British Superbike Championship Brands Hatch Indy Circuit Kent, England April 7, 2013 Superbike Race One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Shane Byrne, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 29 laps, 22:30.877 2. Alex Lowes, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), -1.376 seconds 3. Josh Brookes, Australia (Suz GSX-R1000), -6.207 4. Jon Kirkham, UK (BMW S1000RR), -9.009 5. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), -9.326 6. Keith Farmer, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -13.351 7. Chris Walker, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -13.681 8. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Hon CBR1000RR), -13.814 9. PJ Jacobsen, USA (Suz GSX-R1000), -16.980 10. Josh Waters, Australia (Yam YZF-R1), -20.505 11. Robbin Harms, Denmark (Hon CBR1000RR), -21.341 12. Peter Hickman, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), -23.538 13. Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic (Hon CBR1000RR), -24.301 14. Matteo Baiocco, Italy (Duc 1199R), -27.616 15. Howie Mainwaring, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -28.280 16. James Ellison, UK (Yam YZF-R1), -29.012 17. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW S1000RR), -33.847 18. Luke Quigley, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -35.014 19. Lee Costello, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -44.107 20. Dan Linfoot, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), DNF 21. James Westmoreland, UK (BMW S1000RR), DNF 22. Michael Rutter, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), DNF 23. Aaron Zanotti, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), DNF 24. Danny Buchan, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), DNF 25. Karl Harris, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), DNF Race Two Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. James Ellison, UK (Yam YZF-R1), 30 laps, 23:07.409 2. Alex Lowes, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), -1.997 seconds 3. Shane Byrne, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -5.904 4. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (Hon CBR1000RR), -11.507 5. Josh Brookes, Australia (Suz GSX-R1000), -15.974 6. Jon Kirkham, UK (BMW S1000RR), -21.280 7. Karl Harris, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -23.038 8. Chris Walker, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -23.390 9. James Westmoreland, UK (BMW S1000RR), -30.552 10. Keith Farmer, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -30.999 11. Robbin Harms, Denmark (Hon CBR1000RR), -31.555 12. PJ Jacobsen, USA (Suz GSX-R1000), -31.654 13. Peter Hickman, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), -32.352 14. Josh Waters, Australia (Yam YZF-R1), -32.585 15. Matteo Baiocco, Italy (Duc 1199R), -38.844 16. Howie Mainwaring, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -40.080 17. Luke Quigley, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -40.173 18. Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic (Hon CBR1000RR), -40.406 19. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW S1000RR), -40.805 20. Aaron Zanotti, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 21. Lee Costello, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), DNF 22. Danny Buchan, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), DNF 23. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), DNF 24. Michael Rutter, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), DNF Results for other American riders competing at Brands Hatch: Tommy Aquino finished 24th out of 38 starters in the 24-lap Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship race. Riding his WD-40 Kawasaki ZX-10R, Aquino finished 22.940 seconds behind race winner Adam Jenkinson, who also rode a Kawasaki ZX-10R. Jayson Uribe finished 18th out of 22 starters in the 19-lap Monster Energy British Motostar Championship race. Riding a Cresswell Racing Honda, Uribe finished one lap down to race winner Tarran MacKenzie, who rode a KTM. Michael Corbino finished 14th out of 31 starters in the first, 15-lap Triumph Triple Challenge race, and he got 16th out of 31 starters in Race Two. Freddy Pett won both races. All riders used Triumph Daytona 675Rs in the Triumph Triple Challenge. More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision: BYRNE AND ELLISON SHARE THE VICTORIES IN DRAMATIC OPENER Results Race one result: 1:Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 2:Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) +1.376s 3:Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +6.207s 4:Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +9.009s 5:Tommy Bridewell (Bathams Honda) +9.326s 6:Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +13.351s Race two result: 1:James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) 2:Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) +1.997s 3:Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +5.904s 4:Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) +11.507s 5:Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) +15.974s 6:Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) +21.280s Championship standings: 1:Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 41 2:Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) 40 3:Josh Brookes (Tyco Suzuki) 27 4:James Ellison (Milwaukee Yamaha) 25 5:Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW) 23 6:Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) 21 Report Shane Byrne began the defence of his MCE Insurance British Superbike crown by taking the opening race win of the season on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, but a mistake as he tried to challenge for the lead in the closing stages of the second race arguably cost him the double as James Ellison celebrated victory. Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Byrne started from pole position to take the lead after a flying start, but Aussie Josh Brookes forced his Tyco Suzuki ahead on the fifth lap. However Byrne fought back and regained the lead at half distance, en route to his sixth victory in as many appearances at the Kent circuit. “I had a big headache and stress ahead of the race as it was the first one of the season,” admitted Byrne. “I made a good start, but I was steady to start with and wanted someone to come through and set the pace. I was happy to follow Josh for ten or so laps and then had the pace to dig in and take the victory.” Alex Lowes, making his debut for Samsung Honda, took second place ahead of Brookes in a race that was red-flagged on the final lap after an incident involving James Westmoreland and Dan Linfoot, the latter sustaining a cracked pelvis. Ellison meanwhile had a dramatic opening race after making ‘a schoolboy error’ as just prior to the start of the warm up lap his visor had detached from his helmet and he was wheeled off the grid for it to be fixed. He then incurred a ride through penalty for taking an incorrect grid position at the start of the race. The consolation for the Cumbrian rider, making his debut with the Milwaukee Yamaha team after a year in MotoGP, was that he set the fastest lap to earn pole start for the second race. He then led and set the pace in the second race before holding off the late dramatic challenge from Byrne to take the win. Byrne, who has a single point lead in the title stakes, explained: “James had a bit of a bobble at Surtees and I thought ‘this is it, my chance’. I got alongside him, but he peeled back quicker than I expected. I just clipped his back wheel but managed to stay upright and finish third.” Ellison took his seventh career MCE BSB victory ahead of Lowes and Byrne while returning triple champion Ryuichi Kiyonari brought his Samsung Honda home in fourth place, just ahead of Brookes. For more information please visit www.britishsuperbike.com More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Josh Brookes holds third place in the British Superbike Championship standings after the opening round of the season at Brands Hatch, the Tyco Suzuki rider taking third place in the opening encounter, after leading in the early laps; and followed it up with a lonely fifth place in race two. Young American PJ Jacobsen had a solid debut in the British Superbike class and holds a top-10 position in the championship standings after taking ninth and 12th in his full BSB debut. Josh Brookes: “I’m fairly happy with the weekend and I don’t want to use not having track time as an excuse, as no one really has coming into this round. We worked through with a new set-up on suspension and it wasn’t perfect straight away, but by the time we got to race day we were in a good range and the tyre lasted pretty well for us in both races. My GSX-R1000 Superbike was running clean and crisp and I don’t think we could have got much more out of it. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to secure the results we wanted this weekend, but we will move onto the next round at Thruxton and see how it goes – it’s a long season ahead.” PJ Jacobsen: “The first race was really good but 30 laps really was a bit different for me and I didn’t really know what the Superbike class was going to be like in a race situation – but yeah, it was good. I just concentrated on being really smooth and maybe didn’t push so hard in the first race but ninth at the end was absolutely great. In the second race I got tangled up with someone going into turn one and basically that was the race over for me in terms of trying to better my place from race one. I just concentrated on putting in consistent lap times and although I’m a bit disappointed, it was a good start to the year.” Philip Neill – Team Manager: “As Josh says, we didn’t quite get the results we wanted from the weekend but there are a lot of positives to be taken away from the first round; not least no broken bikes, which is of paramount importance on back-to-back weekends. We will need to have a look at certain areas that we must improve on, but all in all we are third in the championship after round one, so we will not complain. “PJ had a good solid debut in BSB: