LAVERTY VICTORIOUS AS TITLE FIGHTER CONTENDERS CLASH AT CADWELL PARK Results Sunday race (rescheduled from Oulton Park) 1. Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 2. Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +0.214s 3. Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +1 lap 4. Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +1 lap 5. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +1 lap 6. Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +1 lap Championship points after Sunday race: 1. Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 271 (THROUGH TO SHOWDOWN) 2. John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 231 (THROUGH TO SHOWDOWN) 3. Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 230 (THROUGH TO SHOWDOWN) 4. Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 188 (THROUGH TO SHOWDOWN) 5. Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 146 6. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 146 7. Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) 130 8. Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 125 9. Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 125 10. Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) 106 Qualifying for Monday race one: 1. Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 1m 26.571secs 2. Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 1m 26.642secs 3. Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) 1m 27.104secs 4. Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 1m 27.196secs 5. Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors Bathams Ducati) 1m 27.264secs 6. Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 1m 27.356secs Report Michael Laverty became the fourth rider to consolidate his place as a Title Fighter ahead of the final three round Showdown with a victory in the opening race in the triple header ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park as he held off the determined challenges of his Swan Yamaha team-mate Tommy Hill. They duelled intensely throughout but Laverty had the upper-hand, to take his second victory of the season by 0.214seconds and join Hill amid the six riders who will go forwards into the end of season Showdown that will determined the outcome of the crown. Laverty reflected: “I am feeling pretty happy with that win as it is good for my championship and consolidating my position in the top six for the Showdown. I got off to a good start and was able to set the pace but I did make a few mistakes and knew that Tommy was close behind me. The bike was working well and we have more to come.” The race which was red-flagged five laps early because of light rain at the Hall Bends section of the Lincolnshire course but there was drama when a controversial move on the sixth lap as Aussie Josh Brookes made a hard overtaking move on Michael Rutter who crashed his Rapid Solicitors Bathams Ducati sustaining rib injuries. Relentless Suzuki riding Brookes attempted to defend his move: “You’ve got to go for every point you can at this stage of the championship I had been up his exhaust pipes for four or five laps and had to make the move at Hall Bends.” “I showed him the front wheel and had not intention of taking him down but he kept on the power. I wanted to make the pass but he went down – I expect that people will be saying bad boy Brookes is back,” he added. Brookes finished the race in third place on the road ahead of the leader in the overall standings Shane Byrne aboard the HM Plant Honda but later after race officials had studied video of the incident and interviewed both teams Brookes was excluded from the results. Jon Kirkham was classified fourth on the Samsung Crescent Suzuki with the reigning champion Ryuichi Kiyonari fifth from his fifth row start and edging nearer to securing his place among the title fighters as he capitalised on the demise of Rutter. There are still two Title Fighter places to be decided in tomorrow’s two races ahead of the Showdown with Brookes equal on points with Kiyonari, ahead of Rutter, Mason, Kirkham and Peter Hickman still mathematically in with a chance of making the critical cut. Glen Richards who finished tenth on the WFR Honda won the Mirrror.co.uk BSB-EVO class to tighten his grip on the title as he finished ahead of his team-mate Graeme Gowland with Moto Rapido Ducati rider Scott Smart third in class. Laverty is well placed to add to his winning tally. He will start the first of Monday afternoon’s two races from pole position after eclipsing his team-mate Hill with a scorching final lap, bettering the lap record. It is the first BSB pole for the Ulsterman and he enthused: “I’m quite chuffed as I had made a couple of mistakes early on but took a few chances to take my first ever pole. I had led the first two parts of the qualifying and was just praying that I had done enough to beat Tommy.” Local rider Hickman completed the front row on his Tyco Honda, boosting his hopes of joining the ranks of the title-fighters as he outpaced his rivals Brookes on the Relentless Suzuki and Rapid Solicitors Bathams Ducati rider Rutter who are on the second row in company with Byrne. Kirkham ran his Samsung Crescent seventh fastest, some three tenths of a second faster than the top qualifier in the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO class Graeme Gowland aboard the WFR Honda and Mark Jessopp. But there was another struggle for Kiyonari whose best time was over two seconds down on Laverty, leaving him with a sixth row start and an uphill struggle in the race. For more information please visit www.britishsuperbike.com More, from a press release issued by Swan Yamaha: SWAN YAMAHA SCORE POLE POSITION AND ONE-TWO FINISH AT CADWELL PARK The Swan Yamaha team put on an impressive show for the fans at Cadwell Park today at the ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship as Michael Laverty claimed his first pole position whilst Tommy Hill will start from second for tomorrow’s second race. This afternoon in the rescheduled Oulton Park race the pair repeated their qualifying performance, giving the team their first one-two finish of the season. In qualifying Hill looked set to claim the pole position, but a last lap improvement