Leon Camier

Leon Camier appeared to have sorted the problems on his Airwaves Yamaha to take pole position today ahead of the former World Superbike rider Tommy Hill on the Worx Crescent Suzuki.

Hill had been fastest all weekend and looked to have secured the pole position until Camier snatched it away with three minutes of the session remaining.

Chris Walker on the Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha took third position alongside Cup rider Richard Cooper on the Co-ordit Yamaha to complete the front row.

John Laverty on the Buildbase Kawasaki starts the second row in fifth place ahead of Simon Andrews on the MSS Kawasaki, James Ellison on the second Airwaves Yamaha in seventh and Karl Harris on the Hydrex Honda in eighth.

Graeme Gowland on the second Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha, qualified in ninth place followed by Stuart Easton on the second Hydrex Honda .

Michael Rutter, was back on the grid, but this time riding the SMT Honda, replacing Jason O’Halloran and qualifying in eleventh ahead of Julian de Costa on the second MSS Colchester Kawasaki.

Tristan Palmer on the second Buildbase Kawasaki of Tristan Palmer starts the fourth row, followed by Team Maxxis Yamaha rider David Johnson.  Atsushi Watanabe on the Relentless Suzuki and Cup leader Gary Mason on the Quay Garage Honda in sixteenth.

Not a good qualifying session for the HM Plant Honda team, with Josh Brookes qualifying way down in seventeenth place while his team-mate Steve Brogan, who is covering for the injured Glen Richards, is further back in twenty-third place.

Ian Lowry on the Relentless Suzuki, joins Brookes on the fifth row, alongside two more Cup riders, Peter Hickman on the Ultimate Yamaha and Tommy Bridewell on the Team NB Suzuki.

Lining-up behind are Tom Tunstall on the Hardringe Doodson Motorsport Honda, Kenny Gilbertson on the Jx Fuelcards Kawasaki, Steve Brogan and Martin Jessopp on the Riders Racing Honda.

Aaron Zanotti on the Red Viper Racing Honda qualified in twenty-fourth place and Michael Howarth, for the first time on the STP-JHS Racing MV Agusta, finished at the rear of the grid.

Here are the results;

1. Leon Camier GBR Airwaves Yamaha 56.016secs
2. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki 56.195secs
3. Chris Walker GBR Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha 56.221secs
4. Richard Cooper GBR Team Co-ordit Yamaha 56.345secs Cup
5. John Laverty IRL Buildbase Kawasaki 56.379secs
6. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki 56.489secs
7. James Ellison GBR Airwaves Yamaha 56.547secs
8. Karl Harris GBR Hydrex Honda 56.605secs
9. Graeme Gowland GBR Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha 56.642secs
10. Stuart Easton GBR Hydrex Honda 56.642secs

11. Michael Rutter GBR SMT Honda 56.754secs
12. Julien Da Costa FRA MSS Colchester Kawasaki 56.786secs
13. Tristan Palmer GBR Buildbase Kawasaki 56.825secs
14. David Johnson AUS Team Maxxis Adept Yamaha 56.968secs
15. Atsushi Watanabe JPN Relentless TAS Suzuki 56.981secs
16. Gary Mason GBR Quay Honda 56.989secs Cup
17. Josh Brookes AUS HM Plant Honda 57.006secs
18. Ian Lowry GBR Relentless TAS Suzuki 57.132secs
19. Peter Hickman GBR Ultimate Yamaha 57.185secs Cup
20. Tommy Bridewell GBR Team NB Suzuki 57.625secs Cup

21. Tom Tunstall GBR Hardinge Doodson Honda 57.337secs Cup
22. Kenny Gilbertson GBR JX Fuelcard Kawasaki 57.377secs Cup
23. Steve Brogan GBR HM Plant Honda 57.547secs
24. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders Racing Honda 58.667secs Cup
25. Aaron Zanotti GBR Red Viper Honda 59.307secs
26. Michael Howarth GBR MV Agusta-JHS Racing 1min 00.496secs

Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes won the Race Of The Year at Mallory Park on Sunday, riding the Rizla Suzuki for the last time before moving to the World Superbike series with team Yamaha Italia.