He qualified well, dealt with the pressure of riding in the premier class and his race one result was more than impressive for a rookie who has had limited track time. In race two he got pushed wide into Paddock Hill and it put paid to any chances of improving on race one, but we are delighted with his attitude and application and it couldn’t have been a much better debut.” More, from a press release issued by Cartersport on behalf of Smiths Triumph Racing Team: Double Podium For Smiths Triumph At Brands Hatch The Gloucester-based Smiths Triumph Racing Team enjoyed an excellent start to their Motorpoint British Supersport Championship defence at Brands Hatch this weekend with Billy McConnell claiming two hard fought runner-up spots and reigning champion Glen Richards a brace of fifths. The Australian duo qualified in a superb first and second for Saturday’s 18-lap Sprint race which saw Billy claim pole position for a second successive year as the race got underway in dry but cold conditions. The initial race had to be re-started after a four-rider crash which saw the two Smiths Triumph riders hold third and fourth in the early stages. As the race progressed, McConnell closed in on leader Stuart Easton but couldn’t do anything to pass the Scotsman so had to settle for second with Richards back in fifth at the chequered flag. Today’s longer 26-lap Feature race saw a ferocious seven-rider dice for the lead until Easton crashed out as Billy and Glen occupied fifth and sixth respectively in the first third of the race. McConnell hit the front on lap 18 but was unable to make the break with positions changing place all the way until the end. On the final lap, it was still anybody’s race but it was Alastair Seeley who had the edge at the flag with Billy just getting the better of Wilson for second. Richards took fifth just 0.9s behind the race winner such was the competition. Billy McConnell: “It’s going to be another close British Supersport season and this weekend has served up two hectic races once more. We still have some work to do to the new Triumph Daytona 675R but it handles like a dream so to come away with two seconds is brilliant and it’s a good start to our season. Full credit to the team for all the work they’ve done with the bike and to be so close to the front so early bodes well for the rest of the season. Of course, I’d have loved to have won this weekend but we’re in the ballpark and with a bit more power to come from the bike, we’re going to be well placed and I’m really looking forward to the year ahead.” Glen Richards: “We’ve got some good, solid points this weekend but you always want to win so I know there’s plenty more to come from me and I need to get myself dialled back into racing again. It’s been one of those off-seasons where the weather’s been against us and with a new bike; we’ve needed that dry track time more than ever. Overall, I’m happy with the bike though and we just need to iron out a few little things here and there and we’ll be there. We were at the pointy end this weekend so if both the bike and myself can make some little improvements, we’ll soon be back on the box.” Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: “We’re a lot further forward than where we expected to be at this stage of the season with the brand new Triumph Daytona 675R and all the development work that’s been required so full credit to the team especially Jason Jones and John Trigger for all the hours they’ve been putting in. With a new bike, you need as much testing as possible but the weather’s put paid to that so to put the bikes in first and second in qualifying was an unbelievable start. “The red flag went against us in Saturday’s race but the boys got two solid results and then Billy put in a superb ride today so for him to come away with two seconds this weekend is great and a lot better than this time last year. Glen was in the ballpark as well but we know he’s more used to being on the podium, at least, so we’ll look to get everything that little bit more dialled in for Thruxton and get both bikes in the top three.” Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race 1 – 16 laps 1 Stuart Easton (Yamaha) 2 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) 3 Alastair Seeley (Kawasaki) 4 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) 5 Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph) 6 Graeme Gowland (Yamaha) Motorpoint British Supersport Championship Race 2 – 26 laps 1 Alastair Seeley (Kawasaki) 2 Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) 3 Ben Wilson (Kawasaki) 4 Luke Jones (Honda) 5 Glen Richards (Smiths Racing Triumph) 6 Graeme Gowland (Yamaha) Championship standings (after one round) 1 Seeley 41pts 2 McConnell 40 3 Wilson 29 4 Easton 25 5 Richards 22 6 Jones 21 For further information please visit www.smithsracing.co.uk or the official championship website www.britishsuperbike.com. More, from a press release issued by MWR Kawasaki: MWR Unlucky To Miss Out On Points At Brands Hatch The MWR Kawasaki team missed out in the opening rounds of the Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc