British Superbike News

Stuart Easton - Hydrex Honda 2009

This weekend the British Superbike riders and teams head to Scotland for round six of the Championship at the Knockhill circuit in Fife.

Michael Rutter will once again be riding the Worx Crescent Suzuki, where he is aiming for nothing less than a podium finish for the team.  In 2008, Rutter rode the NW 200 Ducati, claiming fourth in the first race and second in race two and has said that he loves this track and knows that he can be at the front.

The two Airwaves Yamaha riders, Leon Camier and James Ellison, will be back in the British Superbike series after competing as wild-cards in last weekends World Superbikes at Donington.  Both riders will then return as wild-card riders for the following weekend race in the World Superbike Championship.

Another rider who wants no less than a win this weekend is the Scottish rider Stuart Easton on the Hydrex Honda machine.  With five podium finishes so far this season, Easton believes he can get in front of the leading Airwaves Yamaha riders at his home circuit.

The two HM Plant Honda riders Josh Brookes and Glen Richards, are also expected to be in the front runners, with Brookes claiming three thirds in the last three races.  Richards has always been strong at the Scottish circuit and has a lot of experience of the tight, short track.

Rumours have been circulating that Gary Mason would not be at Knockhill this weekend as the Quay Garage Honda team had run out of money, however, it has been confirmed that although the team are struggling and desperately need to find backers, they will be on the grid for round six.  Mason is currently leading the Superbike Cup and is only 4 points behind Josh Brookes in the Championship.

Yesterday afternoon the annual ‘Superbikes In The Square’ took place, where the championship riders ride through the city centre of Glasgow, demonstrating their skills to thousands of spectators.

Leon Camier and team-mate James Ellison entertained the crowd with burn-outs and wheelies, along with Simon Andrews.  Josh Brookes was on the back of Steve Plater’s machine before he and his team-mate Glen Richards put on some demonstration laps for their fans.

John McGuiness was cheered by onlookers as he rode the Padgetts Honda along with Steve Brogan.  Rutter raised one of the loudest cheers as he destroyed the rear tyre of the Worx Crescent Honda.  Atsushi Watanabe, Ian Lowry, Billy McConnell, Tom Grant and Dan Cooper were also in attendance along with riders from the 125GP British riders.

Gary Mason - Quay Garage Honda

Gary Mason crossed the line in the second race at Snetterton last weekend, minus his screen after putting his head through it in his battle to get past Jon Kirkham.

Mason said in an interview;

“I just protected my line when I passed Kirkham, so I went in a bit deep at the last chicane. I ran wide and there a big drop off and i was in the air and my head went through the screen, I nearly got him on the line but I hurt the old private parts!

“We had a DNF in the first race, but that’s racing and we’ve had a good run. We were due for a bad weekend, so hopefully this is the one and we can move on to Knockhill.””

Mason is leading the riders in the Mirror Cup class despite having to retire from race one due to mechanical problems.  The Quay Garage Honda rider went on to win the second race giving him a 56 point lead over second place man Peter Hickman on the Ultimate Yamaha.

Leon Camier - Snetterton 2009

On Sunday, the fifth round of the British Superbike Championship took place at Snetterton with Leon Camier taking a double victory for the Airwaves Yamaha team.

Race 1

Leon Camier qualified on pole position for the fourth consecutive time on Saturday just before the rain began and the third part of the session was cancelled with his team-mate James Ellison beside him.

Josh Brookes qualified in his best position this season with third for the HM Plant Honda team followed by Stuart Easton on the Hydrex Honda machine.

Camier dropped back to eighth place as the race got underway but by lap four the race had been red flagged after oil on the track caused several riders to go down.

Camier once again got off  badly when the race was restarted as Stuart Easton took the lead followed by Ellison and Chris Walker on the Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha.

Ellison tried every which way to get past Easton, finally managed to outbreak the Honda rider going into the Esses, but not for long as Easton retook his position on the following lap while Camier made his move on Relentless Suzuki man Ian Lowry who was running in fourth.

By lap 8, Ellison and Easton were challenging each other for the lead while Brookes sat behind the battling duo hoping for a mistake, behind Camier caught up with the battle and swapped paint with Ellison as he tried to pass.

Camier made his move stick on lap 10 and then chased down the leading man Easton, who after making a mistake on lap 14, allowed the Airwaves Yamaha rider through to take the win.

Here are the results;

1. Leon Camier GBR Airwaves Yamaha 19mins 51.245secs 20 laps
2. Stuart Easton GBR Hydrex Honda +1.575secs
3. Josh Brookes AUS HM Plant Honda +2.450secs
4. James Ellison GBR Airwaves Yamaha +3.028secs
5. Ian Lowry GBR Relentless TAS Suzuki +6.309secs
6. Chris Walker GBR Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha +6.628secs
7. Michael Rutter GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +6.721secs
8. Karl Harris GBR Hydrex Honda +10.415secs
9. Julien Da Costa FRA MSS Colchester Kawasaki +11.074secs
10. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +11.804secs
11. Graeme Gowland GBR Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha +12.899secs
12. Jason O’Halloran AUS SMT Honda +16.298secs
13. John Laverty IRL Buildbase Kawasaki +17.399secs
14. Jon Kirkham GBR North West 200 Yamaha +22.559secs
15. Tommy Bridewell GBR Team NB Suzuki +25.159secs Cup

DNS. Tom Tunstall GBR Hardinge Doodson Honda Cup
DNS. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders Racing Honda Cup

Race 2

Camier claimed his third double win of the season in race two at Snetterton yesterday, finishing ahead of his team-mate Ellison.

