It was a bitter sweet weekend for TAG Racing Honda at round six of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at the UK’s fastest circuit, Thruxton, after early promise during the free practice and qualifying sessions was thwarted by bad luck and crashes come Sunday race day.
The weekend got off to a great start for the team, with the superstock pairing of Shaun Winfield and Matt Truelove ending the free practice sessions second and third on combined times, after finishing the first of the two at the top of the timesheets.
In the superbike class both Fraser Rogers and Jaimie Van Sikkelerus worked hard on preserving tyre life, which would be vital come the three races across the weekend.
Qualifying on Saturday morning would see mixed fortunes for the team, after Fraser and Jaimie failed to progress through Q1, they would line up 18th and 26th respectively for the weekend’s first race. Although the duo would post their fastest laps of the weekend during the session.
Matt and Shaun would experience contrasting fortunes, with Truelove posting his best lap of the weekend to line him up on the edge of the second row in sixth, and Winfield two places back in eighth place, with the pair aiming high for the afternoon’s opening race.
Under the sun bathed Hampshire skies the lights went out to signal the start of the first Pirelli National Superstock battle, both riders made excellent starts, as Matt held fourth and Shaun seventh after the opening lap.
Truelove began to battle hard in the leading group, swapping and changing places throughout the next string of laps, and by lap 8 he found himself in second and chasing down the leader as the 15 lapper hit half race distance.
With just two laps to go he had dropped back to fifth place and was fighting hard with Tom Ward. As the pair headed into the final chicane for the last time, the Lincolnshire-man made a hard, but fair move and grabbed fourth spot at the line, picking up 18 points to his Championship challenge.
As the race hit 50% complete Shaun had worked his way into fifth, and found himself on the back of the leading group and in the hunt for the podium places. With the laps ticking by, the group were then joined by two more riders, exchanging passes until the flag, with Shaun sadly pipped to the line by Finn Arscott, dropping him back to seventh, however he collected 12 vital points for his efforts.
Just two hours later it would be the turn of the Superbike challengers, with Fraser Rogers and Jaimie Van Sikkelerus aiming to continue the solid work set by their team-mates. Both made good starts to the 20-lap battle, with Fraser picking up two places after the opening lap and Jaimie holding 23rd.
It would then be a race of attrition for the pair, with Rogers working hard to pull himself to the foot of the leading group after posting the then fastest time of the race by lap 10. However, after battling with his friend and rival, Scott Redding, he dropped off the group and diced with Rory Skinner and Storm Stacey for 13th.
As the battle heated up, Rogers would struggle to find a way past, and as the trio headed into the final chicane for the last time, he was pushed wide on entry, which ultimately put pay to his challenge and he took the flag in 15th. However, his lap time would be good enough to line him up seventh on the grid for Sunday’s shorter sprint race.
After a positive opening sequence of laps, Jaimie would then struggle to keep up to the group ahead, who were dicing for 20th. The 28-year-old soon found himself in a tussle with former Grand Prix racer Danny Webb, and the pair swapped places all race long, gaining the Dutchman some good data for Sunday’s races. Although he just couldn’t get the better of the Aprilia man come the chequered flag and crossed the line in 25th.
Under sunny skies on Sunday it would be the turn of Matt and Shaun to race first, following a set of successful morning warm up sessions in both classes.
As the lights went out both riders made great starts and became embroiled in a battle for second place, after the leader Ilya Mikhalchik cleared off at the front, with Matt moving from seven to fifth place and Shaun holding his grid slot of 11th.
By lap four, Truelove looked to make a move forward into the top three at the final chicane, but he out broke himself and had to rejoin in ninth. Two laps later he quickly regrouped, moved back through the pack to seventh and was hunting down the battle for second. Winfield found himself in that battle, but as he pushed to catch the riders ahead he lost the front, crashing out of the race unhurt, suffering his first DNF of 2025.
The Lincolnshire-man Truelove was making great progress through the field, picking off three riders and sitting on the back of the group that were challenging for second. He continued to battle hard, managing his tyre wear, and as he entered the chicane for the last time, he tried to make a move for the podium spots, however he just lost out at the line, crossing it fifth and collecting 16 points.
