British Superbike News

This weekend was the rescheduled round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch after the April round had to be cancelled due to snow.

Race One 

Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne on the Airwaves Ducati, took the victory in race one today, after a bad start from his pole position on the grid and leaving Cal Crutchlow to lead on the HM Plant Honda into the first corner.

Crutchlow, who is still suffering from his injuries led the Rizla Suzuki of Tom Sykes and by lap four, Byrne had made his move from sixth position into third.

Shakey got past Crutchlow on lap sixteen and as Crutchlow ran wide at Surtees, Sykes nipped through.  Shakey edged away from the two riders to take the win.

Michael Laverty on the Relentless Suzuki, was in third place at the very beginning of the race but crashed out on lap two at Druids.

Here are the results for Race One;

1. Shane Byrne GBR Airwaves Ducati 29min 24.345 secs
2. Tom Sykes GBR Rizla Suzuki 29min 26.200 secs
3. Cal Crutchlow GBR HM Plant Honda 29min 27.456 secs
4. Leon Haslam GBR HM Plant Honda 29min 28.232 secs
5. Leon Camier GBR Airwaves Ducati 29min 29.341 secs
6. James Ellison GBR Hydrex Bike Animal Honda 29min 40.160 secs
7. Stuart Easton GBR MSS Discovery Kawasaki 29min 40.990 secs
8. Billy McConnell AUS MSS Discovery Kawasaki 29min 50.791 secs
9. Simon Andrews GBR Lloyds Jentin Yamaha 29min 54.729 secs
10. Tristan Palmer GBR Tena for Men Honda 29min 58.073 secs
11. Scott Smart GBR Hawk Kawasaki 29min 59.368 secs
12. Atsushi Watanabe JPN Rizla Suzuki 29min 59.532 secs
13. Guy Martin GBR Hydrex Bike Animal Honda 30min 6.810 secs
14. Chris Burns GBR STP MV Agusta (CUP) 30min 13.538 secs
15. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders Racing Honda (CUP) 30min 18.751 secs
16. John Laverty GBR NW200 Ducati (CUP) 30min 19.635 secs
17. Aaron Zanotti GBR Red Viper Honda 30min 19.696 secs
18. Michael Howarth GBR Tena for Men Honda (CUP) 30min 52.488 secs

DNF:
Luke Quigley GBR PDM Suzuki (CUP) +3 laps
Steve Mercer GBR Farnham/Sondel Yamaha (CUP) +3 laps
Tom Tunstall GBR Hardinge/Ice Valley Honda (CUP) +3 laps
Michael Rutter GBR NW 200 Ducati +8 laps
James Buckingham GBR Quay Garage Honda (CUP) +11 laps
Malcolm Ashley GBR ARP Kawasaki (CUP) +14 laps
David Johnson AUS Maxxis Honda +17 laps
Michael Laverty GBR Relentless TAS Suzuki +19 laps

Race Two 

The injured rider Cal Crutchlow, won on the HM Plant Honda in the second race of the day.  At the start of the week there was doubt that Crutchlow would even be racing this weekend after injuring his ankle at last weeks round of the British Superbikes.

There was plenty of action from start to finish in the second race which was led by Leon Haslam at the start in front of Crutchlow.  He held the lead until lap nine when he made a mistake at Surtees and rejoined in thirteenth place.

The safety car was out on track on lap fourteen after Malcolm Ashley crashed at Hawthorns.  Byrne passed Sykes but was ordered to drop back by the team manager, as the team were unsure if it was during the safety car period.

The race restarted again when the safety car went in on lap nineteen with Crutchlow leading Sykes, Byrne and Leon Camier.  However, on the same lap the red flags were waved as when Sykes Rizla Suzuki, blew up at Pilgrims Drop, throwing the rider into the gravel.

The race result was then declared due to the oil on the track, giving Crutchlow the victory followed by Byrne is second and Camier in third.

Here are the results for Race Two;

1. Cal Crutchlow GBR HM Plant Honda 30min 31.299 secs
2. Shane Byrne GBR Airwaves Ducati 30min 31.409 secs
3. Leon Camier GBR Airwaves Ducati 30min 32.047 secs
4. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless TAS Suzuki 30min 33.520 secs
5. Michael Rutter GBR NW 200 Ducati 30min 34.205 secs
6. Leon Haslam GBR HM Plant Honda 30min 34.396 secs
7. Stuart Easton GBR MSS Discovery Kawasaki 30min 34.420 secs
8. James Ellison GBR Hydrex Bike Animal Honda 30min 35.446 secs
9. Billy McConnell AUS MSS Discovery Kawasaki 1 lap
10. Scott Smart GBR Hawk Kawasaki 1 lap
11. Tristan Palmer GBR Tena for Men Honda 1 lap
12. Guy Martin GBR Hydrex Bike Animal Honda 1 lap
13. John Laverty GBR NW200 Ducati (CUP) 1 lap
14. Aaron Zanotti GBR Red Viper Honda 1 lap
15. Luke Quigley GBR PDM Suzuki (CUP) 1 lap
16. David Johnson AUS Maxxis Honda 1 lap
17. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders Racing Honda (CUP) 1 lap
18. Tom Tunstall GBR Hardinge/Ice Valley Honda (CUP) 1 lap
19. Michael Howarth GBR Tena for Men Honda (CUP) 1 lap
20. Leon Morris GBR Trimite Brookspeed Ducati (CUP) 1 lap

DNF:
Tom Sykes GBR Rizla Suzuki 1 lap
Simon Andrews GBR Lloyds Jentin Yamaha 6 laps
Malcolm Ashley GBR ARP Kawasaki (CUP) 7 laps
Chris Burns GBR STP MV Agusta (CUP) 10 lap
Atsushi Watanabe JPN Rizla Suzuki 18 laps