from Laverty saw him edge out his team-mate ahead of tomorrow’s second race. This afternoon’s rescheduled race saw the pair get off to a flying start from the front row with Laverty leading Hill as the pair pulled out an advantage over the field. Hill was shadowing his team-mate for the lead, however at the start of the eleventh lap the race was red flagged for rain. The result means Hill is now three podium credits ahead of his nearest rival Shane Byrne, whilst Laverty confirmed his place in the Showdown. Hill said: “It is great for the Swan Yamaha team to have a one-two in both qualifying and the first race here at Cadwell Park today. I was fairly happy with qualifying but I do feel a bit gutted not to have been on pole. I am happy to be on the front row for the second race tomorrow, but I really wanted pole as we had been fastest before that and I knew we had the pace. Congratulations to Michael though, as that was a great lap he did and it is fantastic that we have a Swan Yamaha one-two on the grid. I was looking like I might have improved on my fastest lap but I hit a false neutral into the Hairpin which cost me probably half a second. I was frustrated that the race was red flagged, but I suppose you can’t take any chances although I would have liked for it to go down to the wire as I think the battle was just starting. I think I could have passed Michael, or at least I would have had a go for it in the last laps, but it was a good result for the team and puts us in a good position for tomorrow.” Laverty said: “I am really happy to have taken the pole position for Swan Yamaha for the race tomorrow as it is my first in BSB; I had make some mistakes on the previous lap but I am really chuffed. I was hoping I could just pull it out the bag but I wasn’t sure if Tommy Hill was just going to take it back on his final lap. I am feeling pretty happy with the win as it is good for my championship and to consolidate the position in the top six for the Showdown. I got off to a good start and was able to set the pace but I did make a few mistakes and knew that Tommy was close behind me. The Swan Yamaha was working well and we have more to come. I think it was the right call to stop the race when it started to rain in places and I am chuffed to have claimed pole and a race win today.” Team Manager Gary Ekerold concluded: “All I can say is that today we have had two fantastic results for the Swan Yamaha team. To start with a first and second in qualifying for tomorrow’s races and then for Michael and Tommy to have taken the same result in the first race and by a good margin was an excellent result for the team. We now want to carry that momentum through to the races tomorrow now that both riders have secured their place in the Showdown.” For more information visit www.swanyamaha.co.uk More, from a press release issued by Samsung Crescent Suzuki: KIRKHAM A STRONG FOURTH AT CADWELL PARK BSB Samsung Crescent Racing’s Jon Kirkham showed a continued return to form today when he raced to a fighting fourth place in the first of three British Superbike races being held over the Bank Holiday weekend at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire. Kirkham, the sole representative for the team this weekend (while John Hopkins recovers from a hand injury) has enjoyed the full attention of the team’s technicians, who have worked hard to give Kirkham a set-up that will work best for him. This was reflected in good progress through practice with Kirkham finishing 8th fastest. In qualifying Kirkham placed 6th fastest in Q1 and again in Q2, slipping just slightly to 7th in Q3 for a third row start in the first race (Cadwell Park’s narrow start straight can only fit three bikes to a row). In the race this afternoon Kirkham started well and was dicing with Title Fighter rivals Ryuichi Kiyonari and Gary Mason before building a gap on both, he was comfortably holding 5th when the race was red-flagged with five laps to run (due to rain). Following a judicial review Josh Brookes, who had finished third, was excluded for making an avoidable and unfair contact resulting in an accident. Kirkham was therefore uplifted to fourth and will start the first race tomorrow from the second row. Jon Kirkham: “With two crew chiefs Dale and Lez working for me we made good progress on set-up, it feels like we really made a difference to the bike and I could perhaps have qualified even better if I hadn’t made one or two mistakes. “The race went well, I was dicing with Kiyo and Mason early in the race and I thought that if I could get past and ride a clear track I could go faster and that’s exactly what happened. I’m very pleased and I feel there’s more to come. Big thanks to the Samsung Crescent Racing team, they’ve given me a great bike this weekend I’m really looking forward to tomorrow!” Jack Valentine, team manager: “We’ve seen a great example of teamwork this weekend with Lez and Dale working together on the one bike we accelerated the set-up and JK responded to the extra input really well, he’s put in some great riding. “Although we’d already put the Title Fighters – Showdown out of mind, JK’s performance does make us keen again. He’s 21 points behind Kiyo in the table with just two more races to count. That’s a big gap, but mathematically it’s still possible and in racing, as we well know, anything can happen.” MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship Round Nine, Cadwell Park Race one result (rescheduled from Oulton Park): Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +0.214s Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +1 lap Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) +1 lap Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +1 lap Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +1 lap Martin Jessopp (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +1 lap Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) +1 lap Glen Richards (WFR Honda) +1 lap MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Cadwell Park race one: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 268 (THROUGH TO SHOWDOWN) John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 231 (THROUGH TO SHOWDOWN) Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 