British Superbike Championship Knockhill Circuit, Scotland June 19 Race One Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Tommy Hill (Yam YZF-R1), 39 laps, 24:35.133 2. John Hopkins (Suz GSX-R1000), -8.907 seconds 3. Shane Byrne (Hon CBR1000RR), -9.123 4. Gary Mason (KAw ZX-10R), -15.354 5. Josh Brookes (Suz GSX-R1000), -21.816 6. Michael Laverty (Yam YZF-R1), -21.823 7. James Westmoreland (Yam YZF-R1), -24.920 8. Jon Kirkham (Suz GSX-R1000), -26.558 9. Loriz Baz (Yam YZF-R1), -26.665 10. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hon CBR1000RR), -26.925 11. Tommy Bridewell (Hon CBR1000RR), -32.340 12. Glen Richards (Hon CBR1000RR), -32.482, EVO 13. Peter Hickman (Hon CBR1000RR), -34.273 14. Chris Walker (Kaw ZX-10R), -42.422 15. Simon Andrews (Kaw ZX-10R), -44.078, EVO 16. Scott Smart (Duc 1098R), -44.217, EVO 17. Graeme Gowland (Hon CBR1000RR), -44.400, EVO 18. John Laverty (BMW S1000RR), -47.927 19. Barry Burrell (BMW S1000RR), -1 lap, EVO 20. Patric Muff (Hon CBR1000RR), -1 lap, EVO 21. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), -1 lap, EVO 28. Mark Miller (Apr RSV4 Factory), -14 laps, DNF, EVO Race Two Results (all on Pirelli tires): 1. Tommy Hill (Yam YZF-R1), 30 laps, 26:12.073 2. Shane Byrne (Hon CBR1000RR), -2.464 seconds 3. Michael Laverty (Yam YZF-R1), -2.728 4. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Hon CBR1000RR), -10.983 5. James Westmoreland (Yam YZF-R1), -17.370 6. Gary Mason (Kaw ZX-10R), -18.557 7. Chris Walker (Kaw ZX-10R), -19.955 8. Peter Hickman (Hon CBR1000RR), -20.201 9. Michael Rutter (Duc 1098R), -21.351 10. Simon Andrews (Kaw ZX-10R), -23.787, EVO 11. Jon Kirkham (Suz GSX-R1000), -24.136 12. Martin Jessopp (Duc 1098R), -24.450 13. Josh Brookes (Suz GSX-R1000), -24.617 14. Scott Smart (Duc 1098R), -27.366, EVO 15. Dan Linfoot (Hon CBR1000RR), -29.319 16. Patric Muff (Hon CBR1000RR), -35.162, EVO 17. Barry Burrell (BMW S1000RR), -35.336, EVO 18. Glen Richards (Hon CBR1000RR), -35.526, EVO 19. Steve Brogan (Hon CBR1000RR), -37.008 20. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR1000RR), -40.728, EVO 21. Craig Fitzpatrick (Hon CBR1000RR), -44.906 22. Tom Tunstall (BMW S1000RR), -45.626 23. John Laverty (BMW S1000RR), -79.809 24. Mark Miller (Apr RSV4 Factory), -1 lap 28. John Hopkins (Suz GSX-R1000), -24 laps, DNF, crash Championship Point Standings (after 10 races): 1. Byrne, 172 points 2. Hopkins, 141 3. Hill, 120 4. Michael Laverty, 95 5. Stuart Easton, 89 6. Kiyonari, 84 7. Hickman, 79 8. Kirkham, 74 9. TIE, Rutter/Mason, 69 More, from a press release issued by Swan Yamaha: SWAN YAMAHA SECURE SCOTTISH DOUBLE VICTORY AT KNOCKHILL The Swan Yamaha team celebrated their first double victory at the fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Knockhill as Tommy Hill took a clean sweep of wins whilst Michael Laverty scored a podium in the second race of the day. Hill took a commanding lead from the pole position in the first race to lead from start to finish securing his second race victory of the season after fighting back from his shoulder injury sustained at round two. Laverty meanwhile had to claw his way through the field from twelfth on the opening lap to finish sixth in race one. In the second race Hill held off championship leader Shane Byrne to become the first rider to score a winning double this season whilst Laverty took a strong third place for his title bid. Hill said: “What a good Fathers Day present for my dad today! It has been a hard few rounds and we have been on the pace and then it just hasn’t come together in the race. I thought it could have been a lottery again here this weekend with the weather but we have been lucky it was dry so there were no excuses this weekend. I thought if we could get into the front and get into a rhythm then we could be there and I couldn’t believe it when I crossed the line in the first one. In the second race to win again was unbelievable and I have to thank the