The shorter, Bennetts BSB sprint race would see Fraser line up seventh on the grid, by virtue of his lap time set in Saturday’s first race, with Jaimie 25th.
As the lights went out both riders made good leaps off the line and Fraser battled hard in the opening sequence of corners to hold his grid slot, however as the pack exited ‘Segrave’ for the first time, he came together with Tommy Bridewell and crashed out of the race, thankfully unhurt but ultimately frustrated.
Jaimie was then embroiled in a battle with four riders, dicing for position, but a red flag quickly came out after an incident involving Blaze Baker and Danny Webb. When the eight lap restart got underway, he made another strong start and sat in 22nd place, fighting it out with Davey Todd and Jamie Davis.
By half race distance Todd made his way to the head of the group, and began to pull away, leaving the Dutchman and Davis to battle. As the pair duked it out for 21st, and on the final lap, as Jaimie lined up a move, he unfortunately crashed out, thankfully uninjured.
Following great work from the team to rebuild two superbikes in the two hour break, the riders made the grid for the final 20 lap outing of the weekend. However, after failing to set a time in the sprint race, Fraser would start 23rd with Jaimie one place ahead in 22nd.
Once again, off the lights both made good starts with Fraser making up three places to 20th after the opening lap, and Jaimie in a battle for 22nd with Todd and Davis.
The home town hero then continued to work his way forward, picking off riders ahead of him and by half race distance he found himself in 17th. However, due to the abrasive nature of the Thruxton surface and the rising track temperatures he began to lose grip from his rear SCD Pirelli tyre, losing the tow to the group ahead and was forced to ride a lonely race to the flag, crossing the line in 16th.
Unfortunately it would be a challenging end to the weekend for Jaimie as he was forced to retire from the race at half race distance.
Fraser: “It’s been a really tricky weekend to be honest, it’s felt very up and down, we’ve had some good speed which showed in race one with my lap time, but we’ve just been unlucky I feel, I got taken out in race two which meant I didn’t get a lap time in for the third race, so we forced to start from the back of the grid. All in all, I’m just frustrated because I feel something was there for us.
“Sometimes you have these type of weekends and it’s about how you bounce back from them, which luckily we have the chance in two weeks time at Cadwell Park and I can’t wait to get back out on track.”
Jaimie: “I’m extremely disappointed with how this weekend has gone, I have been giving it my all but honestly I have struggled. It has been my first time at Thruxton on a superbike and it really has been an eye opener, overall I’m disappointed. I can’t thank the team enough for all their hard work, they have given it their all, especially to rebuild my bike after the crash in race two. Thankfully we don’t have long to wait before racing again, I need to put this weekend behind me and move on to Cadwell Park.”
Matt: “On the whole this weekend has been positive, but I am disappointed with our race results, we had the pace to be on the podium and although that we’ve picked up some really good points for the Championship I thought we’d be leaving here with a trophy. Looking at the positives, we’ve made good steps forward with the bike and it’s in a really good window at the moment, so I’m excited to get to Cadwell. It’s my home race and I want to give everyone something to shout about.”
Shaun: “I’m really frustrated with how this weekend has ended because on the whole it has been really positive, we’ve shown some good speed. From the outset we’ve been strong but in race one on Saturday I just got stuck behind a few people that I needed to get past, and although the battle was good, it just held me up and I lost the front guys and I felt had the pace to run with them.
“The crash in race two was a strange one, we’ve looked at the data and it was identical to the lap before. I was pushing hard to move into podium contention and I’m disappointed. But, it gives me confidence heading into Cadwell Park, we’re in a good place and I’m sure at the next round we’ll be able to be in the battle.”
Gary: “It’s been a bitter sweet weekend really, we’ve had the pace with three of our lads across the weekend but the races just didn’t go our way due to a few reasons, but I can’t fault the lads for commitment and effort that they have shown.
“Sometimes you get these weekends in racing, we’ve had them before and we’ll certainly have them again, but it’s about how you bounce back from it and with Cadwell Park just around the corner we have the chance to do just that. We’ve got some good data to to work from and I’m sure all the boys will be back up the sharp end when we head there next time out.”
