Westmoreland Leads Championship After Beating Rival

Beverley’s James Westmoreland and Dominic Usher competed in round nine of their respective championships.

Westmoreland onboard Team Traction Control’s Yamaha YZF R6 (Dickies British Supersport) qualified in pole position for the first of his weekends two races, while Usher riding the One7R/Formwise sponsored BMW (Pirelli National Superstock 1000) qualified twelfth.

Going into this round ‘Westy’ was leading the championship and as the Sprint race got underway he was swallowed up by those around him and slipped back to sixth.

Mason Law headed the field from the start and was never caught.  Westmoreland had some work to do and set about passing those in front to keep his championship hopes alive.  Lap five saw him pass Andrew Irwin, but by lap six had dropped back to eighth due to a mistake.  By lap nine he had moved back into fifth place.

Lap ten saw him pass David Allingham to take fourth place where he remained until the chequered flag two lap later.  His championship rival Tarran Mackenzie finished just ahead of him, so they were now tied on points before the Feature race.

It was now time to see what Usher could do.  As the fourteen lap Superstock 1000 race got underway he maintained position off the start.  Part way round lap two he passed Rob McNealy to take eleventh spot.  Continuing to push hard he was now chasing down those in front and on lap five his efforts paid off as he went past Leon Jeacock for tenth place.  He remained in tenth place pushing hard until lap fourteen when title rivals Ian Hutchinson and Taylor Mackenzie collided with each other and crashed out on the final bend of the final lap moving Usher up eighth place at the chequered flag.

The Feature race saw Westmoreland start from third on the grid.  As the lights went green he slipped back to fourth as Tarran Mackenzie went past.  He remained in fourth place until lap five when he made a mistake and slipped back to sixth place, but lap six saw him pass Andrew Irwin for fifth place.  Now on a charge he set about chasing down those ahead to try and regain the championship lead.

Lap thirteen of fifteen he made a pass on David Allingham to claim fourth spot.  He was now chasing down Tarran Mackenzie and lap fourteen saw him pass his championship rival for third spot where he remained until the chequered flag.

‘Westy’ is now leading the championship standings once again but only by three points over Tarran Mackenzie with six races over three rounds to go.

They will be in action again on 16th-18th September around the Donington Park GP circuit.