Race Reports & Press Releases

Mondello Park, Dublin

Elliot arrives

Elliot Burgess, competing on the Sigma Performance Ducati 748SPS got his first British championship podium finish completing an amazing fight back over a weekend filled with drama at Mondello Park near Dublin today.

The excitement stared in free practice on Friday with a 130mph crash.  While searching for the right set up Elliot baled off the bike as it crested the rise at the end of the fastest straight on the extended 3.5km. Mondello Park track. Both rider and bike ended up in the gravel trap with the bike tumbling as it slowed.

The rebuild was rather extensive and took some time but the bike was ready for official practice on the Saturday. This resulted in a fourth fastest in class (Ninth overall; with the unlimited class bikes making up the balance).

Elliott said 'there was a lot of damage but mostly it was cosmetic, we don't really know the cause but we have made a few adjustments to make sure it doesn't happen again. Bruce Maus, Steve Drury and Neil Spalding worked like crazy to get it all straight, all the body panels, footrests and handlebars needed replacing, we had to take parts off the spare motor to get it to run. After all that it was easy to put in a good time, the team worked really well together.'

This weekend was one with two point scoring rounds, it was very important to make sure the bike finished both well, it was equally one of the most difficult with a track new to most and away from the usual sources of resupply.

The races were plagued by changeable weather with Elliott fighting his way up from a cautious first lap to a fourth place finish in a first race shortened by rain.  Race 2 had all the same drama with a dry start.  Elliott got up to third place when at half distance the heavens opened and the race was stopped. The restart, in pouring rain, produced one of the best races of the season with six bikes squabbling over the overall lead and a further four fighting over the 'B class' lead, Elliott got an overall third place in this race, His, and Sigma Performance's first British Championship podium finish.

Sigma Team Manager Neil Spalding said 'To come back from Friday's crash and score our best ever British Championship podium finish was very, very special.  Everyone has worked their socks off all weekend and it has paid off, in the last four races we have improved from sixth to third, all we have to do now is keep up that rate of improvement.'

Elliott and Sigma are now in sixth position in the championship, and are still suffering the effects of not scoring points at the first Cadwell round.  Race highlights will be shown on Irish Motorsports on SKY Sports 2 in the evening of Friday the 18th June.

Sigma racing has been racing as a team for six years and last year raced a Ducati Supermono, winning the Daytona and Donington SBK Supermono races. Following the demise of that series the team has decided to use its Ducati and racing experience by preparing Ducati 748SPS for the British Sport Production Championship.

Sigma Performance is supported and helped by Moto Cinelli; First Quote Insurance; EBR; Dunlop; Ohlins; CJM Ducati Clothing; Ferodo; AFAM USA.

                                                               Neil Spalding

Silverstone

Times to be proud of

Elliot Burgess, competing on the Sigma Performance Ducati 748SPS was sixth at Silverstone in the first British Sport Production Championship round to share a weekend with the British Superbike series.

The Silverstone International circuit is half of the famed Grand Prix circuit, it is wide and very fast. Bikes visit it only once a year.  This was our first visit to the circuit and some suspension and gearing changes were required for the qualifying outings on Saturday. The weather stayed dry on raceday after a major down pour in the early hours. The Sports Production bikes were the second group on track.

Elliot qualified well but had trouble improving on the times set in his first session and started the race off the fourth row, sixth 600 class bike.  The mixed races are confusing, we signal on the basis of the 600 classification, so it is quite possible to go through a race being told you are fifth or sixth, and ten seconds behind your leading group and there is another bike just in front of you.  It happened in the race, I overtook Simon 'Ronnie' Smith, (the Performance Bikes Test Rider) on his Yamaha R1 two laps from the end and it simply did not count.' said Elliot.

Elliott had a good race setting a personal best time of 1.30.769, half a second faster than his practice best. He finished sixth in class and fourteenth overall; his best time was equal to the twelfth place finisher in the National Supersport race, a class that allows considerably more modification to the machine.

