Steve Plater is to race at Brands Hatch on Sunday to replace the injured Igor Clementi in the Italian World Supersport team BE1 Racing. Clementi injured his hand while testing and will not be fit for Brands Hatch but team manager Guiliano Rovelli made no hesitation in naming Plater as his choice of replacement rider to take the controls of the Triumph 675 Supersport machine.

He said: “I am very sorry for Ivan who injured his hand in training. We needed a high profile rider to take over at Brands Hatch and we think Steve Plater is the right man for the job. He is brave and aggressive and is popular with the fans, especially the British supporters. I hope he and our other rider Mark Aitchison will be able to give us the results we need.”

In recent months Plater has achieved success with AIM Yamaha in the British Supersport class by taking a win and second place from the last few races. He rode to victory in both Supersport races at this year’s North West 200 and capped his road racing season off with a fine win at the Isle of Man TT races in June where he won the Junior TT at only his second attempt. It is a few years since Plater last rode a Triumph but he is sure he will soon get to grips with the bike and is raring to go.

He said: “I am really looking forward to Brands Hatch. I don’t arrive back in the UK until Wednesday after my World Endurance race in Japan so I will go directly to Brands Hatch to meet the team and prepare for the weekend. It has been a while since I rode a Triumph, back in the early days of my racing career, but I am a quick learner and will soon get to grips with the bike and am eager to put it through its paces. Brands Hatch is one of my favourite circuits and, as we race there twice each year in the British series, I don’t have to worry about learning the circuit so can concentrate on becoming familiar with the bike.”

Free practice and first qualifying are set for Friday with a further free practice and final qualifying on Saturday prior to the 23-lap World Supersport race on Sunday at 1.20pm. British Eurosport live coverage is from 11am to 5pm or alternatively live coverage can be enjoyed on line at www.worldsbk.com

Demon says "Qualifying was difficult for me with no circuit knowledge but when my first rota started I had to just get on with the job in hand. I was relieved to finish the hour losing only one position."

Andrea Fanotto and Stefano Gugliotta completed the rider order for the race. MCS racing maintained the seventh position for the next few hours. After eight hours of the race the first problem occurred. We solved this by replacing the tank losing us 3 / 4 minutes. The fuel pump had lost pressure reducing the rpm by 2500 thus compromising engine performance, especially on the long main straight. The team quickly recovered the positions. A couple more small problems were dealt with until half race distance when Andrea Fanotto returned with another problem. This time the problem was terminal and the team had to withdraw from the race.

Demon says "My second and third rota’s where fantastic I had a ball on track. My third rota was in the dark and I was lapping almost5 seconds faster than my qualifying times. To say that I was gutted to see the bike return to the box with terminal problems would be an under statement. This is first race I’ve not finished since 2005."

This just in from my team....

THIS IS A COMUNICATETD THAT I RECIVE YESTERDAY MORNING AND I HAVE SPOKEN ALL THE DAY WITH ORGANIZATION AND FEDERATION BUT THIS YEAR THERE IS NOT A GRADUATORY AND THE ONLY TEAMS CONFIRMED ARE THE PERMANENT TEAMS.......INCREDIBLE THAT AFTER 6 YEARS OF EWC, ONE GERMAN TEAM THAT MAKE ONLY THIS RACE BRING OUR PLACE TO START.....IF I HAVE NEWS YOU ARE
THE FIRST AT KNOW, CIAO. ANDY.

This from the circuit....

Hallo,
We are so sorry, but it not possible for you to start. We are
absolutely complete and couldn't accept anymore teams.
We regret to give you no better information and hope to see you next
year in Oschersleben.
Best regards
Jutta Schacknat

Demon says "from what I can gather from my excellent grasp of Italian and German we do not have an entry to the race. This is because they have reduced the race from 24 hours to 8 hours; they now have lots of short circuit teams entered that wouldn't normally compete in the 24 hour race. If there was a championship promoter this wouldn’t happen but it’s now down to the circuit. This just adds to the disappointment of the last couple of races and I’ve had no track time to speak of this year. So it looks like the Bol d’Or will be my next outing. "

Maria Costello has been chosen as the stand-in rider for GBmoto’s Junior TAG Endurance Team.

Current team member Sam Godfrey has being forced to sit out the next round of the series due to an injury and the TT’s fastest woman has been drafted in, replacing her fellow female competitor, until she returns to full fitness.

Team Principal - Mark Smith-Halvorsen: “Following recent conversations, I am very happy to welcome Maria Costello into the team to ride for the GBmoto Junior squad. Her reputation precedes her as having been competitive in a number of different environments on a whole host of machinery, we are confident that she will make a good start in endurance racing. It also means that we continue to partner Phil Clarke with a lady-racer in the temporary absence of Sam Godfrey, who has ridden really well all year, prior to her unfortunate fall at Pembrey. The Junior Team has been improving their results as the season has progressed and I see no reason why that should not continue.”

