NEWS
10/10/2011
HAT TRICK AT SEASON FINALE
The final round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship incorporating the Evo Mirror.co.uk class took place on the GP circuit at Brands Hatch in Kent.
Graeme 'Gowla' Gowland finished the season as runner up in the Evo Championship but only 27 points adrift, despite missing three rounds through injury, from his teammate Glen Richards making it a 1-2 for Team WFR in their debut season.
Thirteen may be unlucky for some, but not for Gowla who took his second hat trick of the season to take his win total to that magic number as well as finishing thirteenth in the main Superbike Championship.
Gowla's speed was once again impressive from the offset and he was soon mixing with the main Superbike title fighters Tommy Hill, John Hopkins, Michael Laverty, Josh Brookes and Shane Byrne in both qualifying and the races.
The weekend started on Friday with an official test on the short Indy circuit and Gowla once again raised eyebrows as he put his Evo spec Team WFR Honda Fireblade in 4th place behind Brookes, Laverty and Byrne.
The Championship moved onto the GP circuit on Saturday and what a hectic day it was with two free practices, qualifying and a race- the first of the weekends three races.
Gowla once again stepped up his game, taking it easy in the free practice sessions but maintaining his position at the top of the Evo leader board, and then putting the hammer down in the three phase qualifying sessions.
Qualifying 1 saw him finish 9th fastest overall, despite only completing 4 laps however the second session did not run as smoothly. Qualifying session 2 saw him in the danger zone momentarily before he pitted for a new tyre and then posted a blistering lap in the dying minutes of the session to go 2nd quickest. The third qualifying session, to decide the final top 10 places, saw Gowla with no soft tyres left in his allocation but he still managed to post a good lap time to end up 8th fastest, his best qualifying position of the year and claim his first second row grid position, and take another Evo pole position.
The first race of the weekend got under way on Saturday afternoon and Gowla got away from the line well and was running in the top half a dozen. As he crossed the line for the first time he was in 7th which is where he stayed until lap three when both Jon Kirkham and Shane Byrne went by, relegating him back to 9th place. Gowla maintained 9th place right to the end to take another Evo win and top ten finish overall.
Race two was held on Sunday but the conditions were not ideal as the track was still drying following heavy rain showers earlier in the day so it was a lottery for all the riders. Gowla made a top six start but was pushed down back a few places in the first lap melee before Laverty crashed out on lap 2 and then Brookes on lap 3 moving Gowla up to 6th, which he held to the chequered flag.
The final race of the 2011 season got underway late on Sunday afternoon and Gowla made a terrific get away from the grid and was 5th as the field dropped down Paddock Hill but got pushed off line going into Graham Hill bend dropping him to 8th. Kirkham crashed out on the fifth lap and then Brookes and Dan Linfoot overtook Gowla on the same lap to relegate him back to 9th. However Gowla got the better of Linfoot on lap 9 and then came under pressure from Peter Hickman but Gowla held him off to cross to the line in 8th position.
Graeme Gowland: "I just want to say a big thank you to everyone at Team WFR for their belief, dedication and support all season. It's a shame that I crashed in the first race of the season and broke my wrist as this affected the first half of my season but that's racing. But I come back strong and it was close in the end, just 27 points behind Glen."