Elliott and Sigma are in sixth position in the championship, two points behind Jamie Morley and only 15 points off third place man Howard Whitby.  There are four races still to go with 100 points available, roll on Donington.

Sigma racing has been racing as a team for six years and last year raced a Ducati Supermono, winning the Daytona and Donington SBK Supermono races. Following the demise of that series the team has decided to use its Ducati and racing experience by preparing a Ducati 748SPS for the British Sport Production Championship.

Sigma Performance is supported and helped by Moto Cinelli; First Quote Insurance; EBR; Dunlop; Ohlins; CJM Ducati Clothing; Ferodo; AFAM USA.

                                                               Neil Spalding

Knockhill

Battling onward and upwards..........

Elliot Burgess, riding the Sigma Performance Ducati 748SPS scored a hard fought sixth at Knockhill in the second British Sport Production Championship round to share a weekend with the British Superbike series.

This was the first time the Sigma team had ventured north of the Border into Scotland. This was our first visit to the circuit and some suspension and gearing changes were required for the qualifying outings on Saturday.

The weather was unseasonably cold and damp but was dry for raceday.

Again we found our major competitors whose bikes (unlike ours) were also eligible for the British Supersport championship were using that classes practice sessions to gain additional information about the circuit.

Despite this, Elliot qualified as seventh 600-class bike. This round had been advertised as two individual races, one for up to 600's and the second for the unlimited class, but this was changed to a single mixed class race at the last minute.

The race however certainly provided the thrills, Elliott got a good start and was circulating right behind series second place holder Gus Scott (Yamaha R6) when, on the sixth lap, seven bikes went down in the first turn.

Elliott was one of the fallers, a victim of the oil from the first bike.

The race was stopped and restarted, during the ten minute break the 748 was kicked straight, new body panels, seat footrests, handlebars and control levers were fitted, Elliott had a compulsory medical check and was back on the grid for the restart. Despite the crash Elliott was quickly back on the pace and came through to sixth place on aggregate.

Elliott said, 'I thought it was all over when we came back to the pit lane but Bruce, Neil and Iain went for it, we had a useable bike with a couple of minutes to spare, it has looked better though......, I couldn't believe it when the front just went, there must have been oil everywhere'

Elliott and Sigma are now up to fourth position in the championship.

There are two races still to go with 50 points available, roll on Thruxton.

Sigma racing has been racing as a team for six years and last year raced a Ducati Supermono, winning the Daytona and Donington SBK Supermono races.

Following the demise of that series the team has decided to use its Ducati and racing experience by preparing Ducati 748SPS for the British Sport Production Championship.

Sigma Performance is supported and helped by Moto Cinelli; First Quote Insurance; EBR; Dunlop; Ohlins; CJM Ducati Clothing; Ferodo; AFAM USA.

                                                               Neil Spalding

Back on the Podium and Fourth in the Championship………

Elliot Burgess, on the Sigma Performance Ducati 748SPS came through to get on the podium again in the last race of the British Sport Production Championship at Thruxton securing fourth place in the Championship.

For the season finale the Organisers had decided to really put the teams to the test.  Thruxton is one of the fastest venues in British racing, the kidney shaped course is famous for its speed and also for the very bumpy surface in the long off camber left hander.

The final meeting was a single day of racing. Technical inspection in the early morning; two 25 minute practice sessions; and then two 15 lap (about 22 minute) races. That is a complicated day and one that does not allow for any mechanical disasters; there is simply not enough time to fix anything big before the next track outing. We approached it in the same way as the Donington 'Endurance' round at the start of the year, good preparation. We rebuilt the engine (half the circuit is at 11500 rpm!), the suspension and the brakes; everything got the once over, we have achieved a 100% mechanical finishing record and we were not going to lose it easily!

Elliott's practices were to see if the initial thoughts on suspension were right; when you need track time and the correct setup you need to know where you are going and with this schedule we had to make a few initial major guesses. The victor is the team that can set their bike up to let the rider hold it flat out (on a 600 class bike anyway!) over the long, bumpy corners.

