British Superbike News

This weekend saw three races at the Snetterton circuit with the re-run of Race 2 from the Knockhill round of the championship taking place on Saturday and the two races from round seven going ahead as scheduled on the Sunday.

Race 1 (re-run of Knockhill race two – Saturday)

The HM Plant Honda rider Josh Brookes took the chequered flag in the re-run of the cancelled Knockhill race 2 on Saturday after passing his team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari on the final lap.

Kiyonari had dominated the race from the flag ahead of the Relentless Suzuki pairing of Michael Laverty and Alastair Seeley.  Tommy Hill on the Worx Crescent Suzuki had soon moved into third position passing both Relentless Suzuki riders as he chased down the leading HM Plant Honda duo.

Brookes was sitting in ninth place by the end of the first lap after a terrible start but by the seventh lap had passed Seeley, Michael Rutter and Laverty and was up to third place.  The HM Plant Honda rider was soon attacking Hill, passing him on the inside at Riches before going after his team-mate.  Kiyonari was defending his position but Brookes managed to make his way past on the final lap again at Riches to take his third win of the season.

Hill finished in third place ahead of Rutter in fourth, Seeley in fifth, Michael Laverty in sixth, James Ellison in seventh, Simon Andrews in eighth, Gary Mason in ninth and Tommy Bridewell in tenth.

Here are the results;

1. Josh Brookes  AUS HM Plant Honda  19mins 41.650s
2. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN HM Plant Honda +0.594s
3. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +4.475s
4. Michael Rutter GBR Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati +4.989s
5. Alastair Seeley GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +5.485s
6. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +5.889s
7. James Ellison GBR Swan Honda +9.148s
8. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +11.305s
9. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +14.364s
10. Tommy Bridewell GBR Quay Garage Honda +14.386s
11. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +14.698s
12. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +15.007s
13. Dan Linfoot GBR Motorpoint Yamaha +17.458s
14. Andrew Pitt AUS Motorpoint Yamaha +28.761s
15. Peter Hickman GBR Ultimate Racing Yamaha +28.933s

25. Stuart Easton GBR Swan Honda 5 laps completed
26. Chris Burns GBR Splitlath Aprilia 0 laps completed

Race One - Snetterton

It was Michael Rutter on the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati that took to the lead as the opening race got underway ahead of Tommy Hill, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Michael Laverty and James Ellison.

Brookes was back in sixth place by the end of lap one despite claiming pole position in the Swan Combi Roll for Pole after another iffy start.  By the fourth lap the HM Plant Honda rider had moved up to third while his team-mate Kiyonari was forced to retire from the race following a mechanical problem.

Hill had fallen back down the field running behind both Seeley and Ellison but was soon looking to make a pass on the Swan Honda rider which he succeeded in doing to finish the race in second place.

By lap 7, Brookes had passed second place man Hill before being gifted the lead 7 laps later when Rutter was seen slowing down with a gear shift problem on the Ducati.

Hill finished in second place followed by Seeley in third, Ellison in fourth, Michael Laverty in fifth, Tommy Bridewell in sixth, Chris Walker in seventh, Stuart Easton in eighth, Simon Andrews in ninth and John Laverty rounding off the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

1.  Josh Brookes  AUS HM Plant Honda  24mins 13.327s
2. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +1.472s
3. Alastair Seeley GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +2.740s
4. James Ellison GBR Swan Honda +3.757s
5. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +4.152s
6. Tommy Bridewell GBR Quay Garage Honda +15.640s
7. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +17.779s
8. Stuart Easton GBR Swan Honda +18.417s
9. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +18.860s
10. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +19.131s
11. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +21.546s
12. Andrew Pitt AUS Motorpoint Yamaha +21.838s
13. Steve Brogan GBR Jentin Racing BMW +32.999s
14. Gary Johnson GBR AIM Suzuki +34.969s
15. Tom Tunstall GBR Doodson Motorsport Honda +44.072s

DNS Chris Burns GBR Splitlath Aprilia
DNS Luke Jones GBR PR Racing Yamaha

Race Two

Josh Brookes was denied his third win of the weekend after a technical problem occurred seeing him retiring from the race on lap 12.

It was the Swan Honda of James Ellison that took to the front of the pack as the race got underway ahead of Josh Brookes and Ryuichi Kiyonari.

By lap 3, Kiyonari squeezed his way through on Michael Laverty before passing his team-mate Brookes seven laps later.  On lap 9, the Honda rider had managed to get past the leading Swan Honda rider Ellison as they headed into Riches.  Brookes was hot on the tail of his team-mate until he was forced to retire from the race.

Kiyonari was leading the race 1.3 seconds ahead of Michael Laverty, Rutter and Ellison until Alastair Seeley attempted a pass on Ellison taking them both out of the race.

Michael Laverty made a move on the leading man only to run wide and lose his second position to a stalking Tommy Hill.  Rutter finished in fourth place ahead of John Laverty in fifth, Simon Andrews in sixth, Chris Walker in seventh, Andrew Pitt in eighth, Gary Mason in ninth and Yukio Kagayama in tenth.

Here are the results;

1.  Ryuichi Kiyonari  JPN HM Plant Honda  26mins 52.964s
2. Tommy Hill GBR Worx Crescent Suzuki +0.591s
3. Michael Laverty GBR Relentless by TAS Suzuki +0.954s
4. Michael Rutter GBR Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati +1.584s
5. John Laverty GBR Buildbase Kawasaki +3.897s
6. Simon Andrews GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +4.899s
7. Chris Walker GBR Sorrymate.com SMT Honda +6.127s
8. Andrew Pitt AUS Motorpoint Yamaha +8.211s
9. Gary Mason GBR MSS Colchester Kawasaki +8.349s
10. Yukio Kagayama JPN Worx Crescent Suzuki +9.566s
11. Peter Hickman GBR Ultimate Racing Yamaha 10.663s
12. Dan Linfoot GBR Motorpoint Yamaha +12.146s
13. Steve Brogan GBR Jentin Racing BMW +16.226s
14. Gary Johnson GBR AIM Suzuki +17.302s
15. Hudson Kennaugh RSA Splitlath Aprilia +17.607s

DNS James Edmeades GBR Redline KTM
DNS Chris Burns GBR Splitlath Aprilia
DNS Luke Jones GBR PR Racing Yamaha