Superb Supersport TT race for Jackson Racing

The Jackson Racing powered by Prosper2 team enjoyed one of their best days of racing at the Isle of Man TT Races on Wednesday afternoon with both Paul Jordan and Josh Brookes finishing inside the top six in the second four-lap Monster Energy Supersport TT race, Paul claiming fourth and Josh close behind in sixth.
 
Slightly delayed to a 1pm race, it was Manx cycling legend Sir Mark Cavendish who flagged the race away with both riders’ hopeful of strong results on the Honda CBR600RR. And sure enough, they were both running inside the top ten at the first timing point at Glen Helen, nine miles into the opening lap.
 
As the lap progressed, positions fifth to tenth were never more than fractions of a second apart and they changed frequently at the various timing points and an opening lap of 125.291mph put Josh in sixth place, just half a second behind James Hind. Paul’s lap of 125.107mph put him in seventh, only 1.5s adrift of his team-mate.
 
This set the trend for the remainder of the race but with third-placed James Hillier retiring on lap two, everyone was promoted up the order and with a second lap of 126.358mph, his fastest ever around the Mountain Course on a Supersport machine, it was Paul who jumped up to fourth place. Josh, who lapped at 125.719mph second time around, remained in sixth but well in contention, just 1.1s behind Hind.
 
In the second half of the race, Paul and Hind edged away from Josh and had their own battle for fourth place but with a final lap of 126.054mph, it was Paul who got the verdict for fourth place by three seconds, his best TT result in the Supersport class. Josh, who set his quickest lap of 125.826mph on the final lap, took a fine sixth place at the chequered flag after more than 150 miles of hard, fast racing.
 
Paul Jordan: “I’m over the moon with the fourth-place finish today as well as the 126mph+ laps as it was tough conditions out there. The wind was pretty strong which meant it was easy to catch you out, but I simply rode as hard as I could right from the drop of the flag! My first pit board said ‘P6’ so I thought if I could stay at that kind of pace, I wouldn’t be too far away. After that though, my board went up to ‘P4’, and then back down to ‘P6’ so I knew it was close. I just kept pushing as hard as I could so to finish fourth is great and with Josh in sixth it’s been a good day for the team.”
 
Josh Brookes: “For sure, it wasn’t the easiest days of racing today and I’ve kind of reached a point where it’s hard to know where or how I can go faster! It’s always difficult to know where you could have gained time and you can’t help but wonder about things like where we’d be if we’d had more practice but it’s the same for everyone and I think some people can simply push hard for the speeds than others. My professional, short circuit background doesn’t always help that, and it was certainly more difficult circulating on my own today rather than in the other Supersport race when I sat behind Davey (Todd) for most of the race. The bike was a bit more unsettled today in the windy conditions, but I never get upset with where I finish in a TT race as it’s so unique and different to anything else I do so I’m happy with sixth. Performance-wise, I can’t fault anything with the bike so hats off to the team and to Paul for finishing fourth. We’ve two more races to go so let’s see what we can do there.”
 
Alan Jackson, Team Owner: “To have two bikes finish in the top six of a four-lap Supersport TT race is something to be very pleased with so well done to both riders. It’s the kind of positions where we always want and need to be but racing’s not that easy and the competition’s very strong so when days like today come along, you take it with both hands. Paul set a new PB in the Supersport class and Josh has finished in the top six in each of the races, so we’ve clearly made good, positive steps in the right direction. It continues to be a testing TT so thanks again to the team for all their hard work and to the sponsors for their continued, and invaluable, support.”
 
Both riders are back in action in Friday’s second Supersport race, with Paul also set to go in the second Supertwin encounter.
 
Pictures by Tim Keeton – Impact Images Photography
 
Monster Energy Supersport TT race two (4 laps)
1 Michael Dunlop (Ducati)
2 Dean Harrison (Honda)
3 Davey Todd (Honda)
4 Paul Jordan (Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper2)
5 James Hind (Suzuki)
6 Josh Brookes (Jackson Racing Honda powered by Prosper2)