TEAM TRACTION CONTROL ROUND OUT THE SEASON AT BRANDS HATCH

TEAM TRACTION CONTROL ROUND OUT THE SEASON AT BRANDS HATCH  Team Traction Control ended their 2015 Motorpoint British Supersport Championship campaign at Brands Hatch last weekend with James Rispoli narrowly missing out on a podium finish whilst Joe Francis claimed a pair of top eight finishes. The pair had overcoming the changing conditions in Friday’s free practice session to be ready to challenge in qualifying and both riders were ready to come out fighting in the penultimate race of the season. In the Sprint race Rispoli had been battling for his first victory of the season, but as light rain began to fall the race was red flagged and he was forced to settle for fourth, whilst Francis had battled through to sixth place. In the final Feature race of the season the pair became locked together in a battle for sixth place over the closing laps with Rispoli holding the edge over his team-mate at the chequered flag. Rispoli said: “It wasn’t the best final weekend for us and we didn’t get a lot of dry practice which was unlucky. We managed to pull of a great qualifying to put us on the front row and then in the Sprint race we got unlucky with the rain coming and the race being stopped. In the Feature race we were battling for second place but then in the last seven laps we struggled massively with tyre issues. I just want to say a huge thank you to Keith Flint for a great two years and to all my crew for sticking by me.” Francis said: “It was a good end to the season for me and the team. The weekend started with a wet practice on Friday and we had a good pace and I didn’t push on because I didn’t want to risk a crash. It dried up for qualifying and we were able to find a good setting that we could work with and we were up to fourth until the final moments when we dropped to seventh. “In the race we were making good progress and then my foot came off the peg at Clearways and we all got bunched up as it started to rain. The end of the race was good and I feel like we have been improving all year, it could have been even better if it was a track I know really well like Oulton Park! “I didn’t get the best start in the Feature race, I got caught up with the guys in front of me and then myself and James [Rispoli] had a great fight and we were both pushing as hard as we could to be the first one home. I am super happy with how it finished this season and I want to thank Keith Flint and the whole team for their hard work this year, plus all my personal sponsors.”