Here you will be able to view all the latest Press Releases on Ben Wylie, Dan Smith and Steve Heneghan.
Ben and the Wylie and Holland Racing team attended the re-run of the snowed off Brands Hatch round of the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport Championship last weekend, and came away with some good results, and strong promise for the next round.
With qualifying already having been settled at the previous visit to the Kent circuit, back in April. Ben had had some trouble with technical problems, and had only managed a fourth row start in fifteenth position, which considering the problems he had had, was very respectable.
In the first of the free practice sessions, Ben had made the Wylie and Holland Racing Yamaha R6 machine fifth fastest through the speed traps, at almost 120mph. The timings were close, but not as much as the second session, where Ben was 17th fastest, but half a second would have put him up in the top five. He improved his time, shaving off almost a second from the morning practice, and was clocked fastest through the speed traps at over 147 mph.
The race was on the scorching Sunday afternoon, with a reported track temperature of over 40˚C, which at such high temperatures causes less grip, being compared to riding in the wet. Ben started the race making up a few places on the fist lap, which was short lived when an incident at the first corner caused the safety car to come out, meaning the riders had to slow down, behind the Audi R8, until the incident had been cleared.
After 3 laps behind the safety car, the race was back on, and Ben started to climb back up the order from down in 18th position. He slowly passed riders, and eventually ended up in a four way battle, which after another outing for the safety car, meant he was at the front of the pack, and came home in a respectable 14th position, picking up two points towards his championship campaign.
“Finishing 14th in the race is not where I want to be, but qualifying so low down caused problems for me, and with the race being so close, it was difficult to achieve any more” commented the local hero, “My lap times were consistent with the front runners, so I know that I can run with them” said the down heartened racer.”
Team Manager, Tony McPhillips said, “Ben rode a steady race and finished in a healthy position.” When commenting on the other members of the team, he said, “I was particularly pleased with the pit crew and their performance, in only our third meeting as such a large team. Midge was brilliant riding up in seventh position, but due to a mechanical problem had to pull into pit lane early, meaning he did not finish, but showed a lot of promise. Matt Bilton was also showing his former promise, but unfortunately crashed out.”
Looking forward to the next round at the Derbyshire based, Donington Park Grand Prix circuit, Tony and the team hope to welcome back the injured Dan Smith, who should have recovered sufficiently. The four riders hope to achieve some strong results for team owners, Anne Wylie and Cliff Holland, to reward their enthusiastic and dedicated support to the friendliest team in the paddock.
Local Harrow rider, Steve Heneghan, rode through a difficult weekend to bring a strong result aboard his Quattro Group, HCL, Yamaha R1, in the Metzeler 1000 National Superstock Championship.
In the free practice session, Steve placed himself in 32nd position, and was clocked through the speed traps at almost 140 mph. After suffering with Chicken Pox the previous week, he was still recovering and was not yet back to full fitness.
In the first of the two qualifying sessions, Steve improved his time by almost two seconds, and was placed provisionally 31st on the grid. He was quicker through the speed traps, at over 140mph. In the second session, he didn’t manage to improve his time, with the track being damp after earlier rain. He was to line up on the eighth row of the grid, in 31st position.
In the morning warm up before the race, Steve was 24th quickest in again, damp conditions.
The race started well for Steve, making up four places on the first lap, taking him up to 27th position within the first few corners of the race. Steve steadily climbed for the rest of the race catching a group of riders, and battling with them towards the end of the race. He got the best of them, finishing ahead of the five strong pack, in 25th position.
Steve then headed to Brands Hatch for the re run of the snowed off first round. He had qualified back in April, and was to start from the eighth row in 30th position.
He was quick in the free practice session, clocking an impressive 146mph through the speed traps and improving his time by almost a second from the his original qualifying time.
In the race, Steve made a lightning start, moving up eight places in the first lap. He kept on passing riders lap after lap, until he was locked in a battle for eighteenth place. He rode strongly against 2 other riders, and managed to come out on top, taking eighteenth place as the chequered flag fell.
