SR Off-Road Aprilia rider Sam Warren made a welcome return to home soil for
the first round of the MotoGB British Supermotard Championship at Cadwell
Park securing pole position in SM1 and winning the Superfinal with two
second place finishes in the other races.
The return to winning ways was a positive sign after a tough opening World
Supermoto Championship round in Italy in which the team suffered from setup
issues on the new Aprilia SXV.
Further development work and additional parts has allowed the team to make a
major step forward as they went head-to-head with fellow Aprilia rider and
World Championship rival Christian Iddon for their first real test in the
UK.
The Derbyshire team did have a little luck in qualifying at the Lincolnshire
circuit which endured some atrocious conditions throughout the weekend. A
rare break in the weather allowed SR Off-Road Aprilia to send Warren out on
slicks for two laps and he made the most of a drying line to secure pole as
the only rider to crack the 1:04 barrier.
The first race of the day saw a classic battle between Warren, Iddon and KTM
mounted Ady Smith. Warren got the holeshot and led the race to half-distance
before becoming entangled with a back-marker which allowed a lurking Iddon
to get past and open a narrow gap which he held through to the finish.
Back-markers once again came into play in the second race and denied Warren
a race win after he took the holeshot and held the race lead until the final
few laps. He was then baulked by another rider and forced off the track
before rejoining well down on Iddon who took the win.
Warren though had his revenge in the Superfinal leading from the outset and
never looking back. Iddon faded and then went into the pits before rejoining
as Warren went on to take a comfortable four second win over nearest rival
Smith.
Team boss Mick Spencer said that they were now coming to grips with the
Aprilia SXV with further developments in the pipeline.
"We are rapidly catching up on the development side of things with the
Aprilia and I think Sam and Christian who is one of our major rivals in the
World Championship were very evenly matched today. We are all looking
forward to the next round in France this weekend with renewed confidence."
The next World Supermoto Championship round for the SR Off-Road Aprilia team
is this weekend at Villars sous Ecot in France on the 27th and 28th May.
