Jenny Tinmouth returned to Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport action last weekend competing in round eight of the championship at one of her favourite circuits Brands Hatch. She made solid progress all weekend, qualifying on the fifth row of the grid and running in a strong 12th position in the race, competing for victory in the Supersport Cup, before crashing out of contention at the left hander of Surtees.

From the very first practice session on Friday morning it was clear that Jenny was once again enjoying the 2.3 mile Grand Prix circuit equaling her personal best time set the previous year and completing the session in 17th position overall, and second of the cup competitors. The afternoon practice also went well, lapping consistently she would be a fraction slower than her morning time, finishing the day just outside the top twenty.

The Supersport competitors had just one qualifying session on the Saturday, due to it being broadcast live on TV via British Eurosport, and with the track being damp during the morning’s final free practice; this was probably beneficial to most riders. Jenny enjoys the damp conditions, and proved this by climbing back inside the top twenty, taking 17th position.

The televised qualifying session was run in perfect conditions, with Jenny running consistent, fast lap times. At the halfway point she came in to the pits for fresh rubber on the rear of her sorrymate.com Honda. On returning to the track, she would need to find some space and leaving her flying lap until the penultimate lap of the session, she would find some good pace to set her best time ever of the circuit of one minute 30.328 seconds, at an average speed of 91.70mph, which placed her on row five of the grid and in 19th position, second only to Luke Mossey, of the cup competitors.

In the short morning warm-up Jenny matched her qualifying time and remained confident whilst preparing for the upcoming 16 lap race.

Making a good start to the race, Jenny lost some drive coming out of Paddock Hill bend on the opening lap, costing her two places. As the race progressed there were a number of incidents, one of which led to the safety car being deployed, resulting in the pack being backed up behind race leader, Sam Lowes. Jenny was holding a well deserved 12th position with the leading cup competitor just ahead, and when the safety car went in she would be in a great position to challenge for a top ten finish and the cup victory, but as she turned in at Surtees on lap eleven she would lose the front and disappointingly crash out of the race.

Jenny Tinmouth:

“It would have been nice to top off our weekend with a good result; I was so near to pulling it off so I am a bit disappointed with the actual result. However, I am very pleased with how things went over the course of the weekend, we’ve made several changes to the bike and all have proved positive, and we are definitely going in the right direction with set up. My lap times have been coming down and I have remained consistently up there all weekend. I feel that we are making real progress and just can’t wait for Cadwell Park at the end of the month.”