“I am pleased with my result after starting so low down the grid. We had problems when we qualified, but to get such a strong result from it is promising. I have to thank all the guys at Quattro Group, and Heneghan Construction Limited, without them it wouldn’t have been possible, so thank you.” Commented the local Harrow rider.
Steve and the team are already in Northern Ireland for the prestigious Kennedy International North West 200 road races that take place over the next week. Steve hopes to have some more strong finishes there, as he did in 2007.
Local rider, Ben Wylie, struggled through a difficult weekend to finish respectably, aboard the Yamaha R6 in the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport Championship.
Ben started the weekend well, with a top fifteen placing in the first of the two free practices, taking place at the Cheshire and home track for Market Drayton rider, Oulton Park. He also recorded the fastest time through the start finish straight speed trap, by over 2mph, which is a huge margin in such a close championship. In the second of the free practices, Ben improved his time by over a second, being twelth quickest, again in the top three through the speed traps.
On the wet Sunday, the first qualifying session took place, but Ben was on a very quick lap when he had a big crash throwing him from the bike and leaving him battered and bruised, and down in thirtieth position on the grid, provisionally. The second session took place in drying conditions in the afternoon, where Ben made up yet more time, sitting in tenth position for most of the session, but finished in eighteenth, on the fifth row of the grid, alongside team mate, Midge Smart.
In the warm up before the afternoon race, the local rider was quicker again, placing himself in fifteenth, again fastest through the speed trap.
Ben started the race well, moving up from his grid position, but then after just three laps the race was stopped due to a bad crash, making the red flags come out, stopping the race.
With the wrong tyres at the restart, Ben was fighting a loosing battle, but managed to salvage something, by bringing the Wylie and Holland Racing Yamaha R6 home in 28th position, after a long battle with three other riders. Considering that the Market Drayton rider had had a huge crash on cold tyres at the first round, he did well to keep the bike upright, when so many fell in what was a packed field.
“I was disappointed with the weekend, but after a crash on Sunday, I was stiff, sore and had a raging headache. I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch this weekend, where I will be in 16th on the grid and pushing for a top ten finish” said the upbeat rider, “After the wrong tyre choice I was too cautious in the opening laps, ruining my chances of a decent result”
Wylie and Holland Team mate, Midge Smart pulled a great result out the bag when he finished in fifteenth position, picking up points.
The team head to Brands Hatch this weekend for a two day re run of the first round, that was cancelled due to snow.
Local rider, Dan Smith took his Wylie and Holland Yamaha R6 to an impressive second row start at last weekends Thruxton round of the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship, but unfortunately did not manage to finish the race.
Dan had started the weekend well, when in the first free practice session, he was eleventh fastest out of some fifty four competitors. Even more impressively, he was clocked at over 135mph through the speed traps on the quick Hampshire circuit.
In the first of the two qualifying sessions, Dan provisionally placed himself on the edge of the second row, in seventh position, also placing himself fourth through the speed traps. In the second session, Dan, from Coalville, improved his time by over three seconds, and placed himself on the second row in sixth position for the race.
The race started well for Dan, with a blistering start off the line, taking him up third place by the first corner on the first lap. After a few laps, Dan sat back behind the leading group, comfortably. He started to catch up to the group again at mid race distance and began re-passing the other riders. He had just put in his best lap of the race, shaving over a second off of his previous time, and taking second fastest through the speed traps at almost 120mph on the start finish straight. Dan then hit disaster, when he exited the complex section with a little too much throttle, causing the rear wheel to spin and high sided him off the bike, launching him over ten feet into the air. This caused the race to stop, and a result was declared.
The Local rider commented, “I was very happy with my qualifying, although it would have been better to be on the front row, but in actual fact it didn’t matter, as I was third into the first corner. I hope to back for my home race, at Donington Park at the end of May, and will be having Oxygen treatment in the next week, to help shorten the healing process.”
Dan has been confirmed to have two breaks, in his right calcaneus, which is the heel bone. He is currently in hospital, and hoping for a plating operation tomorrow, as the bone often becomes very brittle, and is likely to crumble. He will be on crutches for the next eight weeks, but hopes to be back racing before, at the Leicestershire track, Donington Park, but if that is not possible, then the second visit to the Cheshire track, Oulton Park, in mid July.