Swan Yamaha team for their hard work to get us up there. It has been fantastic to get the clean sweep of pole, fastest lap and two race wins this weekend. We knew we could push but it is just great for our championship; more points and more podium credits was what we needed and that is what we got and that will prove so important later in the season ahead of the Showdown.” Laverty said: “I made life difficult for myself in the first race that’s for sure with qualifying in eleventh place. I don’t know where I was at the end of the first lap as it was quite hectic and I was over the kerb at turn one and that dropped me down the order and I had to fight back. I had a few minor brake issues at the start but it disappeared and I was able to push on. I was happy to be back on the podium in the second race. I was quite strong towards the end but Shakey had that little bit extra on me in the end. I didn’t want to make a stupid mistake and crash out as the points and podium credits are so important. It is great to have a double Swan Yamaha podium in that second race and run close to lap record pace.” Swan Yamaha team owner Shaun Muir concluded: “What a great result to get our first double win in the championship and at the same time the first double for any team so far this season. All the hard work behind the scenes from the team and Tommy since his injury has really paid off and he just reasserted his position as a main title contender this weekend. Michael had a hard opening race but he definitely showed in race two that his confidence is high and he can also fight for the title. All I can say is roll on Snetterton now!” More, from a press release issued by Splitlath Motorsport: MILLER MAKES HIS MARK IN BSB-EVO DEBUT AMERICAN road racer Mark Miller invigorated the Splitlath Motorsport squad with two dogged performances at Knockhill this afternoon as he made his Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo debut at the Scottish track. The Californian race ace rose to the challenge in completely alien conditions in his first short circuit race in 10 years after joining the squad last week. Having arrived at the Dunfermline track on Friday morning and hitting the track in wet conditions which continued throughout Saturday, the American had to suddenly get to grip with the dry as the rain cleared up this morning. Retiring from the first race with a few problems linked to the wet set-up, Miller was back out for Race Two later this afternoon, and immediately began to improve his times lap by lap, eventually crossing the line 24th at the chequered flag. In a race day which doubled up as a test for the rider and his new team, Miller exceeded all expectations as he continued to push his Aprilia RSV4 machine all the way to the chequered flag. “It’s been an interesting weekend, and I’ve had to use this as a test session with the bike,” he said. “Normally you have three or four tests before the season starts but we came here and got straight on the bike and went straight out into a race weekend. “This has been my first short circuit race for 10 years so I’m feeling happy that we didn’t crash or make anyone else crash…it’s been a big learning experience for me. It certainly wasn’t a complete cluster and I’m feeling pretty good about the whole thing “It’s always hard on very short tracks like this because when you’re about to get lapped you ease off to let those guys through, but then the next few guys down the road get the chance to get close to you because you’ve eased off, and that was the problem here for me today. “I have to say thanks to all of the crew at Splitlath Motorsport, it’s a cool team, they’re a great bunch of guys and it’s been a good experience for me. And I can now say I’ve finished a British Superbike race!” Team boss John Dimbylow believes Miller’s attitude has had a positive effect on the squad. “Mark’s been brilliant, he’s got the right attitude and has pushed it all weekend. His lap times have got progressively quicker all weekend and we’re amazed at how well he has coped with the difficult conditions the Scottish weather has thrown at him,” he said. “You have to remember that Mark hasn’t ridden a short circuit for 10 years and until this weekend had never ridden the bike, never ridden on Pirelli tyres and hasn’t ridden in the wet for a decade. He has inspired the whole team with his never say die attitude and we’re all thrilled with his efforts and subsequent result this weekend. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: John Hopkins maintains second position in the 2011 British Superbike Championship after placing second in race one at Knockhill today, but unfortunately crashed out of the second race in circumstances beyond his control. His Samsung Crescent Racing Suzuki-mounted team-mate Jon Kirkham finished 8-11 to lift himself to eighth in the championship after five rounds. After wet practice and qualifying, today’s races were held in dry conditions, so there was a degree of relearning the track for Hopkins, but he learned quickly and while being unable to challenge for the win in race one, he was able to defend his second place position when under sustained attack in the closing stages. The second outing proved a major disappointment for Hopkins when a rear tyre issue compromised his race from the very start and eventually led to him crashing out on lap seven. Unwittingly, Kirkham was brought down in the melee but was able to remount and battle back to 11th place. John Hopkins: “Race one went well. I’m glad I had that test session here 11 days ago as the knowledge I gained from that certainly helped. I was riding too tight at the beginning to be able to match Tommy Hill, but as the race progressed I understood the track better and so was able to defend my position against Shane Byrne. “Right from the start of race two I was struggling with an issue that seriously compromised rear grip. This led me to crash when the bike wouldn’t slow coming into turn two. As I went down I hit my elbow and shoulder on the kerb and so I’m pretty sore, but I should be okay with some rest. “Fortunately we’re still where we want to be: in the top six, still in second place. And importantly, we racked up more podium credits, which are going to be vital come the Showdown. The bike itself was excellent today and I’m sure we’ll be battling for podiums again come Snetterton in two weeks time.” Jon Kirkham: “I’m disappointed because I wanted to achieve much more this weekend. We had a brake problem in warm up this morning which meant I didn’t sort a dry setting for the races. Then in race one I had rear grip issues, so finished eighth. “In the second race I started from P13. I made a poor start and then straight after the first pace car I found John and his bike sliding on the track immediately in front of me. I went grass tracking to avoid a collision – and slid off. I was so annoyed with myself that I picked up my bike and rode on aggression through to the finish. “So, not the weekend I was looking for. I’m looking forward to Snetterton, though; I liked this track when we tested there earlier in the year. I’ll be looking to score better points and make that jump back into the top-six.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “Hopper ran another calculated race in the first outing today. With his limited dry-track knowledge it was always going to be difficult for him to match Hill, but his defence against Byrne at the race-end was inspired. “What happened in the second race was through no fault of his own. A rear grip issue left him with compromised control and he crashed while trying to overcome that. Inadvertently his crash brought about what was probably the ride of the weekend from JK. His charge from lying last (27th) to finish 11th, passing some top riders on the way, was nothing short of brilliant. “All up, we’ve certainly had a tough day. We’re fortunate