Not only did he take the win after dominating the race, he qualified on pole position and set a new lap record with a time of 51.271seconds.

Karl Harris on the Co-Ordit Yamaha, stayed with Sykes but couldn’t pass him and finished in second followed by Glen Richards on a 600cc Triumph, who had an amazing race against the 1000cc Superbikes.

Pete Bradshaw showed the fans true sportsmanship after qualifying way down the grid in 23rd place.  Dan Hagerty, who had qualified in fifth place suffered mechanical problems with his machine while lining-up and Bradshaw swapped bikes with him on the grid.  Hagerty finished the race in fourth while Bradshaw watched from the sidelines.

Here are the results;

1: TOM SYKES (RIZLA SUZUKI) 15:35.197
2: Karl Harris (Yamaha) +2.772
3: Glen Richards (Triumph) +21.325
4: Daniel Hagerty (Yamaha) +28.328
5: James Westmoreland (Triumph) +30.998
6: Kenny Gilbertson (Kawasaki) +31.127
7: Pete Ward (Kawasaki) +46.747
8: James Hillier (Kawasaki) +46.790
9: Peter Baker (Suzuki) +49.264
10: Jenny Tinmouth (Honda) +1 lap

Shane Byrne 2008 BSB Champion

Shane ‘Shakey Byrne’ won the British Superbike Championship for 2008 this weekend on the Airwaves Ducati.

Race One

Leon Camier took the victory in the first race at Silverstone on the Airwaves Ducati despite a poor start putting him back to ninth place at the end of the first lap behind his team-mate Byrne.

The front three riders Leon Haslam, Cal Crutchlow and Tom Sykes started to put a gap between the rest of the pack until on lap three, Sykes on the Rizla Suzuki tried to pass Haslam at the final chicane.  He was unable to stop in time and took himself and Haslam out of the race.  Sykes was eventually excluded from the race one results and will start race two twelve places back on the grid from his qualifying position.

On lap five, James Ellison on the Hydrex Bike Animal Honda caught the back of Michael Laverty under braking going into the final chicane ending the race for both of them, and allowing Byrne to move up to third place.

Karl Harris had to retire from the race on lap seventeen after developing mechanical problems with the Team Yamaha machine.

Here are the results;

Pos – Rider – Bike – Team – Time

DNF - Scott Smart - Kawasaki – Hawk Racing - 23:32.820
DNF - Karl Harris - Yamaha – Team Yamaha - 23:36.119
DNF - Guy Martin - Honda – Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - 13:30.203
DNF - Michael Laverty - Suzuki – Relentless Suzuki by TAS - 5:50.819
DNF - James Ellison - Honda – Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - 5:51.030

Race Two

Leon Haslam on the HM Plant Honda took the chequered flag in race two after dominating the race from the start.

Karl Harris and Cal Crutchlow were fighting each other for second place on lap two, taking turns for the position until Crutchlow got it all wrong and went straight on at the bend.

Tom Sykes had to start from seventeenth on the grid after his penalty from race one but by lap four had moved into sixth place while on the next lap, Byrne passed Harris to take second position.

On lap fourteen Sykes had passed Harris to take the final step of the podium, a fantastic race after starting near the back of the grid.

Crutchlow retired from the race on lap fifteen after developing mechanical problems with his machine.

Here are the results;

Pos – Rider – Bike – Team – Time

DNF - Cal Crutchlow - Honda – HM Plant Honda - 20:26.247
DNF - Atsushi Watanabe - Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki - 18:21.045
DNF - Scott Smart - Kawasaki – Hawk Racing - 11:13.790
DNF - Guy Martin - Honda – Hydrex Bike Animal Honda - 4:40.200
DNF - Chris Burns - MV Agusta – STP Superbike - 1:37.029
DQ - Gary Mason - Honda – Quay Garage - 29:25.215

Cal Crutchlow

Cal Crutchlow on the Repsol Honda took pole position for tomorrows eleventh round of the British Superbike Championship.

