News
Jessopp Scores Best Result Of BSB Season After Huge Qualifying Crash
Ridersmotorcycles.com BMW’s Martin Jessopp scored his best finish of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship season with an eleventh place at Oulton Park yesterday after he bounced back from a high-speed crash in qualifying from the previous day.
 Jessopp and the team had been working hard throughout the weekend to make improvements and close the gap to their rivals, but during the first stage of qualifying he suffered a huge crash which left him battered and bruised. The Yeovil rider put in two determined performances in the races on Bank Holiday Monday to claim a 15th place in race one, but with some drastic changes to the front of the BMW allowed the team to be in the pack fighting for seventh position. Jessopp ended the race just outside the top ten with an eleventh place finish and feeling positive that the team can continue to build at the next round at Knockhill next month.
Jessopp said: “It was another tough weekend but the hard work of the team meant we were able to turn it around and get the best result of our season. We have been having difficulties as we haven’t had any data when we get to the circuits and then we had to play catch up, although the next visit to Oulton Park at least we will have some to use. In qualifying we were pushing and then I had a big crash; I had come out on a new tyre and I just had a high-side and was thrown around so felt quite battered after that.
“In the first race I had a terrible start and then I was trying really hard to work the bike out of the corners to try and make up some time; I was getting tense and making mistakes as for the first time in a while I started getting some arm pump. I managed to salvage a point which was better than nothing but we made some drastic changes for race two which made an unbelievable difference. In race two I got stuck in and we were in a big pack and having a great battle. I was able to run a much better pace and be smoother so I was happy with that and now we get ready for the North West 200.”
This article was posted on Wednesday 8th May
Once Glitch Sorted Then Will Be Fired Up The Rankings
 Martin Jessopp believes his Ridersmotorcycles.com team have discovered a set-up glitch that once fixed will not only calm his BMW’s aggression but also fire him up the rankings.
The Yeovil racer’s Eureka moment did not come in time to earn top ten finishes at Thruxton on Sunday and may not prove as evolutionary as he hopes until Oulton Park next month.
However, Jessopp maintains the closely-guarded suspension-related secret will help him better the 14th and 15th places he registered at a damp Hampshire circuit last weekend.
He said: “I wasn’t really that happy after the race but we then found something quite big with our bike which will make a big difference.
“It’s a shame we didn’t spot it 24 hours earlier and couldn’t get out on the track with it. It’s to do with the geometry side and the suspension.
“With the way the bike is set-up we were a long way out with one party but didn’t realise until after the race and it had been like that since we have had the bike.
“That’s why it has been so aggressive and trying to spit me off when the tyres were getting worn. When the guys were looking through the data they couldn’t understand that aggression but now they have found something.”
The 27-year-old refused to rule out a foreign test before heading to Oulton Park in Cheshire over the May Bank Holiday, adding he was pleased to head north with points on the board.
“A 14th and 15th wasn’t really what I wanted but in the grand scheme of things it was a step further from the weekend before,” said Jessopp.
“It’s a little bit disheartening finishing ten places worse than what I have done around Thruxton before but I have to accept I was then on a bike that we had developed for four or five years and now we’re in the very early stages. It is a bit frustrating but at least there are now a few points in the bag.”
This article was posted on Monday 15th April
No Complaints With Progress at Brands
 Martin Jessopp refused to hide his disappointment at race finishes on his long-awaited to MCE British Superbikes but had no complaints with progress made at Brands Hatch.
The Yeovil-based racer battled to 17th and 19th place finishes on the Indy circuit in the first competitive outing for the newly-formed Ridersmotorcycles.com BMW team.
After official pre-season outings were blighted by weather, forcing Jessopp to Spain for last-minute track time, the 27-year-old compared opening sessions at the shorter version of the historic venue to tests.
However, he added that new parts and conquering a steep learning curve left his team in no doubt as to how they could force their way further up the field at Thruxton this weekend.