The first race started well, Elliott sitting in fifth place following two other 600 class bikes, waiting for the last lap and a chicane braking manoeuvre, then, on the penultimate lap a group of three back markers got in the way at Church corner and broke the tow. Try as hard as he could Elliott could not quite get back with the opposition before the end. Fifth place was the result.

For the second race we changed a few settings and Elliott burst into fourth off the line, after eight laps he was approaching Gary Mason in third when the race was stopped; Gus Scott of Performance Bikes Magazine stepped off his R6 in the complex, thankfully without injury. The race was restarted and Elliott got through to third on aggregate, second Podium of the season.

Elliott said 'We knew if we could get the Suspension right we would be good here, there are not enough stop and start corners for the weight to work against us, its great to be on the podium again. It has been a good year, the preparation of the bike has been second to none; and its great to prove the Ducati 748 is still a very competitive bike against all the new lightweight fours'.

Team manager Neil Spalding said 'we didn't really know how it would pan out over the whole year, we wanted to prove the Ducati is capable of getting up there.  We wanted to prove we could put together a full season, and do it reliably; most of all we wanted to prove that the three years of European competition experience we have just completed was valuable.

We now want to prove what we can do at Supersport level; we have the experience of the bikes and their setup, especially the standard chassis, and we believe we can keep going forward.'

Sigma has been racing for six years and last year raced a Ducati Supermono, winning the Daytona and Donington SBK Supermono races. This year the team decided to use its Ducati experience by running a Ducati 748SPS in the British Sport Production Championship.

Sigma Performance is supported and helped by Moto Cinelli; First Quote Insurance; EBR; Dunlop; Ohlins; CJM Ducati Clothing; Ferodo; AFAM USA.

                                                               Neil Spalding

For Sale *SOLD*

Elliot Burgess' Sigma Performance Ducati 748SPS
Fourth in the 1999 British Sport Production Championship.

Sigma Performance are going Supersport racing in 2000; that means that this years bike, and all its racing spares, is for sale.

This Ducati 748 SPS has been maintained without regard to cost during the racing year. Never registered, this motorcycle has been used purely for this years British Sport Production Championship.  It has a 100% mechanical finishing record and will be supplied fully serviced and ready to race, you will only need new tyres! Fourth place overall; Two podium finishes were achieved.  Complete Service, Set up and Dyno documentation included. Full registration documentation is also available for street use.

• 748cc Desmo Quattro V- twin Blueprinted engine giving 104 bhp @ 11200 rpm. Fitted as standard with Pankl titanium con rods, can be rebuilt as a 853 if preferred.
   
• Six gears, multi choice rear sprocket with 7 rear sprockets, DID ERV2 Chain.
   
• Revalved front and rear suspension; complete with choice of springs.
   
• QB Carbon Lightweight Bodywork including undertray.
   
• Reprogrammable FIM Ultimap Eprom
   
• Arrow 50mm intermediate exhaust system.
                                                                               £7499 ono

Also for sale

• Standard Bodywork and all street equipment, never used, Spare wheels and cast iron discs.                                                          
                                                                 £ Price Negotiable
   
• Spare 748SPS engine, fully race prepared, 104 hp, Titanium Pankl Conrods; only used for 500 km. Can be rebuilt as a 853 engine if preferred.      
                                                                               £2699 ono

Phone Neil Spalding on 0788 1820 748 or phone/fax 01892 538802 or email.

Sigma has been racing for six years and last year raced a Ducati Supermono, winning the Daytona and Donington SBK Supermono races. This year the team decided to use its Ducati experience by running a Ducati 748SPS in the British Sport Production Championship.

Sigma Performance is supported and helped by Moto Cinelli; First Quote Insurance; EBR; Dunlop;
Ohlins; CJM Ducati Clothing; Ferodo; AFAM USA.