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Mixed fortunes for Ducati AT Silverstone

Season's best fourth place for Hopkins
Top TriOptions Cup riders share the spoils
One make series to go down to the wire
John Hopkins and the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati squad had mixed fortunes at Silverstone this weekend (2/4 October) for the penultimate round of the 2015 British Superbike Championship.

The team once again proved the speed of the 1199 Panigale Superbike, setting the pace in Friday practice before securing a superb second place on the grid with an incredible lap in the final part of Saturday's qualifying that was well under the previous record pace.

It was a brilliant start from the Californian from the front row in Sunday's opening contest, and he led for the opening few turns. With current standings leader Josh Brookes blasting back through, though, Hopper opted not to risk any overly-ambitions manoeuvres and settled into a comfortable rhythm to stay in touch.

As the race progressed the #15 Lloyds British Moto Rapido machine diced with the likes of Shane Byrne, James Ellison and Peter Hickman, and in the closing stages found himself in fifth.

As the field barrelled down the Wellington Straight for the final time Hopkins was right on the back wheel of Ellison's Kawasaki, and as they tipped into Brooklands the Ducati was able to slip up the inside to grab fourth - the best result for the 1199 Panigale in BSB spec to date.

It was unfortunately a disappointing end to the weekend in race two, as technical problems forced Hopper into retirement early on. He had made another strong start but was forced out wide exiting turn one leaving him in ninth. Just as he began to make progress back up the order he had to pull off to the side of the track having lost power.

Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati Team Principal Steve Moore said: "It's a difficult end to the weekend for us and it's obviously very frustrating. Having scored the best ever result for the Panigale in race one we had our sights set on that first podium, but to have another technical problem is just unacceptable - especially after so many years of perfect reliability.

"We'll regroup for Brands Hatch and try and get that podium that we know we're capable of."

The Ducati TriOptions Cup is reaching fever pitch with three riders left battling for 2015 glory. Both races at Silverstone with thrillers, with the main championship contenders fighting fairing to fairing to grab every available point.

It was Leon Morris leading the way coming into the weekend for P&H/Carl Cox Motorsport, but in qualifying on Saturday morning his closest competitor Robbie Brown on the Boast Plumbing 899 grabbed pole position. Rob Guiver's Hyside Motorcycles machine was third on the grid - he also sat third in the standings.

When the lights went out for the first time on Saturday afternoon it was Morris on the charge, and he hit the front to set up an enthralling battle with Brown as the pair seemed to have better pace at different points on the long 3.7-mile track allowing them to swap positions almost every lap.

As Guiver's 899 Panigale stalked the top two, it looked certain to come down to a last lap decider and so it proved to be. In the end it was Guiver's roll of the dice to try and pass Brown at Village that ultimately gave Morris the breathing space to go on to win. As Guiver ran wide and couldn't manage to hold on to second, Brown re-took the place and lost only a handful of points to Morris.

The second showdown on Sunday proved to be equally enthralling, as once again Morris led off the start line with Guiver and Brown giving chase. This time around the leading three riders were joined by the impressive Greg Gilfillan and Phil Atkinson who are both enjoying rich veins of form in the TriOptions Cup, although Gilfillan took a tumble from fourth at mid-distance.

At mid-distance there had been a number of lead changes, with Brown often fastest into Stowe corner with Morris re-passing into the Vale chicane. In a bid to retain his lead on lap four Morris pushed just a bit too hard and ran wide, dropping down to fourth. Brown and Guiver chopped and changed at Copse for the next two tours and in doing so didn't build a gap. This meant that going onto the penultimate lap Morris had made up the time he lost and it was a three-way fight for the lead once more.

As Morris pushed on to try and take second place from Guiver at Village he again ran wide, and blasting down the Wellington Straight for the final time it was Brown who had enough of a gap to keep his front wheel ahead of Guiver on the run to the finish line.

The 2012 Ducati champion overhauled Morris' standings lead and now sits three points to the good as the UK's top one-make series heads to Brands Hatch for a grandstand finish to the 2015 campaign. Guiver is still in touch 36 points behind, and any mistakes from the top two could put him in contention to take his first Ducati TriOptions Cup title.

Robbie Brown said: "Today was not about the championship it was more about winning the race, especially after yesterday when I felt a bit robbed. There was nothing in it today, credit to the team for making the changes and making the bike more stable. We've got a three-point lead now going into Brands and the strategy will be the same - go for the win."

Rob Guiver said: "It was a great weekend, we were all really close and it was good clean racing. It would have been nice to have come out on top but I gave it my all so I am happy with that. Brands Hatch is my home round, I get a lot of friends and family coming to watch so I will give it 110% as always and try and pull out the stops for some wins."

Leon Morris said: "We have struggled in the last few rounds, the way the boys are riding at the moment they are not putting a foot wrong and to have a good bike is not enough - it needs to be perfect. The lap times are crazy - we are three seconds a lap quicker than we were last year here which is a massive jump. Yesterday's result was a huge confidence boost but today we struggled with the front tyre which was destroyed by the end of the race so have to be happy with where we ended up. We will take each race as it comes and not think about the championship and just try and win races and see what comes."