Jessopp, back in BSB after a year in World Supersport, said: "We lost the first morning of practice due to the weather, which we could really have done without. It was still like pre-season testing for us during the sessions, changing so much stuff on the bike that you would never normally change at a meeting. Every time we would change something we would get up to speed with that and then be ready to change something else to get the bike to the next level. It was a difficult weekend. I'm not happy with how we did but the team and everyone that works for the team is happy with what we have done because we have come a long way in seven days.”
"A week ago we would never have thought we would have been able to do what we have done. It's promising and the bike seems to be good on the new tyres. Once the tyres started to get a bit worn it started tank slapping going down the home straight where the bars are going left and right at 140MPH. We have got some major things to address and some parts actually arrived on Saturday but we weren't in a position to test them before the race. They will be fitted ahead of Thruxton and hopefully we can turn it round and get another step closer there."
Jessopp added that despite lowly finishes on Sunday's race day, the team started the week in buoyant mood. "We know what needs to be done and we are pretty sure that the changes we are planning on making will do the job so it should be good," he said. "When the tyres are new the bike felt good and the lap times were 1.3s off pole at a short track. We've definitely got positives to take and I think we will be alright. "We knew it was going to be tough but we have got the first one out of the way, which we knew was going to be the hardest. Now it's on to a track I know and a track where I have always done well and enjoyed rising so I'm looking forward to it."
This article was posted on Tuesday 9th April
Jessopp's Interview After Testing Crash
After Martin Jessopp's crash in Portugal during testing in January read about how he
refuses to be worried by huge Portimao testing crash HERE
This article was posted on Thursday 31st January
Martin Jessopp's Video Interview
Watch Martin Jessopp's 2013 preview interview HERE
This article was posted on Wednesday 16th January
 Jessopp on BMW for 2013
The RidersMotorcycles.com team are set for a comeback to the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship after today (Wednesday 9th January) announcing the return of Martin Jessopp onboard a BMW.
Yeovil's Jessopp has been a regular protagonist in the championship, scoring top ten finishes and just missed out on a maiden podium finish at Donington Park in 2012. Jessopp competed in the World Supersport Championship last season but now is turning his attention back to Britain as he prepares to return stronger and determined to claim a position in the coveted end of season Showdown.
The RidersMotorcycles.com team will switch to BMW for the new season; the prestigious manufacturer featured in the Showdown last year and was tantalisingly close to appearing on the MCE British Superbike Championship podium for the first time.
Martin Jessopp said: "I have unfinished business in BSB and that is why I want to get back out there again. I think I took a year away at the wrong time in hindsight; at the time it was for the right reasons but I left when I was at my strongest position in the championship. It feels good to be back and on a competitive bike and everyone has seen that the BMW is a strong package in BSB. I want to start the season and straight away pick up where we left off; there is no time to settle in and get comfortable but because I have raced the BMW before I don't think it will be an issue. We have the bikes stripped down at the moment and planning our test schedule so we can be ready for Brands Hatch. I want to be back up and fighting at the front and definitely pushing for the Showdown."
Team owner Phil Jessopp said: "I am pleased to announce that the team will be back in the British Superbike Championship this season after a tough year in 2012. We really are looking forward to the new season and pushing to try and improve on our previous results in the championship. Martin has learnt a lot and I think that will benefit him this season. We are now looking forward to our first test with the BMW; the bike clearly has strong potential in the championship and we are feeling confident about the forthcoming season."
MCE BSB Series Director Stuart Higgs concluded: "It's great to see Phil and Martin Jessopp back in BSB. The RidersMotorcycles.com team is highly professional and capable and reached the Showdown stage of the Championship in 2010 with Michael Rutter on the Ducati. I'm sure Martin has eliminated his difficult Word Supersport campaign from his memory and will quickly recapture his strong previous BSB form, which included top five position race finishes and a race start from pole position."
This article was posted on Wednesday 9th January
|
|
|
|
|
|
01278 457652 |
0117 958 8777 |
02920 233559 |
|
| |
|
|
|
