Yesterday, after an intense three race battle at Brands Hatch, Tommy Hill emerged victorious to take the 2011 British Superbike Championship. Hill said that he was "gobsmacked" after winning the title.
For all those non-Brits out there, "gobsmacked" is British slang for astonished. And Hill's astonishment was well justified.
Hill went into the weekend trailing John Hopkins by 8 points. At the end of the first race he had fallen further behind and trailed by 11 points. But Hill got a break when Hopkins crashed in race two and brought the championship fight back down to two points before the final race.
In the last race of the season, Hopkins and Hill chased each other around the track with the title on the line. On the final lap, the two title contenders swapped spots five times and went neck and neck down the stretch. Hill would pull out the championship by just .006 seconds.
"I am gobsmacked to have won the title for Swan Yamaha; this has been my goal and I was trying to stay as relaxed as possible in that final race," Hill said. "The season has put a lot of pressure on everyone and that reflects on everyone. We have been regularly finishing in the top three and that has therefore been the benchmark and the whole of the Swan Yamaha team have been working so hard all year to make this possible. It has just been a complete shock for me and I feel like we should be having another race next weekend now! It wasn't until the other riders started congratulating me that I even realized I had won as it was so close between myself and Hopper.
"It has been a long hard season and it came down to that one race. Everyone wanted a Showdown and that is what we have given them; it really was make or break time and I knew I had to do everything possible to beat Hopper. I knew Michael (Laverty) was behind me, but then when I knew it was Josh (Brookes) I had to just go for it. Coming across the line we didn't know who had finished second and with it the title. At the moment I feel like I need someone to punch me or something to bring me back to reality. I just want to go out and race again now! I just want to celebrate now with my family, friends and the whole of the Swan Yamaha team and I need to thank everyone for their support this season."
Hopkins was a little disappointed after the race. Afterall, he was .006 seconds away from becoming the first American to win the British Superbike championship."Well I don't feel great obviously, but I don't feel completely empty either. This has been a great season, I gave it everything I had but it just wasn't to be. So hats off to Tommy for taking the title.