With Junior TAG endurance each race is 2 hours long. Each rider may only race for 30 minutes at a time before coming in to swap the transponder to the next team member’s bike. Maria will be using her BERING & CMS sponsored Philip Youles Triumph Daytona 675.

Maria: “I’m really excited about this new challenge and looking forward to being part of the team, endurance is something that I'd like to do in the future. I’ve tested for World Endurance teams in the past, as competing in a 24 hour endurance race is an ambition of mine. This format however means you don't need special endurance parts on your bike so it’s more accessible to everyone and I can use my own Triumph Daytona 675 race bike. The long periods of track time will also be perfect preparation for the forthcoming Manx Grand Prix [16th – 29th August] where I'll be racing for an hour at a time.

Team GBmoto has been competing in the World and UK championships since 2000 and are the 2004 & 2007 National ProSuperbike Endurance Champions. Their website is: http://www.gbmoto.co.uk

GBmoto Junior's compete in the Junior TAG Endurance Championship run in the Hottrax UK Endurance series and the next round is at Snetterton on the 2nd/3rd August. They are currently sitting in 5th place in the Supersport 600 class.

For more information about the series go to Hottrax Motorsport

To follow Maria’s progress in this or other events go to the official Maria Costello website.

Australian Damian Cudlin scored his first win in the German IDM Supersport Championship, snatching victory on the last lap in a thrilling race at the Salzburgring on the weekend.

Starting from 4th on the grid, Cudlin made the most of his first front row start of the season, surging to 3rd place on the opening lap. Wedged in an eight bike freight train for the first 7 laps, Cudlin swiftly moved into the lead at the halfway point, attempting to make a break on the pursuing pack. Lifting the pace, Cudlin stretched a small gap over his rivals, shaking off the advances of Tode and Diss. However experienced team mate Rico Penzkofer matched Cudlin’s every move and stormed into contention with a strong pass for the lead with 5 laps to go.

From then on it was formation flying for the SKM/Bike Promotion Yamaha squad, as Cudlin and Penzkofer rode within inches of each other through the 280kph Stein Curve, battling for supremacy. Trailing Penzkofer on the final lap, Cudlin set up a last lap lunge in the final complex section, sliding underneath the German under brakes and holding his nerve to steal victory by 0.018 of a second.

“This feels unreal”  Cudlin beamed at the finish. “Penz and I had a great fight at the end of the race, but I put myself in the right place on the last lap to make my move on the brakes into the complex. I knew if I didn’t make a mistake in the last turn I’d win the race, thankfully it all worked out.”

Cudlin’s win came at a perfect time, as championship leader Arne Tode struggled to a 6th place finish. The young Aussie now sits just 29 points adrift of the German in the title chase.

“I’ve put so much effort into it this year, and now the hard work is really paying off. I’m still not thinking about a championship, I’m just here to win races. No one expected me to be where I am right now, so I don’t feel any pressure at all. I think the pressure is resting on Arne’s shoulders now…I want to take the chance to thank everyone who has supported me this year, especially my SKM/Bike Promotion team members and Dunlop. I hope we can keep this momentum going now and finish the year strong.”

Cudlin will now turn his attentions to the World Endurance Championship and the Suzuka 8 Hour race, before returning to the Supersport class for the next round of the IDM series in Schleiz.

Once past the young Czech, Cudlin clawed back a 4 second deficit, smashing the lap record in the process, to be in 3rd and hot on the heels of race leaders Ivanov and Penzkofer with 3 laps remaining. Intent on winning his first race of the season, Cudlin sat poised and ready in the lead group of 5 riders when the pack encountered lapped traffic. In a race that by this stage could have fallen any way, Cudlin got the rough end of the stick when held up in the traffic. Putting in a last stich effort to get back onto the leading group, Cudlin tried in vain as the pack crossed the line, relegating the young Aussie to 5th at races end.

“I really wanted to win today and with 3 laps to go I thought we were on for one. Unfortunately I lost some time with the lappers at the end and just didn’t have enough in the tank to get back into contention. I’m disappointed to finish 5th but taking a lap record away with us, and knowing we were so close, only spurs me on for the next race. We’re gunna win one of these soon.”

Russian Vladimir Ivanov took the win ahead of series leader Arne Tode. Cudlin now sits 3rd in the championship with 4 rounds to go.

“There’s a lot of racing left yet so anything is possible.” Cudlin said after being asked of his championship chances, "...but to be honest, I’m just going at this race by race, and getting on the top step is my main priority right now. If I finish on top at the end of the year it’ll be a bonus.”

Cudlin’s next race will be at Salzburgring in Austria on the 5/6th of July.