Home
Tom Tunstall: British Superbikes, sponsored by Haas Automation
The world’s largest CNC machine tool supplier, Haas Automation, is pleased to announce a new sponsorship deal with British Superbike racer Tom Tunstall. This latest sponsorship deal reflects the company’s continued passion for motorsport.
Croft
Tom Tunstall claimed his first British Superbike Evo podium with a hard fought third place at Croft over the weekend.
The third round of the 2011 British Superbike series was staged at Croft near Catterick in North Yorkshire and having managed to fit in a day's testing following the previous round the Doodson Motorsport Team were in a buoyant mood.
In contrast to the opening rounds the team only made minor tweaks to the BMW S1000RR machine during the practice and qualifying sessions choosing to concentrate on getting the most from the powerful German machine.
Having improved his time by nearly a second in qualifying, Tunstall was placed 7th in the Evo class and explained:
"We think were on the right track with the bike set-up now and it's a case of trying to get the best out of it. There's still room for improvement in a couple of areas but the changes aren't quite as big as we've been making at previous races and the bike is becoming a lot more predictable". The weather for Sunday race day was challenging for both teams and riders with very light drizzle leaving the track neither wet nor dry making tyre choice a lottery. On the grid for race one the start was delayed as another belt of drizzle blew in meaning a revised distance of 18lap and a classified "Wet Race". Tunstall and his team stuck to the decision of a wet front tyre and an intermediate rear Pirelli. In exceptionally tricky conditions with light drizzle still falling on a patchy drying track, Tunstall set about making his way through the field. |
 |
When the safety car was brought out on lap eight Tunstall was up to third in the Evo class with Swiss Champion Patric Muff in pursuit.
As the race restarted, Tunstall struggled with rear grip and worked hard to keep his pace high.
With only four laps remaining Tunstall had a big slide out of the Chicane giving chance for the Swiss Honda rider chance to retake the third place.
The Doodson rider used the closing laps to plan his attack and on the last lap, with only three corners remaining he swooped up the inside into the Complex holding the place to the chequered flag and claiming his first Evo podium of the season.
"At the start of the race it was a tough call with tyre choice but we did some good homework during the morning warm up session, which helped, and although I struggled with rear grip after the safety car, I think we made the right choice. The bike was moving around a lot and I had a good race with Patric he wasn't easy to pass but with a podium in sight I would have tried anything".
"Getting third place is due reward for the whole Doodson Motorsport Team, as we've had a challenging start to the season and everyone is working hard to make it happen. We made best of the opportunity the changeable weather brought and it's great to be back on the podium."
Race two was held in full dry conditions and Tunstall couldn't replicate the excellent race one result taking eight in the second twenty lap outing.
"It's been a very good weekend for us, we've made great strides since the last round at Oulton and race one was great. But we're not out of the woods yet and we've still got work to do with the BMW. I've got the taste for champagne and we need to work hard to ensure we can taste it again soon!"
Oulton Park
Persistence Brings Progress for Haas sponsored Tunstall
The Second round of the 2011 British Superbike Championship saw Tom Tunstall start to make inroads with his new BMW gaining confidence and points with the new machine.
The picturesque and undulating Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire is renowned as a technical and physical track, which presented a formidable challenge for the Yorkshireman who was still suffering the effects of his foot injury and lack of track time after crashing at Cartagena in Spain in March.
Tunstall and his Haas/Doodson Motorsport backed team were keen to pick up from the tough opening round the previous weekend and the consistent dry weather gave plenty of opportunity to hone the S1000RR.
Heading into race day the search for a satisfactory bike set-up continued and each of the two 18-lap races were preceded by radical changes to the bike as Tunstall explained:
"Obviously in standard spec the BMW is a fantastic bike, but we aren't able to run a lot of the standard parts so we have to start from scratch. On a superbike there are many variables and each effect and compromise each other which makes the job complicated."
"We made some massive changes to the bike geometry for race day as we know we're far from our potential at the moment. It means the races are test sessions with points for us!
Race one was hard work for Tunstall and despite lapping eight tenths faster than qualifying he was rewarded seventh place in the EVO class.
More changes to the bike geometry and front fork springs in the second outing brought progress, and once familiar with the way the bike handled with the new setting he was able to lap consistently at his best pace.
After passing Aaron Zanotti on lap nine a crash by Josh Brookes brought out the safety car at the half way point and closed the grid back together. After the restart Tunstall passed fellow BMW rider Barry
Burrell to claim sixth place at the flag.
"It's far to say we still have a lot of work to do to get to the level we know are capable of and be fighting for the podium. Although it can be very frustrating at times we must take heart from the fact we are heading in the right direction.
"We desperately need to test away from the races to minimise the disruption to the race weekend so we can turn up and get on with racing rather than bike development, something I'm certainly looking forward to!"
The next round see the British Superbike Championship visit Tom's home county of Yorkshire over the weekend of the 13th-15th of May.
Brands Hatch
Turbulent Time for Haas sponsored Tunstall
The opening British Superbike Championship round proved to be a tumultuous affair for Haas/Doodson Motorsport Rider Tom Tunstall, with injury and mechanical issues hampering the launch of his 2011 campaign.
Having made the switch to the latest BMW S1000RR machinery in the off season, the Huddersfield rider’s pre season testing schedule ended early after being thrown from the bike after less than only two hours riding.
Tunstall explained:
“With only three weeks before our first test it was a victory to get the bike to Spain but it wasn’t the finished article. The test had started well but I got caught out by the snappy throttle response before we’d sorted the fuelling”.
After x-rays in both Spain & the UK, the early prognosis was muscle and tendon damage but nearly three weeks later three broken bones were found in his foot.
“They wanted to fit wires to line the bones up but it would have meant missing the first two, possibly three rounds and there’s no guarantee everything would be perfect afterwards so I decided to grin and bear it”
Having struggled with the injury to get quality track time prior to the opening round, both Tom and the team knew the Brands Hatch opener would be tough.
During the practice sessions Tunstall started to acclimatise to the new machine before an engine failure in 2nd free practice meant missing out on virtually all the track time the following day which included qualifying.
“I’m very grateful we have such a good team, the guys worked all through the night after picking a road bike up from Allan Jefferies BMW [Shipley] last night. We had a cooling problem in qualifying which was frustrating but I’m relieved and very happy to have a bike for the race”.
Tunstall completed both the incident strewn 30 lap races collecting 10th & 9th place finishes, and afterwards reflected:
“Without any real testing time and the issue with my foot, the races were more like a test session for us. The bike still doesn’t really feel like it’s mine and we’re still learning about it. There are no shortcuts; it’s just a case of getting time on the bike.
“Although the result sheet doesn’t reflect it, race two was definitely a step in the right direction for me and I’m looking forward to building on it from the first session at Oulton onwards....”
Tom won’t have to wait long with round two held at Oulton Park over the upcoming bank holiday weekend.
Haas Automation proudly sponsors Team Fusion - F1 in Schools and Tom Tunstall - British Superbikes
Member of the Manufacturing Technologies Association
© 2012 Haas Automation Ltd.
Website Terms & Conditions
CNC Verticals VMC & Mills | CNC Horizontals HMC | CNC Turning Centres & Lathes
CNC Rotaries & Indexers | Haas USA
