Gavin Littlewood, has stepped up from the ACU Star Junior Superstock Championship, where he came 9th on a Yamaha R6. A Big learning curve is ahead of Gavin, but he is more than up to the challenge!

RACE DATES

For 2007, Gavin is riding a 2007 Suzuki GSXR1000K6

LATEST NEWS

Superstock Cup racer Gavin Littlewood has won the famous Ken Redfern Trophy, in memory of the local sporting hero from nearby Hutton Rudby. This was the race Gavin’s sponsors RNR Coatings Ltd really wanted to win as they knew Ken and are good friends with his brother Mike. The team were going all out to win this trophy and even put on a brand new set of slick racing tyres which were not required in the end as it started to rain just before the start of the race. Gavin was on the front row alongside Andrew Bennet and Kirk Jamison (last year’s trophy winner & Irish Superbike championship runner up). When the lights went out for the start Gavin let the clutch out and went no where as the rear wheel started to spin on the wet track. Someone hit Gavin from behind and it was nearly all over for the team on the first corner. Gavin managed to compose himself and was in eighth position after the first lap. With it being only a ten lap race Gavin maintained a quick but sensible pace in the wet conditions and with only four laps completed was in second position behind last year’s winner Kirk Jamison. After a tense and thrilling battle which saw Gavin take the fastest lap of the race, Gavin crossed the line in first place to win the Ken Redfern Trophy..



Gavin Littlewood: Jamison seemed to have the edge on me on the exit of the corners but I was better on the brakes and mid corner speed. I watched him until the eighth lap to see where I was quicker then made a move up the inside into the hairpin. Unfortunately I ran wide allowing him back through. As we came out of the hairpin on the next lap I knew I had to get good drive to have another go at him on the last lap. I opened the throttle a bit too early and was thrown from my seat allowing Jamison to pull a good three second advantage on me. I didn’t give up and put in a near perfect last lap and reeled Kirk back in. As we came into the complex for the final time I was on his tail and lined myself up to try and pass him at the hairpin again. I didn’t brake until he did and got the inside line, we then touched each other but as I had the inside line there was nothing he could do and I crossed the line in first. My last lap was the fastest lap of the race with a 1: 31.8 nearly two seconds faster than Jamison’s best. I didn’t quite realise what I had won until I had the trophy presented to me. The list of famous riders on the trophy include, Joey Dunlop, Nick Jefferies, David Jefferies, John Mc Guinness, James Whitham, Dennis Hobbs to name a few. Seeing my name along side theirs is going to be a very proud moment once it’s engraved.

Knockhill Round

Top ten for Gavin Littlewood at Knockhill

Leeds based Superstock Cup racer Gavin Littlewood stormed to a blistering tenth place at Knockhill in Scotland for round six of the Metzeler Racetec National Superstock Cup. Gavin started from thirteenth place on the grid but quickly worked his way up to ninth place and was as high as eighth on lap three on his RNR Coatings Suzuki GSXR 1000. The safety car was deployed on lap five and this bunched up the whole field negating the gap Gavin had built up on the chasing pack. On lap seven the safety car came in and the race got back under way but Gavin's front tyre had overheated in the drying conditions and Gavin lost two places to move back to tenth position after an off track excursion. A further incident on lap ten saw another rider crash out in the wet conditions and his stationary motorcycle lay in a dangerous position at the Weir chicane prompting the race director to red flag the race after twelve of the scheduled eighteen laps. As the race had completed ¾ race distance it was declared a full result preventing Gavin the opportunity to make up further positions. Gavin now sits joint eighteenth in the championship standings and is confident of moving into the top fifteen at the next round at Oulton Park in two weeks time.

Gavin Littlewood: The race went really well. I didn't expect to finish were I did at a track I have never even seen before. I was running in eighth position and gaining on the riders in front. Then my front wet tyre went off in the drying conditions and I went over the grass losing me two places. Luckily I stayed on and finished tenth and lapped only half a second off the fastest lap of the race".

The next round of the Metzeler Racetec Superstock Cup Championships will take place at Oulton Park on the 13th – 15th July.