Crutchlow recently announced that he would be riding for the factory Yamaha World Supersport team next year, but knows that he could still take second place in the championship as their are only his team-mate, Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes to fight for the rest of the points.

Haslam will start alongside Crutchlow in second place with Michael Rutter on the North West 200 Ducati in third and Karl Harris on the RM Racing Yamaha in fourth.

Tom Sykes will start from fifth on the Rizla Suzuki followed by Shane Byrne on the Airwaves Ducati, who only needs to collect seven points tomorrow to take the championship.

Leon Camier is in sixth place on the second Airwaves Ducati ahead of James Ellison in seventh place after a disastrous qualifying session.  The rider had to use his second bike after the rear wheel spindle jammed on his number one bike.

Michael Laverty on the Relentless Suzuki will start in ninth place followed by Gary Mason on the Quay Garage Honda.

Guy Martin, team-mate of Ellison on the Hydrex Bike Animal Honda crashed out in the first session damaging the bike and damaged his hand, he will be starting from twenty-first on the grid.

Here are the results;

1. Cal Crutchlow GBR HM Plant Honda 1min 25.489secs
2. Leon Haslam GBR HM Plant Honda 1min 25.790secs
3. Michael Rutter GBR NW 200 Ducati 1min 25.952ecs
4. Karl Harris GBR Rob Mac Racing Yamaha 1min 25.976secs
5. Tom Sykes GBR Rizla Suzuki 1min 26.012secs
6. Shane Byrne GBR Airwaves Ducati 1min 26.136secs
7. Leon Camier GBR Airwaves Ducati 1min 26.175secs
8. James Ellison GBR Hydrex Bike Animal Honda 1min 26.555secs
9. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless TAS Suzuki 1min 26.912secs
10. Gary Mason GBR Quay Garage Honda (CUP) 1min 27.011secs

11. Stuart Easton GBR MSS Discovery Kawasaki 1min 27.279secs
12. Scott Smart GBR Hawk Kawasaki 1min 27.282secs
13. Simon Andrews GBR Lloyds Jentin Yamaha 1min 27.514secs
14. Billy McConnell AUS MSS Discovery Kawasaki 1min 27.652secs
15. Jason O’Halloran AUS SMT Honda 1min 27.805secs
16. Tristan Palmer GBR Tena for Men Honda 1min 28.140secs
17. Atsushi Watanabe JPN Rizla Suzuki 1min 28.151secs
18. David Johnson AUS Maxxis Honda 1min 28.179secs
19. Peter Hickman GBR Red Viper Honda 1min 28.607secs
20. Martin Jessopp GBR Riders Racing Honda (CUP) 1min 29.021secs

21. Guy Martin GBR Hydrex Bike Animal Honda 1min 28.530secs
22. John Laverty GBR NW200 Ducati (CUP) 1min 28.538secs
23. Chris Burns GBR STP MV Agusta (CUP) 1min 29.135secs
24. Dan Stewart GBR Wilcock Consulting Honda (CUP) 1min 29.394secs
25. Tom Tunstall GBR Hardinge/Ice Valley Honda (CUP) 1min 29.594secs
26. Leon Morris GBR Brookspeed Ducati (CUP) 1min 30.461secs
27. Francis Williamson GBR Moto Rapido Racing Ducati (CUP) 1min 30.832secs
28. Shannon Etheridge AUS MAR Adept Kawasaki (CUP) 1min 31.609secs

Dean Ellison - Co-ordit Yamaha

The Co-Ordit Yamaha British Superbike team have been forced to pull out of the remainder of the season due to financial difficulties.

The team released an official statement today, which said,

“It is with deep regret that Co-ordit Racing Team will be withdrawing from the 2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship.  With the down-turn in the economy I have had to make the reluctant decision to end the sponsorship to safe guard funds for what is predicted to be a hard time in our business sector.  The team will now try and secure funding so that we can return as quickly as possible.  Our thanks go out to all those sponsors who have helped and assisted with the team so far together with the staff at MSVR and Rob Mac Racing.”