Tim Neave brought Yamaha’s long wait for a victory in the Pirelli National Superstock Championship to an end at Silverstone at the weekend with not one but two wins on the Edwards 1902 Yamaha.

The last time the Yamaha YZF-R1 came out on top in the series was with Alastair Seeley some 13 years ago when he won the opening round of the season at Brands Hatch in 2009 but, after qualifying fourth, Neave put in two polished rides to put Yamaha back on top. It also meant he left the Northamptonshire venue with the maximum 50 points and an early 22-point lead in the Championship standings.

Neave made a strong start in the opening race and settled into third but when second placed Lewis Rollo took out race leader Alex Olsen with six laps to go, the Lincolnshire rider took full advantage to come home just under a second clear of Australian Brayden Elliott.

With the fastest lap of the race, a new lap record, Neave – who was victorious on the Silverstone National circuit last year when riding for Buildbase Suzuki – started Sunday’s second encounter from pole and slotted into second behind early leader Elliott.

Biding his time, he made his move on the eighth lap and controlled proceedings from there on in with another mature performance. Twin brother Tom took the title last year and Tim has clearly signalled his intentions of emulating him in 2022.
 
“That was an awesome weekend! We’ve had a pole position, two wins and got the lap record, it couldn’t have gone much better,” he enthused. “I’m feeling so good on the bike and if we had another race to do I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“I knew I had the pace on Saturday but when people crash in front of you, you do always feel it was a little bit gifted so to go out and do it without that on Sunday felt really nice. It’s early days and it’s a long season, but I am very much looking forward to getting to Oulton Park.”