Once again it was the Hydrex Honda rider Easton that led going into the first corner ahead of Brookes, Walker, Ellison and Camier.

Brookes flew past Easton on lap 4 with Camier and Ellison getting a tow in his slip-stream.  Brookes managed to re-pass Ellison but not for long as he made a mistake and lost the position.

Camier out-braked Brookes going into Russell’s followed by his team-mate who then started closing the gap until Camier got his head down on lap 11.

An exciting battle was going on behind the leading pack as John Laverty on the Buildbase Kawasaki, Julian Da Costa on the MSS Colchester Kawasaki and Ian Lowry on the Relentless Suzuki battled it out for position, swapping places several times.

It was a disappointing weekend for Michael Rutter and the Worx Crescent Suzuki team when they got caught up in the crash that saw the red flag waved in race one.  Fortunately, Rutter managed to get back on the grid for the restart on his second bike where he finished in seventh.  In the second race, Rutter was once again running well until lap 3 when the GSX-R Suzuki developed an engine problem and Rutter lost power seeing him retire from the race.

Here are the results:

1. Leon Camier GBR Airwaves Yamaha 24mins 10.003secs 20 laps
2. James Ellison GBR Airwaves Yamaha +3.050secs
3. Josh Brookes AUS HM Plant Honda +7.827secs
4. Stuart Easton GBR Hydrex Honda +11.135secs
5. John Laverty IRL Buildbase Kawasaki +15.972secs
6. Julien Da Costa FRA MSS Colchester Kawasaki +16.639secs
7. Ian Lowry GBR Relentless TAS Suzuki +16.655secs
8. Glen Richards AUS HM Plant Honda +16.729secs
9. Karl Harris GBR Hydrex Honda +19.145secs
10. Jason O’Halloran AUS SMT Honda +21.505secs
11. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +21.894secs
12. Graeme Gowland GBR Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha +22.157secs
13. Jon Kirkham GBR North West 200 Yamaha +28.819secs
14. Gary Mason GBR Quay Honda +28.866secs Cup
15. Peter Hickman GBR Ultimate Yamaha +29.072secs Cup

DNS. Aaron Zanotti GBR Red Viper Honda
DNS. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders Racing Honda Cup

James Ellison - Donington Park 2009

Both of the Airwaves Yamaha British Superbike riders, Leon Camier and James Ellison, are now confirmed to be racing as wild-cards at the British round of the World Superbike Championship.

Camier is currently leading the British Superbike Championship ahead of his team-mate Ellison by 38 points, with the riders giving the team seven wins out of eight races so far in the season.

The two riders are going to have a busy three weeks ahead of them, firstly in the BSB series this weekend at Snetterton, then onto Donington for the WSB round on the 28th June, followed by the next round of the BSB championship at Knockhill on the 4th July.

The team are taking advantage of the data they collected from May when they claimed a double victory at the same circuit.

Camier has said;

“Ever since the team told me we were going to be wild-cards at Donington Park, I have been counting the days!  It is going to be really interesting to see how we perform against the World Superbike teams.

We know the competition will be tough, but we’ll be working flat out to see a British team on the podium at our home round.  Hopefully the fans will be there to support us!  It’ll be a tough few weeks going straight from Snetterton to Donington Park and then to Knockhill, but I can’t wait.”

Ellison added;

“I’ve always loved racing at Donington Park, scoring my first ever BSB victory there a couple of weeks ago makes the place even more special.  It’s a real honour to be competing in the British round of the World Superbike Championship for Airwaves Yamaha.  I want to thank them for giving me this incredible opportunity.  I know how proud the team is of their winning trophies from 2000, so it would be a dream come true to win a few more.”

The Worx Crescent Suzuki team have confirmed that they will once again have Michael Rutter riding for them at the next round of the British Superbike Championship at Snetterton on the 21st June.

Rutter was the replacement rider for the injured Sylvain Guintoli at the last round at Thruxton where he finished with two fifth places after qualifying on the front row of the grid.

Guintoli was on his sighting lap at Donington Park at the last round when he was hit by Josh Brookes, who claimed his brakes were not working.  Guintoli suffered fractures to the fibula and tibia of his right leg and will be out of the championship for weeks if not months.

For the 2009 season, Rutter was signed by Rob Mac Racing team to ride the NW200 Coca Cola Yamaha, but on the 19th May it was announced that they had mutually agreed to part company, leaving Rutter without a ride.