TAG Racing experienced a challenging weekend at their home circuit of Donington Park, with Scott Swann collecting points in the final ZYN BSB race of the weekend, after his team mate left the Derbyshire circuit pointless after a crash and two technical issues left him frustrated. Jaimie Van Sikkelerus would enjoy a positive weekend, as he collected a brace of 12th place finishes in both National Superstock 100 races.
The weekend got off to a solid start for the team, with both Fraser and Scott working hard throughout the free practice sessions on Friday, however, after consistently improving their lap times following hard work with their respective crews to improve the feeling with the Fireblade package, they would miss out on a spot in Q2 during Saturday’s qualifying, and would be forced to fight it out in Q1.
Ran under sunny skies on Saturday, qualifying would see Rogers and Swann experience a challenging session, missing out on a place in Q2, leaving them 19th and 20th respectively on the grid for the opening 20-lap fight later that afternoon.
Conditions would once again be perfect for the first ZYN BSB race of the weekend, and off the start both riders made great leaps, however after the opening lap Fraser experienced a technical issue with his machine, forcing him to retire from the race at the end of the opening lap. Swann however would enjoy a positive race, battling for the top 15 in a group of five men. By half race distance he was embroiled in a fight with his close friend, Andrew Irwin, with the pair fighting it out over the remaining laps. Swann would unfortunately lose out to Irwin on the final lap for the final points scoring place, taking the flag in 16th.
Sunday’s 12-lap sprint race would see Scott start from 19th on the grid, by virtue of his lap time set in race one, with Fraser 24th.
With beautiful conditions once again blessing the circuit, from the lights the duo made solid starts, with Fraser picking up six places on the opening lap to hold 18th, with Swann in his sights, just two places ahead in 16th.
However, after a safety car was deployed on lap two, the race roared back in life two laps later, although he was pushing hard to make a move on the riders ahead, Rogers crashed out of the race on lap six, unharmed, leaving Swann to fly the flag alone.
He would once again find himself in a battle with Andy Irwin, and by half race distance the pair were joined by Luke Hedger, making it a three-way battle for 15th. The trio swapped paint until the flag, however Swann would fail to come out on top of the fight, crossing the line 17th, just three tenths away from the final points scoring place.
The third, and final 20-lap race of the weekend, would get underway with Swann 18th on the grid, and Rogers 24th, due to their lap times from the sprint race.
As the lights went the pair once again made solid starts, with Swann ending the opening lap 15th and Rogers 20th. By lap four, ‘Swanny’ once again found himself in a duel with Andy Irwin for 14th place, and Fraser would fighting hard to catch the group that included his team mate.
Two laps later however Fraser was forced into the pits with a brake issue, the team worked faultlessly to rectify the issue, and two laps later he rejoined the race with the task of gaining more crucial data for the team.
Swann remained fighting it out with Irwin, once again swapping and changing places across the remaining nine laps. The race of attrition continued, and when the red flag came out to signify the end of the race due to a crash for Glenn Irwin, Swann came home 14th and inside the points, winning the weekend long fight against Andy Irwin. Fraser would fight valiantly, coming home in a lonely 17th place.
The teams’ superstock riders of Matt Truelove and Jaimie Van Sikkelerus endured mixed fortunes over the weekend. Truelove, who came into the weekend continuing to recover from a recent shoulder injury, was forced to retire from action due to his injury. The Lincolnshire man rode the teams 2027 Ducati Panigale V4 S, however he continued to experience issues with shoulder and made the decision to remove himself from the weekend.
Jaimie enjoyed a positive weekend onboard his Fireblade, after a positive Friday he would qualify 14th for the opening race of the weekend on Saturday. The Dutchman would ride a solid race, challenging for the top ten, taking 12th place at the flag to equal his best result of the year. Sunday would see Jaimie once again take 12th place in his feature race, fighting hard all race and bringing home vital Championship points.
Fraser Rogers: “For some reason we just don’t seem to be getting any luck this season, no matter what we do, what we try, we can’t seem to shift our fortunes and it’s really, really frustrating. The team are putting everything into me, so I can’t blame anything on that, they’re fantastic, but for some reason it’s not coming together and that is really disappointing for us all.
“My crash in the sprint race was my own fault, I hold my hands up for that, but unfortunately In race three we have a brake issue and it halted my progress. I need to say say sorry to all the team, we’re working so hard together and it’s unfortunate that our hard work isn’t paying off. Fingers crossed we can round out the year on a high at Brands Hatch in two weeks time.”
Scott Swann: “It’s been another mega weekend onboard the TAG Racing Honda and another challenging weekend back in the superbike class. Friday was tough day but by the end of it I was happy with how we ended the day, I was a tense and putting pressure on myself which didn’t help. I was also on the back foot because everyone had already been there earlier on in the year, but the team did everything to try and find me a good base setting, and we ended the day with a good lap time that I was happy with.
“Qualifying was a struggle, but I was happy with my lap time and by that time I was just ready to race and get my teeth stuck in. Race one I struggled to find any flow, I got beaten up in the early laps which wasn’t what I wanted and I lost a little bit of rhythm, but I made up a few positions at the flag.
“I was fired up for Sunday in all truth, and after getting beaten up a little bit on the opening lap in the sprint race the safety car came out, my tyres dropped in temperature and I experienced a few near crashes so I happy to bring it home safely after those and I brought it home in 16th after a battle with Andy.
“We improved the bike in-between races and it certainly helped, I was much more happier with the bike and I enjoyed a good race with Andy. I felt a lot more like myself, I was happy with everything and to come home with 14th I was pleased with that. The team worked great, we made great steps forward and they gave me a great bike, and I’m super excited to get to Brands Hatch now and continue this momentum.”
Matt Truelove: “I’m disappointed with our weekend, however the team and I agreed that it was important that I focussed on my recovery. I had worked incredibly hard to get back on the bike this weekend, however, I just didn’t have enough strength in my shoulder to be able to be competitive. The short amount of time I did on the bike I was very impressed with the Panigale V4 S, it’s an impressive machine and I feel we’ll extremely competitive in 2027.
“My goal is now to get as fit as possible for the final round at Brands Hatch and round the year off on a high.”
Jaimie Van Sikkelerus: “This weekend been a really nice weekend for me, the team did great work and I’m leaving here much happier with everything. We have had good pace across the weekend and we’ve been consistent with our work, so to come away with two 12th places is pleasing. I would have liked to get into the top ten, but we know where we can improve for the final round to ensure we finish the season on a high. Thanks once again to all the team, they’ve worked great all weekend.”
Team manager Gary Winfield: “This weekend has been tough, we’ve faced our fair share of issues however the team have worked brilliantly all weekend to ensure we came away with points from Scott and Jaimie.
“It’s frustrating and disappointing for us all as a team at the moment, we’re working harder than ever to improve our fortunes, and luck, however it’s just not changing, and that’s really disappointing. We’ve got one more crack of the whip at Brands Hatch in a couple of weeks time and hopefully our luck will change then before we look ahead to the 2027 season.”
Fraser Rogers now sits 17th in the ZYN BSB Championship on 45 points, with Scott Swann 24th on 5 points. Matt Truelove now sits sixth in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship on 144 points, with Jaimie Van Sikkelerus 21 on 20 points.
The team now turn their attentions to the final round the Championship in two weeks time at Brands Hatch on October 16/17/18.
