Glen Richards took 2nd place in a race at Donington Park today that was largely uneventful until an hour after the race had finished.
len, who had put the Triumph 3rd on the grid behind the two Hanspree Ten Kate Honda’s of Jonathan Rea and Andrew Pitt was expecting a tough race and he got it.
In the opening five laps the Aussie managed to keep pace with the one and two placed Hanspree Honda’s, retaining his third place grid position before Ian Lowry on the Relentless Suzuki shook things up when he overtook Glen before squeezing into P1, beating Jonathan Rea and Andrew Pitt along the way. Lowry eventually lost the lead to the two World Supersport riders but managed to fend off Richards for the remainder of the race and by lap 12 the top four had put some distance between each other and the rest of the pack to secure their positions.
Glen Richards who was originally disappointed with the race said:
“I have mixed feelings about that race. I’m happy that I managed to keep my position at the top of the championship but it was really frustrating as I was unable to keep up with Rea and Pitt on the Hanspree Honda’s and then I lost pace on Lowry who rode really well today.”
However, it later transpired that Hanspree Ten Kate Honda had used unspecified race fuel in both of their competing machines which meant that both Jonathan Rea and Andrew Pitt were later disqualified. That turn of events meant that Glenn would now take second place behind Ian Lowry who was first.
Glen Richards later spoke of the strange series of events
“I’m glad that I’m now second as it obviously means more points for myself and the team, but it’s not a nice way to take second. However I’ll take the points and consolidate my position in the championship.”
Paul Young meanwhile had a somewhat trickier race as he had his own pack of competitive riders to deal with early on. From his 11th grid position he managed to climb to 10th where he stayed for four laps before slipping as low as 13th, but managed to steal 11th on the last lap which, after the World Supersport riders disqualification meant he was in the top ten at 9th.
