts who were there.
“We were soon talking about the technical aspects of the race bike and inevitably race day tactics.” Later on Tommy took the opportunity to have a look around the exhibition.
The T-shirts will be on their way to the lucky winners shortly and hopefully Adaptaflex will be looking to run a number of similar Tommy Hill promotions as the season progresses.
You can follow Tommy Hill's progress in the British Superbike Championship on the Adaptaflex website www.adaptaflex.com/tommyhill , with links to Tommy's own website.
The next round of the championship is at Cadwell Park on May 21, 22 and 23.
Tommy carries the Adaptaflex logo on his racing leathers and helmet in each round of the championship and has his sights firmly fixed on the BSC title.
Another busy weekend in the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park, May 1-3, saw Tommy Hill take another two podium finishes with some consistent and calculated riding to finish to day leading the Championship by a clear 51 points.
Delighted with his performance to date the Adaptaflex sponsored rider on the Worx Crescent Suzuki took second in the first race of the weekend and followed it up with a creditable third place in the final race. That makes it a clean sweep of top three finishes in every race this season.
“It was fantastic for me to be back on the podium again in that second race,” said Tommy whose team mate Yukio Kagayama crashed out of the first race.
“To be honest it was one of those races you go into thinking anything could happen. There were parts of the circuit where I was struggling for grip like a few of the other riders, but I knew I had to push as hard as I could in the places on the circuit where I was able to and it certainly paid off.
“It would have been easy to come away from that race with a crashed bike and no points, but two podiums have built the credits up and let's hope for more of the same from the next round.”
In the first race Tommy trailed Stuart Easton who got off to a flying start, but despite several attempts on the run into Lodge corner he was unable to get past Easton and in the end was content with second. Running in third position in the opening lap of race two Tommy slipped to fifth before working his way back up to a podium finish with some cool, perfectly measured riding.
The next round of the championship is at Cadwell Park on May 21, 22 and 23.
Tommy carries the Adaptaflex logo on his racing leathers and helmet in each round of the championship and has his sights firmly fixed on the BSC title.
Keeping his form on track Tommy Hill notched his second outright win in the British Superbike Championship at Thruxton, April 16-18, followed by a second place to extend his lead in the Championship.
The Adaptaflex sponsored rider could not have had a better start to the Championship series with his Worx Crescent Suzuki team. Said Tommy, It is fantastic to come away from here leading the championship by 34 points as these were two tough races at Thruxton.
“In the second race Josh Brookes did a great job and I just couldn't get past him, but I am happy for second as that is another two good finishes for me and the Worx Crescent Suzuki team. I wanted to leave Thruxton as championship leader which is what we have done so the job's a dream and now I'm looking forward to the next race.”
All this in the week that Tommy was on the Adaptaflex stand at Infrarail with the Adaptaflex team where he met visitors and signed promotional giveaways.
The next round of the championship is at
On every round of the series Tommy carries the Adaptaflex logo on his racing leathers and helmet in a season where he has his sights firmly fixed on the title.
Tommy Hill, riding his Worx Suzuki and sponsored by Adaptaflex, took the chequered flag in the first round of the British Superbike Championship held at Brands Hatch on Monday, April 5.
He quickly followed that up with a second podium finish in the last race of the day to finish the opening event double header taking a 4 point lead in the championship as he and second placed James Ellison opened up a significant lead over the remainder of the field.
“It was a hard race that got really difficult going through the back markers, but as soon as we were on the last lap I knew that was it. It was great to see the team celebrating as I crossed the line, particularly as this was on my home track.
“After all the work the team put in over the winter and in the build up to the race this weekend it was just fantastic to come away with the race one win.”
Tommy takes his Championship lead into the next round which is at Thruxton on April 16, 17 and 18, but not before a visit the Adaptaflex stand at Infrarail on Wednesday, April 14 when he will be on hand to meet visitors and sign promotional giveaways.
On every round of the series Tommy carries the Adaptaflex logo on his racing leathers and helmet in a season where he has his sights firmly fixed on the title.
Adaptaflex will be hosting customer days at several of the races during the season and have a number of promotional events centred on this year's championship detail of which will be announced throughout the season.
When British Superbike Championship rider Tommy Hill takes up his grid position in the first round of the series he will again be carrying the Adaptaflex logo on his racing leathers in a season where he has his sights firmly fixed on the title.
The UK's leading flexible conduit system manufacturer has again teamed up with top motorcycle racer Tommy Hill for what promises to be a fantastically exciting season as he challenges for the championship with the highly competitive Worx Crescent Suzuki team. Riding the all new 2010 Worx Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000, which is lighter, faster and more agile than ever and has already set faster times than last year.
“Having the personal support and backing from Adaptaflex really is fantastic in what we believe promises to be one of the most competitive championships in recent years,” said Tommy. “We are looking for podium finishes this season and with the Suzuki team and some impressive pre-season testing we really feel we can win the championship. I can't wait for the first race at Brands Hatch.”
The season gets underway over Easter weekend, April 2-5 at Brands Hatch, which is Tommy's local circuit and where he is looking to pull out all the stops for a race win on the new Suzuki in front of his home crowd. There are 12 action-packed rounds in the British Superbike Championship taking place at venues throughout the country, including Thruxton, Oulton Park, Cadwell Park, Mallory Park, Knockhill, Snetterton, Croft and Silverstone and all featured on ITV Sport and Sky Sport. The season culminates with a triple race finale at Oulton Park on October 8-10.
“We are delighted to be sponsoring Tommy again in what we believe will be a really exciting season which will see his competitiveness shine through,” said Duncan McKinlay, Managing Director of Cable Management Group. “There is considerable interest in motorcycling throughout not only our industry but also all engineering communities. Tommy is a great ambassador both on and off the race circuit and we are looking forward to working closely with him on a number of promotions, linked to the championship, throughout the season. His race bike will be on our stand at the forthcoming Infrarail exhibition in April and Tommy will be on the stand meeting visitors on Wednesday, April 14.”
Adaptaflex will be hosting customer days at several of the races during the season and have a number of promotional events centred around this year's championship detail of which will be announced throughout the season.
