Northpoint Honda Racing Rider Craig Jones extended his lead in the British
Supersport Championship as he took a fantastic 3rd place. His team-mate Cal
Crutchlow had to sit out on the sidelines after a huge crash on the Saturday
left him with ripped ligaments and torn tendons in his left arm.
Jones who also suffered two crashes during the damp qualifying sessions on
Saturday, still managed to qualify his Northpoint Honda onto third on the
grid. Feeling very sore and bruised on race day Jones put on a valiant
effort to gain the podium spot as he was locked in a fierce battle with main
Championship rival Tom Sykes.
The damp conditions did not stop a bumper crowd appearing to watch the best
riders in the country dicing it out against each other. Once again it was
Jones that gained the hole-shot of what was set out to be a frantic race. As
the four front runners began to leave the chasing pack in the distance Jones
got his head down and worked hard to fight off the hounding Sykes.
Crutchlow made an attempt to ride in the race but after the warm up lap it
was decided that he was in too much pain to carry on. He will be seeing
doctors and specialists this week in order to try and get his injuries
mended before the next race at Knockhill in two weeks time. Speaking with a
disappointed Crutchlow he said 'This is the last thing I needed, it was a
fairly big high-side that I suffered and I got trapped underneath the bike.
I knew I had done some damage instantly as the pain was so intense,
originally they thought I might have broken my shoulder blade or my arm. I'm
aiming to get things sorted out as soon as possible and hopefully get back
on my bike for Knockhill.'
Jones said 'It's been a tough weekend in general and the weather conditions
played a huge part in both Cal and I crashing on the Saturday. Luckily I did
no serious damage but I still didn't feel 100% on race day. I'm pleased to
have got a podium and gained at few more points over Tom. The bike felt
great and the team worked really hard once again to make sure everything ran
right.'
Team Principal Gary Ekerold commented 'It's been a difficult weekend for the
team and obviously the crash that Cal sustained was a blow to us all. Craig
once again ran at the front and gained another podium and moved us closer to
taking the British Supersport title. He worked extremely hard throughout the
weekend and if we can continue with this consistency it will help us achieve
our main goal. It's unfortunate for Cal as he really was making progress in
his riding and was clawing his way up the Championship tables, hopefully the
injury won't hinder him to much and we'd like to see him back on the bike as
soon as he is fit enough.
The next round of the Championship is at Knockhill on June 26th.
