TOP FIVE FOR HOWARTH
25 July 2006 - M.A.R

M.A.R rider Michael Howarth moved into the Superbike Cup top five at a sun-drenched Oulton Park British Superbike Championship round on the weekend while team mate Richard Marchant continues to made steady improvements in the Superstock Cup.

Howarth comfortably qualified his Kawasaki ZX10 for the main Superbike races as the fourth quickest in the Cup class.

The Lancashire rider kept his head in the first race to finish nineteenth outright and third in class. In the second Superbike race Howarth’s consistency once again paid dividends as he picked up another third place Cup finish and top twenty outright.

With a 100% finish record since returning from injury at Mallory Park Howarth has been able to steadily build up the points. This has seen him now move into the top five in the Superbike Cup despite having missed the first five rounds.

Team boss Malcolm Ashley commented that he was pleased with Howarth’s steady approach.

“Michael has done nothing silly. He’s just got his head down and gradually chipped away at various aspects of his riding with a view to constant improvement. Consistency has been key to this and he has now moved into the top five in the Superbike Cup as a result.”

In the Superstock Cup Richard Marchant continues to improve on the back of a strong qualifying and race performance the previous weekend at Knockhill.

With more than 50 riders still trying to make the 40 slot grid at Oulton Park, Marchant once again dug deep to make the main race and in what is probably his best overall performance of the season the young Essex rider finished just outside the top thirty.

Ashley also said Marchant was doing everything that was required of him.

“The improvement in Richard over the last couple of rounds in particular has been dramatic. All the testing and other race duties are now starting to pay dividends. He made the grade at Oulton Park on his own merit and performed very well.”

The next round for the M.A.R team is at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire in three weeks time on the weekend of the 12-13th August.

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