and 600cc Championships at Brands Hatch today with both James Egan and Harry Hartley unlucky to leave the Kent circuit without any points on the board. South African James Egan was making his debut on the team’s Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship following on from two years in the Triumph Triple Challenge. Qualifying inside the top 30, the rider who hails from the KwaZulu-Natal province made solid progress throughout the 24-lap race and a sensible performance saw him rewarded with 21st at the chequered flag. Burnley team-mate Hartley was taking part in his first four-stroke race having previously contested the 125cc British Championship and qualified in a solid 12th place for the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship aboard his Kawasaki ZX-6R. The 16-year-old made a good start but slipped back to 15th in the early stages of the race before fighting his way up to the edge of the top ten when the fuel pump broke putting him out of the race with just six laps to go. James Egan: “It’s been a real shock to the system seeing how competitive the class is and with our entire testing programme taking place in the wet weather, we’ve had to use this weekend as a dry test session. We haven’t really been looking at points or positions; we’ve just been concentrating on trying various combinations with the bike to find a setting we’re happy with. The race today was a great learning exercise and we’ve now got some valuable data and a platform from what we can now build on. It’s a long season and we can now start moving forward.” Harry Hartley: “I felt really comfortable out there today and was just biding my time behind the group in front of me when the fuel pump went. It’s a disappointing end to what had been an otherwise strong weekend but it’s just one of those things and we’d shown good pace up until that point. The 600 suits me more than the 125 and the team are doing an awesome job so we’ll hope for better luck and a top ten position next time out.” Mark Webster, Team Owner: “Although we haven’t come away with any points this weekend, we leave Brands Hatch with two solid two races under our belt and with two new riders in the team, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. Like most teams, we haven’t had any dry track time and for Harry, Friday was the first time he’d ridden the bike in the dry. To qualify 12th was an excellent effort and only a bit of misfortune denied him a top ten finish. “James has struggled to find a dry set-up and with the 1000cc class being so competitive, small changes to the bike can make huge differences but he had a solid race and has learned a lot so we’re confident of moving forward. We had no crashes in what, at times, were extremely difficult conditions and with the next round only a few days away, we can put into practice what we’ve learned this weekend and look to move up the leaderboard immediately.” Pirelli National Superstock 1000cc Championship (24 laps) 1 Adam Jenkinson (Kawasaki) 2 Filip Backlund (Kawasaki) 3 John McGuinness (Honda) 4 Peter Ward (Kawasaki) 5 Hudson Kennaugh (Kawasaki) 6 Lee Jackson (BMW) 21 James Egan (MWR Kawasaki) Championship standings (after one round) 1 Jenkinson 25 pts 2 Backlund 20 3 McGuinness 16 4 Ward 13 5 Kennaugh 11 6 Jackson 10 Pirelli National Superstock 600cc Championship (22 laps) 1 Joe Collier (Triumph) 2 Jordan Simpkin (Yamaha) 3 James Lodge (Kawasaki) 4 Tim Hastings (Kawasaki) 5 Callan Cooper (Kawasaki) 6 Niall Campbell (Yamaha) DNF Harry Hartley (MWR Kawasaki) Championship standings (after one round) 1 Collier 25pts 2 Simpkin 20 3 Lodge 16 4 Hastings 13 5 Cooper 11 6 Campbell 10 The next round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 and 1000 Championships take place at Thruxton in Hampshire next weekend of (12/14) April. For further information, please visit www.mwrkawasaki.co.uk or www.britishsuperbike.com. More, from a press release issued by Triumph Triple Challenge organizers: Pett demonstrates his dominance in the Triumph Triple Challenge season opener After going fastest in free practice and qualifying on pole, Freddy Pett completed the set by crossing the line almost five seconds faster than the rest of the pack. Off the line Pett was strong and held his own against Chrissy Rouse who started in second. From then on there was no stopping him as he pulled further away from the others each lap. However, Pett was disappointed after the race that he hadn’t had more trouble from his competitors. He told us: “I was looking forward to having a battle with Chrissy! I managed to pull away at the beginning and it made it a bit of a boring race for me if I’m honest. “It’s good to start the season off like that, for once I actually made a decent start! I had two practice starts which were both terrible, luckily my third go was good so I got the whole shot and just led from there. I knocked off three or four seconds after two or three laps. I was pushing on but then the gap wasn’t decreasing so I thought that’ll do.” Whilst Pett shot off ahead, Rouse and Phil Atkinson were in a race of