230 (THROUGH TO SHOWDOWN) Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) 188 Josh Brookes (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 146 Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 146 Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) 130 Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 125 Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki) 125 Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) 105 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Alastair Seeley took second place from the opening British Supersport Championship race of the Bank Holiday weekend at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire, but the main talking-point of the day came in the Superbike race at the triple-header weekend when Josh Brookes was controversially excluded from the results after finishing third. The Australian was involved in an unfortunate racing incident with Michael Rutter at Hall Bends on lap six, with Rutter crashing after taking to the grass. Race Stewards penalised Brookes, excluding him from the results for what they deemed ‘avoidable and unfair contact.’ Team manager Philip Neill – although unhappy at the decision – has decided not to appeal against the decision. Brookes is now joint fifth in the Championship table going into tomorrow’s final two races before the ‘Top Six Title-Fighters’ cut-off for the Showdown, but the Australian is upbeat and ready to get back on the podium. Josh Brookes: “I’m disappointed. I’ve passed into Hall Bends before in BSB and on the previous three-or-four laps I think I pretty-much made my intentions clear to Michael. I was right on his back wheel throughout the lap, and as we all know, Cadwell is a tough circuit to pass on being so narrow. I made what I believed to be a calculated move and was alongside him approaching the apex. It’s unfortunate he went down but I believe it was a racing incident and certainly not malicious or out-of-control on my part. I never meant to put Michael in a position where he would crash; and although I could go on about the incident, I’ll accept the decision and re-focus on tomorrow’s two races. Coming away with a top-six position in the Championship is still my main focus and hopefully that will include a couple of podiums.” Alastair Seeley: “It was important to get a good start and that’s exactly what I did. I led the whole of the first lap and pushed as hard as I could, but I could hear Wilson on my wheel at the bottom of the Mountain. He cut across me going into turn one on the second lap and from there he pulled a bit of a gap. I did close the gap a little at mid-distance but we probably struggled a little in the final sector through Hall Bends; which is a physical section of the circuit. We still came away with second place and solid points and I have a few ideas for tomorrow.” Philip Neill – Team Manager: “Of course it was a disappointing day for us but we just have to accept it and look forward to tomorrow. Apparently Michael didn’t see Josh attempting the passing manoeuvre on his inside, even though Josh had shown him a wheel on four consecutive laps. Cadwell is one of those circuits where it’s difficult enough to pass on and the incident is something we could debate all day. We’ve a lot of respect for Michael Rutter and certainly didn’t want to see him injured, but we do feel the decision was a bit harsh and we stand by Josh 100 per cent. “In Supersport, Ben Wilson is doing a great job and, being his home circuit, he has a lot of track-knowledge and has looked confident all weekend. Alastair is there-or-there-abouts, only losing small margins in each sector, but we have to admit Ben was the better-man today. Tomorrow is a new day and Alastair will be up for the challenge.” BSB Standings after Cadwell Park race one: 1 Shane Byrne [Honda] 271 points* 2 John Hopkins [Suzuki] 231* 3 Tommy Hill [Yamaha] 230* 4 Michael Laverty [Yamaha] 188 5 Josh Brookes [Relentless Suzuki by TAS] 146 6 Ryuichi Kiyonari [Honda] 146 7 Michael Rutter [Ducati] 130 8 Gary Mason [Kawasaki] 125 (*) Denotes through to Showdown. More, from a press release issued by Splitlath Motorsport: FOURTH FOR HARRIS ON EVO DEBUT SPLITLATH Motorsport rider Karl Harris crossed the line fourth today in his first ever Mirror.co.uk BSB-Evo race at Cadwell Park. Today’s MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race was the rescheduled event from Oulton Park, cancelled last month due to severe rain. Grid positions were determined by those set on the day. Harris, who had been riding the team’s Superbike at Oulton, qualified for today’s race on the third row, but was always going to be at a slight disadvantage now he is on the team’s Evo-spec bike. Despite getting one of his trademark quick starts, he soon fell into the clutches of the Superbike riders behind him, and was unfortunately passed by the WFR Hondas of Glen Richards and Graeme Gowland who took first and second respectively. And although he tried his best to catch a charging Scott Smart on the Moto Rapido Ducati, he was forced to settle for fourth and 16th overall when the 16-Lap race was red-flagged on Lap 12 as rain began to fall. “Yeah, I’m happy enough with that result as it was our first race in Evo spec,” he said. “I have to admit it would’ve been even nicer to get a podium here today but I can’t complain about fourth. “What’s good is that we get another two stabs at it with the two races tomorrow. I know where we’re strong around here and I certainly think that podium is possible. I’m looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow.” Team Principal John Dimbylow added: “It may not have been the podium but it is a fantastic result for Karl and the team. We’ve gone through a lot of changes recently and things are really coming together now. “We are making positive steps and are looking forward to tomorrow’s two races and the remaining rounds of the season. Today’s result was just off the podium and it’s given us something to chase now as the season enters its final few rounds.” For tomorrow’s two races Harris will be joined on the team’s second Aprilia RSV4 by new signing John Simpson. The 20-year-old from Antrim, Northern Ireland, will ride the number 11 machine.