Alastair Seeley and Relentless by TAS Suzuki got their 2010 MCE British Superbike seasons off to an encouraging start as they each celebrated a maiden podium finish at Brands Hatch.
Competing in only his third career
BSB event, reigning Superstock champion Seeley had already made an impression with his run to third on the grid in qualifying, but the he gave himself work to do in both races when bad starts left him towards the bottom end of the top ten.
Nonetheless, Seeley proved he can joust on a Superbike as he diced with Stuart Easton and Josh Brookes in the opening race to lift himself up to third, even if James Ellison would demote him to an eventual fourth.
Seeley would go one step further in race two as he caught and passed team-mate Michael Laverty to not only get on the podium, but to also record Relentless by TAS Suzuki's best ever result at this level.
“It was nice to get that result in race two: the first
BSB podium for the boys and also the fastest lap of the race on the Relentless by TAS Suzuki. We'll need to work on our starts for the next round, but I really enjoyed today. There were some hard moves going on out there; I think I swapped paint with Easton in race one a few times.
“The guys in the team have been doing a great job for me, and I know I've said it more than once today, but the bike was on rails in race two. The biggest thing I noticed from riding in Superstock is the quality of the entry and when you make a pass it has to be forceful and very precise. I'm delighted with our start and I'm now well set up for Thruxton.”
After retiring with mechanical problems in race one, Laverty was happy to get a good career-equalling result in the second race.
“I'll take the positives from the weekend with fourth place in race two, but I have to admit I was frustrated at times with the problems we encountered this weekend.
"The biggest problem was the lack of track time, but I must give big credit to the boys in the garage as they had absolutely no time to sit back and relax this weekend. There will be better days but it was nice to see Alastair getting his podium.”