there own. The two were constantly swapping places throughout the race but it was Rouse who came out on top. Atkinson was racing with two broken ribs so it was a miracle he finished the race let alone got on the podium. He spoke about it after the race: “I’m completely ruined. I couldn’t keep up with the pace to be honest, there was too much pain. I just tried to slow the race down really. Everytime Chrissy passed me I just tried to pass him back just as quick as I could to prevent him pulling away.” Rouse also spoke about the race: “I didn’t get a great start and I took the first lap quite gingerly, just to stay on the bike. Freddy got his head straight down and just went for it really, got a nice little gap and sort of left me the scraps of second. I had my speciality, which was going into Paddock, and then Phil had his, going into Graham Hill. Then every lap we were just messing each other’s laps up.” After lap ten Rouse got a strong lead on Atkinson and began pulling away. Dan Fuller, who came first in the Cup class, began chasing down the South African but there weren’t enough laps left to achieve it. Fuller was closely followed by Tom Hayward across the line, the behind him newbies Charlie King and Gavin Little who completed the Cup class podium. King was please to achieve this in his first Triumph Triple Challenge race especially from his grid position: “I started from fourteenth place, I just slowly picked my way from the start up to sixth place in the end and got into the decent times.” Ben Taylor also flew through the field, starting from 15th he managed to finish in ninth. Taylor rode the older Daytona 675, used in last years season by all riders, and still finished in the top ten ahead of many other riders on the more powerful new Daytona 675R. Triumph Triple Challenge race again at 1.30pm on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Follow @TriumphTC on twitter or like www.facebook.com/triumphtriplechallenge for more information and updates. More, from a press release issued by T3 Racing: Rob Guiver finishes 17th in his first ever British Supersport race with the Ace Cafe T3 Racing team. Rob Guiver started from 19th position in Race 1 at Brands Hatch (6th April 2013) on the Ace Cafe Racer but managed to improve to 17th. The team were impressed with the result after minimal testing and more improvements still planned for the bike. When asked about his race he felt he could do better with more time: “I had a couple of battles going on, I kept chopping and changing with people towards the end and if I’d had another five or six laps maybe I could have got in amongst them. I just ran out of time after having a bad start.” It was a messy start to the race as William Dunlop, Deane Brown and Jason O’Harrell came off at at Druids. A red flag was issued due to oil on the track and the race was restarted with a full grid. When the race began again the pack split, the front eight pulled away leaving the rest to fight it out. Stuart Easton, Billy McConnell and Alastair Seeley battled at the front for the win. Easton, from MarTrain Yamaha Racing, went on to take the race, a disappointing result for Glen Richards of Smiths Triumph who too a strong lead before the red flag but went on to finish fifth. Although he felt his start wasn’t his best, Guiver was able to hold his position when the race started for the second time. After his success last year with the Triumph Triple Challenge it was uncomfortable for him to be so far back in the pack but he is positive about tomorrow’s race. He told us: “Obviously I would have liked to get a bit further up the field but I wasn’t particularly prepared for the race. It would have been good to get a bit more testing in. We didn’t get a very good start to the race and I wasn’t aggressive enough when passing people but I think I managed to set quite a good lap time and will be starting from 13th tomorrow. I’m pretty happy with it, there’s a lot to change on the bike so it should be a much stronger race tomorrow.” However disappointed Guiver was, Ace Cafe T3 Racing team manager Ricky Chadwick, was pleased with their start to the season: “I thought Rob did really well as it was his first time racing the bike and even with the lack of testing that he’s done the lap times put him 12th overall so I’m very impressed. We’re making one or two changes before tomorrow, nothing major but we’re going to make him feel more comfortable on the bike. “We’re looking forward to a good race tomorrow, as long as he can get off the line well we should be getting close to top ten.” Guiver starts 12th on the grid for Race 2 of the Motorpoint British Supersport series tomorrow at 14.55. For more information visit www.t3-racing.co.uk or www.ace-cafe-london.com. Alternatively you can find us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/t3racing) or follow us on twitter (@T3Racing). More, from a press release issued by Cartersport on behalf of Paul Bird Motorsport: Byrne Leads MCE BSB Championship After Brands Hatch Reigning champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki team got their MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship title defence underway in fine style at Brands Hatch this weekend with the Kent rider taking a victory and a third place respectively in the two 30-lap races to leave the opening round with the series lead. Having claimed pole position, Byrne was again in sparkling form and confirmed his intentions in the opening race aboard the Minxflix.com-backed Kawasaki ZX-10R as he shadowed Josh Brookes in the early stages before making his move at half race distance. From there, he was able to gradually edge away from Alex Lowes and eventually took the chequered flag by just over a second to clinch his 42nd career British Superbike race victory for the Penrith-based PBM team. In the second encounter later in the day, the race followed a similar pattern although this time, the 36-year-old triple BSB champion from Sittingbourne chased the pace-setting James Ellison. Byrne was looking for his seventh successive Brands Hatch victory and with three laps to go, made a move but Ellison covered it and Byrne subsequently ran wide onto the grass before rejoining and crossing the line in third place. For 25-year-old Ulster team-mate Keith Farmer, it was a promising weekend in what was only his second race outing on a Superbike. Having qualified in a brilliant fifth place, the reigning National Superstock 1000cc Champion ran as high as third in the opening race before dropping back to sixth at the chequered flag. In race two, the rider from Clogher in County Tyrone made a poor start but held on to finish tenth at the chequered flag to reflect a solid performance which saw him eighth in the title race after the opening round. Shane Byrne: “It’s nice to get the first two races and pre-season nerves out of the way and to come away with a first and a third is a good start and I’m happy with how the day’s gone. The first race couldn’t have gone any better to be fair and once I decided to make my move I was able to open up a bit of a cushion over Alex. I was biding my time in the second race as well and thought James had presented me with an opportunity but he tipped in earlier than I anticipated and it was very close! Luckily we had a gap to the rest of the field and I was able to rejoin in third so with a win and a third, and a one point championship lead, its all been good.” Keith Farmer: “The aim for this weekend was to put in a solid performance and to come away with a couple of top ten results and that’s exactly what I’ve done. We showed some good pace in qualifying and ran with the leaders in race one but I struggled a little with arm pump in the latter stages. Race two saw me not get a good start so it was always going to be a battle but to hold a top eight placing in the championship after round one is brilliant. Hopefully we can continue the learning curve next weekend at Thruxton and a big well done to the team and Shakey for a superb performance.” Paul Bird, Team Owner: “Shakey leading the championship and Keith inside the top eight after the opening round is certainly job done this weekend. We’ve had good pace all weekend and we know from last year we have an exceptional package with the Kawasaki with Shakey on board. He costs a bit more than some in the paddock but he’s worth it and but for a bit of bad luck, he’d have had a double victory. Keith is a real talent and when you consider this was only his second ever time racing a Superbike, he has done magnificently well and brought it home as instructed in both races. We’ll go to Thruxton next weekend in confident mood and look to build on our success in round two.” PBM, Britain’s most expansive and diverse motorsport team are also competing in the MotoGP World Championship with Ulsterman Michael Laverty and Colombian Yonny Hernandez. Both riders are contesting the Claiming Rules Teams (CRT) series where Hernandez will compete on the team’s updated-specification Minxflix.com Aprilia ART and Laverty will be aboard the revolutionary brand new PBM-chassised Minxflix.com Aprilia for his debut season which starts in Qatar this weekend also. More information including bike, team and rider profiles, race calendar etc can be found at the team’s brand new website www.pbmuk.net. The official website of the 2013 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship is at www.britishsuperbike.com MCE British Superbike Championship Race 1 – 29 laps 1 Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 2 Alex Lowes (Honda) 3 Josh Brookes (Suzuki) 4 Jon Kirkham (BMW) 5 Tommy Bridewell (Honda) 6 Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) MCE British Superbike Championship Race 2 – 30 laps 1 James Ellison (Yamaha) 2 Alex Lowes (Honda) 3 Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 4 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 5 Josh Brookes (Suzuki) 6 Jon Kirkham (BMW) 10 Keith Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) Championship Standings (after one round) 1 Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 41pts 2 Lowes 40 3 Brookes 27 4 Ellison 25 5 Kirkham 23 6 Kiyonari 21 8 Farmer (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 16 More, from a press release issued by Honda: MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 01 SUNDAY 7 APRIL BRANDS HATCH INDY Weather: Sunny,Chilly Temperature: Ambient degrees 8C, Track degrees 20C LOWES TWICE SECOND FOR HONDA AS KIYONARI CONSOLIDATES Alex Lowes settled quickly into the Samsung Honda team taking a pair of second places on his debut with them in the dramatic opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship while former three times title winner Ryuichi Kiyonari came back to take a fourth place after running eighth in the opener on the short, fast Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Lowes, who had ended last season with consistent performances with the private WFR Honda team, continued that form, taking the fight for pole start for the opening race to reigning champion Shane Byrne and missing out by only 0.142secs while Kiyonari, making the last cut of the three stage grid decider set the seventh best time to secure a second row start. Byrne, riding Kawasaki, made the better start in the opener, with Lowes second, though Suzuki’s Josh Brookes nosed him back into third. Lowes riding strongly was well on the pace, and after briefly mixing it with Kawasaki rider Keith Farmer was well placed to regain second place at half distance with a fine move on Brookes at Paddock Hill. However Lowes was unable to make any real impression on Byrne who took his sixth victory in six appearances at his local Kent circuit by some 1.376secs. Brookes was third ahead of BMW rider Jon Kirkham while Tommy Bridewell making his first appearance with the Bathams Honda team took fifth. Kiyonari was elevated to eighth place by a last lap crash in which Dan Linfoot, aboard the Lloyds British GBmoto Honda, sustained a cracked pelvis, in a tangle with James Westmoreland. Danish rider Robbin Harms made a solid start with an eleventh place on the Doodson Honda, just ahead of GBmoto Honda’s Peter Hickman and former World Superbike rider Jakub Smrz aboard the Padgett’s Honda. James Ellison, who had incurred a ride through penalty in the first race for a starting grid infringement after returning to the pit-lane to have his visor fixed, had pole for the second race and made the running throughout with Lowes coming through into second place four laps from the end when Byrne made a rare error, running wide and dropping back to third. Kiyonari, some six seconds back, took fourth, while Harms was eleventh and Smrz was a further seven places back. Byrne leads the title stakes by one point from Lowes going into the second round at Thruxton over the weekend of 12/13/14 April HONDA RIDER QUOTES Alex Lowes (Samsung Honda) “My intention coming into this round was to maintain the consistent form that I had at the end of last season, so I am really happy with the way things have gone. In the first race, I made a good start which was pleasing considering the difficulties in getting away swiftly that I had last year and then I had a good pace throughout and to be able to stick in behind Byrne who is always awesome here was very good. Then the second race, another second, and I am really chuffed to have two podiums. I didn’t expect the pace to be as hot as it was at the start but I rode really hard and wanted to be a get closer to them. Then at the end, I though Byrne would clean me out when he went wide but I was OK and on the podium and that is what I want to keep doing.” Ryuichi Kiyonari (Samsung Honda) “I am a bit disappointed really with my results but we spent a lot of time over the weekend working on settings and trying out parts because of the lack of testing time that we have had. My morning warm-up time was not as bad as it looked as again in that session we were still trying things out and was I was not pushing too much. “I made a bad start in the first race – I had not practiced my starts on the Superbike after riding the Supersport last year in the Asia Championship but I made a better start to the second race though would have liked a bit more grip which is something we will work on ahead of the Thruxton races. “We’ve learned a lot over this weekend which we will put to good use for the next round.” RESULTS BRITISH SUPERBIKE RACE1: POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / GAP 1 / Shane BYRNE / GBR / Kawasaki – Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki / 22:30.877 / 2 / Alex LOWES / GBR / Honda – Samsung Honda / 22:32.253 / 1.376 3 / Josh BROOKES / AUS / Suzuki – Tyco Suzuki / 22:37.084 / 6.207 4 / Jon KIRKHAM / GBR / BMW – Buildbase BMW Motorrad / 22:39.886 / 9.009 5 / Tommy BRIDEWELL / GBR / Honda – Bathams Honda / 22:40.203 / 9.326 6 / Keith FARMER / GBR / Kawasaki – Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki / 22:44.228 / 13.351 7 / Chris WALKER / GBR / Kawasaki – Quattro Plant Kawasaki / 22:44.558 / 13.681 8 / Ryuichi KIYONARI / JPN / Honda – Samsung Honda / 22:44.691 / 13.814 9 / PJ JACOBSEN / USA / Suzuki – Tyco Suzuki / 22:47.857 / 16.980 10 / Josh WATERS / AUS / Yamaha – Milwaukee Yamaha / 22:51.382 / 20.505 11 / Robbin HARMS / DEN / Honda – Doodson Motorsport Honda / 22:52.218 / 21.341 12 / Peter HICKMAN / GBR / Honda – Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda / 22:54.415 / 23.538 13 / Jakub SMRZ / CZE / Honda – Padgetts Honda / 22:55.178 / 24.301 14 / Matteo BAIOCCO / ITA / Ducati – Rapido Sport Racing / 22:58.493 / 27.616 15 / Howie MAINWARING / GBR / Kawasaki – MH Kawasaki / 22:59.157 / 28.280 Fastest lap: James ELLISON GBR Yamaha – Milwaukee Yamaha Lap 9 46.022 152.06Km/h RACE2: POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / GAP 1 / James ELLISON / GBR / Yamaha – Milwaukee Yamaha / 23:07.409 / 2 / Alex LOWES / GBR / Honda – Samsung Honda / 23:09.406 / 1.997 3 / Shane BYRNE / GBR / Kawasaki – Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki / 23:13.313 / 5.904 4 / Ryuichi KIYONARI / JPN / Honda – Samsung Honda / 23:18.916 / 11.507 5 / Josh BROOKES / AUS / Suzuki – Tyco Suzuki / 23:23.383 / 15.974 6 / Jon KIRKHAM / GBR / BMW – Buildbase BMW Motorrad / 23:28.689 / 21.280 7 / Karl HARRIS / GBR / Kawasaki – PR Racing Kawasaki / 23:30.447 / 23.038 8 / Chris WALKER / GBR / Kawasaki – Quattro Plant Kawasaki / 23:30.799 / 23.390 9 / James WESTMORELAND / GBR / BMW – Buildbase BMW Motorrad / 23:37.961 / 30.552 10 / Keith FARMER / GBR / Kawasaki – Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki / 23:38.408 / 30.999 11 / Robbin HARMS / DEN / Honda – Doodson Motorsport Honda / 23:38.964 / 31.555 12 / PJ JACOBSEN / USA / Suzuki – Tyco Suzuki / 23:39.063 / 31.654 13 / Peter HICKMAN / GBR / Honda – Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Honda / 23:39.761 / 32.352 14 / Josh WATERS / AUS / Yamaha – Milwaukee Yamaha / 23:39.994 / 32.585 15 / Matteo BAIOCCO / ITA / Ducati – Rapido Sport Racing / 23:46.253 / 38.844 Fastest lap: James ELLISON GBR Yamaha – Milwaukee Yamaha Lap 8 45.833 152.69 Km/h CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS: 1 BYRNE 41, 2 LOWES 40, 3 BROOKES 27, 4 ELLISON 25, 5 KIRKHAM 23, 6 KIYONARI 21, 7 WALKER 17, 8 FARMER 16, 9 BRIDEWELL 11, 10 JACOBSEN 11, 11 HARMS 10, 12 HARRIS 9, 13 WATERS 8, 14 HICKMAN 7, 15 WESTMORELAND 7. NEXT EVENT: ROUND02 APRIL 14, THRUXTON More, from a press release issued by Milwaukee Yamaha: MILWAUKEE YAMAHA VICTORIOUS ON DEBUT AS ELLISON WINS AT BRANDS HATCH Milwaukee Yamaha’s James Ellison celebrated a race win on his return to the MCE British Superbike Championship at the Brands Hatch season opener, bouncing back from a disappointing opening race whilst Josh Waters scored a top ten finish. In the first race Ellison suffered a dramatic start as he had a problem with his visor and was forced to start the warm up lap from pitlane. He lined up in his original grid position, but was given a ride through penalty for not starting at the back of the grid. However in race two Ellison made amends and stormed to the front of the pack and despite coming under pressure from race one winner Shane Byrne claimed the victory. Australian Waters had his first taste of MCE BSB racing today, claiming a tenth place in the first race, but had a tough second outing and had to settle for fourteenth place. Ellison said: “It was great to bounce back in the second one from the schoolboy error in the first race as it was really disappointing. It is bittersweet as we didn’t show what we were capable of in the first one as I could do the times consistently but knew we had to get a good start and step up. I was a bit surprised at the pace we were all able to run and I knew Shakey was behind me. I could hear him behind me and I am a bit surprised I got away with it in the end, but I definitely heard the close call going into Surteees! I had a bit of a moment at Graham Hill Bend and I thought that was going to be enough for Shakey to try and make a move but we were lucky and held onto it. I really enjoyed being out the front with the other guys and full credit to the Milwaukee Yamaha team as we have had an impressive start to the season.” Waters said: “It has been a bit of a tough one for me but I also think that I have learnt a lot this weekend and it is good for me to get these races under my belt. I didn’t qualify well and that made it really difficult for race one. I was able to move up the order and then I was happier in race two as I was in the battle for ninth place and try and push a bit harder. I need to congratulate the rest of the team and also James for the win in the second race as that shows what everyone in our garage is capable of and we want to come back stronger at Thruxton.” Milwaukee Yamaha team owner Shaun Muir concluded: “After the disappointment of the first race for James to comeback with such a hot and consistent pace was something that was truly impressive so all credit to him. He got his just rewards in that second one. Josh meanwhile had his first taste of how tough this Championship is and we know he can progress throughout the season. I need to complement them both on their attitudes this weekend and for our first round as Milwaukee Yamaha we have rewarded all of our partners with hopefully the first of many wins this year.” For more information visit www.milwaukeeyamaha.com