Linfoot beats broken blipper for rostrum result

Dan Linfoot has produced a strong start to his 2018 Bennetts British Superbike championship campaign for Honda Racing with third place in race two at Donington Park despite a broken blipper.

The 29-year-old bolted off of the start line in race two to jump up to second place on the opening lap behind Bradley Ray but was reeled in by Leon Haslam at mid-race distance before a broken blipper stalled his charge.

But with a useful time gap on the chasing pack Linfoot held on to third place for rostrum result at the opening round of the 2018 BSB campaign which gives him third in the early BSB riders’ championship.

“I lacked a little bit in the middle of the race and Leon came past me with about 10 laps to go and a couple laps after that I lost my blipper and the downshift so it in terms of getting back to the front guys it was race over,” Linfoot said. “My focus was on maintaining my podium position and fortunately we had quite a big gap over fourth place so I could nurse it home from there.

“I am happy with the result and to take a podium at the first round of the season. It is a long year and you can’t win the championship here but with the weather we’ve had it would be really easy to slip off and do yourself some damage.

“I am really happy to stay on for the whole weekend, score some strong points and not put myself of the team back with crashes.”