Team manager, Tony McPhilips Commented, “Dan was doing so well, and although it was unfortunate, we hope that Dan will be back on his feet as soon as possible, and back racing with us.” The team now head to Oulton Park for their first visit there, on the 5th May.
Ben Wylie and the new Wylie and Holland Racing team didn’t manage to race last weekend aboard their 08 Yamaha R6’s, due to localised weather, giving over seven inches of snow on race day, causing a postponement until mid May by the race organisers.
In the first free practice session of two in the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport Championship, on a warm, sunny Friday, Ben made a good start to the season by being provisionally 12th, whilst also being quickest through the first speed trap, at almost 120mph. The local hero then took a further two seconds off his time in the second practice, placing him sixth fastest overall as Ben competes in the main championship this year, compared to the Cup last year. Ben was joint first through the second speed trap in the second session, clocking just under 150mph over the start finish line.
Qualifying took place on an inclement Saturday, covering two sessions. In the first session, Ben had technical difficulties, leaving him down in twenty fourth place. The bike’s problems were rectified for the second session, but Ben had further difficulties, causing him to crash out, whilst working his way up to a front row start, leaving him on the fourth row of the grid.
“I crashed, due to a cold front tyre, which was a shame, as I was confident of a start from the front two rows” commented a disheartened Ben, “I will have my work cut out on May 11th, starting from sixteenth place on the grid” Ben seemed happy overall with how the weekend had panned out, as the team had managed to progress successfully and smoothly, from one rider to four, which is an impressive achievement.
The other Wylie and Holland Racing young guns all performed brilliantly over the weekend, with Midge Smart, the newest addition to the team, qualifying ahead of Ben on the third row of the grid, in 12th position. The two Metzeler National Superstock 600 competitors, Dan Smith and Matt Bilton, qualified very strongly, with Dan placing himself in tenth place, whilst Matt, with an injured collar bone managed 37th, although, in the wet qualifying session, the youngsters managed second and third quickest.
Team Manager, Tony McPhillips commented, “The weather was very disappointing, especially after such good qualifying from the Superstock lads and the Supersports. Ben performed as we had predicted, but found it very difficult with all the technical problems that prevented his top ten start.”
“All four riders did brilliantly this weekend, especially Midge Smart, as he had had no testing time, and went straight onto the new bike and tyres. Matt Bilton also did well, considering his injury, and Dan was exceptional, especially in the wet, and we are all looking forward to Thruxton.” Tony and the team now look forward to Thruxton, taking place on the 20th April, where they hope to get some podiums.
Dan Smith and the Wylie and Holland Racing Yamaha R6, didn’t manage to race this weekend, when snow fell to over seven inches at the Kent track, Brands Hatch, causing the organisers to postpone the event until mid May.
Dan had started the 2008 season well in the Metzeler National Superstock 600 Championship, when in the practice session, Dan was sixth fastest, just over half a second behind the fastest rider, whilst being clocked at over 140mp over the start finish straight. For most of the session though, he was quickest, only being over taken in the dying moments.
In the first of the two qualifying sessions, Dan knocked almost half a second off his previous time, placing him tenth on the grid, provisionally, which meant a third row start, which was extremely impressive for only his third time out on the bike. With the second session being in the wet, no one could improve their times, but Dan excelled himself, being 3rd quickest, after not having ridden on wet tyres for over 18 months.
Wylie and Holland Racing team manager, Tony McPhillips commented, “Dan did exceptionally well in the wet, especially after not having ridden on wet tyres for a long time. It isn’t that easy to adapt, but we are all very impressed with his performance, in the wet and dry, and are looking forward to Thruxton”
Coalville local, Dan said, “I was really happy with the first round, as I didn’t really know what to expect. The team were fantastic in every way, and although I was disappointed with qualifying, hitting traffic in the last few laps, preventing me from improving my time, the wet qualifying session made up for it.” Although all concerned were disappointed by the weather, the team now know they are competitive and are true contenders for the title in the 2008 season.
Dan will now head to Thruxton on the 20th April, with the knowledge that he will start the re-scheduled Round 1 race, on the third row of the grid, on May 11th, hoping for a podium.