that we’ve really only sustained minor damages so far as the Championship goes. Hopper’s position looking forward to the Showdown is still very strong and JK has in fact improved his position even if he didn’t leapfrog straight into the top-six as we’d hoped. “So we’re looking forward to Snetterton in a fortnight’s time. With the new ‘300’ track layout, Hopper for once, won’t be the only track Rookie – it’ll be the same for everybody. Our goals will remain unchanged: more podium points for Hopper and an uplift to top-six for JK.” More, from a press release issued by Honda: MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 05 SUNDAY 19 JUNE KNOCKHILL Weather: Bright / Dry Temperature: Ambient15 degrees C / Track 23 degrees C BYRNE CONSOLIDATES TITLE LEAD AS KIYONARI BEGINS FIGHTBACK Shane Byrne maintained his bid to take the MCE Insurance British Superbike crown for a third time with strong rides – third and second places – at the fifth round held at Scotland’s Knockhill circuit, where his team-mate reigning champion Ryuichi Kiyonari began his fight-back from a recent lean spell. Again, the weather caused problems for everyone with practice and qualifying run in rain, and it was Yamaha rider Tommy Hill who claimed the pole start as both Byrne and Kiyonari had problematic times in the grid deciding session, both having to settle for third row starts. Then, race day dawned dry, and there was an extended warm-up session for the riders and the teams to re-adjust to the improving conditions. In the first race Hill made the break to head the action, but Byrne was soon picking up places to be running fifth by the end of the opening lap, though Kiyonari was running back in 11th place and not looking too comfortable. The race was taken in runaway style by Hill who crossed the line almost nine seconds up on Suzuki’s former MotoGP rider John Hopkins, who was coming under increasing pressure from Byrne who crossed the line 0.216secs down in third place. Kiyonari meanwhile was showing more of the speed and style that has taken him to three British titles with some strong riding to finish the race in tenth place, scoring vital points leaving the Japanese rider in the mood for better things in the second race. The start was littered with incidents, with two interventions by the Safety Car as marshals cleared crashes involving first Tommy Bridewell and then Hopkins, but it was Byrne who made the running, outpacing Hill to have the advantage, while Kiyonari was locked in a scrap for fourth with his old rival Michael Rutter. Byrne and Hill traded places at half distance while Kiyonari finally shook off Rutter and began to attack Michael Laverty for third place. But with nine laps remaining Hill found a way through, and then charged clear, taking the race this time by 2.5 secs from Byrne while Kiyonari settled for fourth adrift of Laverty. Byrne increased his lead to 172-141, also scoring more podium credits, over Hopkins at the top of the standings while importantly Kiyonari moved into the top six in the standings, on 84 points. The importance of being in the top six is that after the ninth round, only riders in those positions go forward into the showdown for the title when podium credits can also make the telling difference. Glen Richards, riding the WFR Honda, won the “back to basics” BSB-EVO class in the first race in which his new team-mate American Jake Zemke finished seventh. Richards crashed in the second race, but re-mounted to finish fifth in class, just ahead of Zemke, with the reward for the Australian being the lead in the EVO title stakes. Honda rider quotes: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda): “It was great to be back on the podium in the first race and I thought for a time I could get ahead of John Hopkins for second, but worried about the risk of going for it with safe points in the bag. But fair play to John as he is an incredible rider and a podium is what we needed for the championship. The team have worked hard this weekend as the weather has been changing all the time and wet or dry we have been up there where we need to be. The second race was a great race and Tommy Hill just had me in that one. I was pushing on as I knew otherwise he would get away at the front and then there were the safety car moments and I realised that John Hopkins was out. I wanted the win, but the points and podium credits are so vital to the championship and you can’t lose sight of that.” Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda): “The weather changing so much was a problem and in the dry of the first race I struggled with the slick tyre which I was using for the first time here. I had a problem with grip, but the team changed the rear settings for the second race and the bike was much improved. I was happy with the balance of the bike and was confident that I could make passes. I felt much happier than I had done in the previous two rounds and it seems that we have solved the problems that we have been having.” RESULTS BRITISH SUPERBIKE RACE1: POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / GAP 1 / TOMMY HILL / GBR / YAMAHA – SWAN YAMAHA / 24:35.133 / 2 / JOHN HOPKINS / USA / SUZUKI – SAMSUNG CRESCENT RACING / 24:44.040 / 8.907 3 / SHANE BYRNE / GBR / HONDA – HM PLANT HONDA / 24:44.256 / 9.123 4 / GARY MASON / GBR / KAWASAKI – MSS COLCHESTER KAWASAKI / 24:50.487 / 15.354 5 / JOSH BROOKES / AUS / SUZUKI – RELENTLESS SUZUKI BY TAS / 24:56.949 / 21.816 6 / MICHAEL LAVERTY / GBR / YAMAHA – SWAN YAMAHA / 24:56.956 / 21.823 7 / JAMES WESTMORELAND / GBR / YAMAHA – MOTORPOINT YAMAHA / 25:00.053 / 24.920 8 / JON KIRKHAM / GBR / SUZUKI – SAMSUNG CRESCENT RACING / 25:01.691 / 26.558 9 / LORIS BAZ / FRA / YAMAHA – MOTORPOINT YAMAHA / 25:01.798 / 26.665 10 / RYUICHI KIYONARI / JPN / HONDA – HM PLANT HONDA / 25:02.058 / 26.925 11 / TOMMY BRIDEWELL / GBR / HONDA – TYCO HONDA / 25:07.473 / 32.340 12 / GLEN RICHARDS / AUS / HONDA – TEAM WFR / 25:07.615 / 32.482 13 / PETER HICKMAN / GBR / HONDA – TYCO HONDA / 25:09.406 / 34.273 14 / CHRIS WALKER / GBR / KAWASAKI – PR1MO RACING / 25:17.555 / 42.422 15 / SIMON ANDREWS / GBR / KAWASAKI – BUY-FORCE.COM PR RACING KAWASAKI / 25:19.211 / 44.078 Fastest lap: Tommy HILL GBR Yamaha – Swan Yamaha Lap 7 151.23Km/h RACE2: POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / GAP 1 / TOMMY HILL / GBR / YAMAHA – SWAN YAMAHA / 26:12.073 / 2 / SHANE BYRNE / GBR / HONDA – HM PLANT HONDA / 26:14.537 / 2.464 3 / MICHAEL LAVERTY / GBR / YAMAHA – SWAN YAMAHA / 26:14.801 / 2.728 4 / RYUICHI KIYONARI / JPN / HONDA – HM PLANT HONDA / 26:23.056 / 10.983 5 / JAMES WESTMORELAND / GBR / YAMAHA – MOTORPOINT YAMAHA / 26:29.443 / 17.370 6 / GARY MASON / GBR / KAWASAKI – MSS COLCHESTER KAWASAKI / 26:30.630 / 18.557 7 / CHRIS WALKER / GBR / KAWASAKI – PR1MO RACING / 26:32.028 / 19.955 8 / PETER HICKMAN / GBR / HONDA – TYCO HONDA / 26:32.274 / 20.201 9 / MICHAEL RUTTER / GBR / DUCATI – RAPID SOLICITORS BATHAMS DUCATI / 26:33.424 / 21.351 10 / SIMON ANDREWS / GBR / KAWASAKI – BUY-FORCE.COM PR RACING KAWASAKI / 26:35.860 / 23.787 11 / JON KIRKHAM / GBR / SUZUKI – SAMSUNG CRESCENT RACING / 26:36.209 / 24.136 12 / MARTIN JESSOPP / GBR / DUCATI – RAPID SOLICITORS BATHAMS DUCATI / 26:36.523 / 24.450 13 / JOSH BROOKES / AUS / SUZUKI – RELENTLESS SUZUKI BY TAS / 26:36.690 / 24.617 14 / SCOTT SMART / GBR / DUCATI – MOTO RAPIDO DUCATI / 26:39.439 / 27.366 15 / DAN LINFOOT / GBR / HONDA – TEAM SORRYMATE.COM / 26:41.392 / 29.319 Fastest lap: Tommy HILL GBR Yamaha – Swan Yamaha Lap 26 48.510 151.83 Km/h CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TO DATE: 1 BYRNE 172, 2 HOPKINS 141, 3 HILL 120, 4 LAVERTY 95, 5 EASTON 89, 6 KIYONARI 84, 7 HICKMAN 79, 8 KIRKHAM 74, 9 RUTTER 69, 10 MASON 69, 11 BAZ 63, 12 BROOKES 62, 13 WALKER 46, 14 LINFOOT 45, 15 LOWES 39. NEXT EVENT: ROUND 06 JULY 3 SNETTERTON More, from a press release issued by Samsung Crescent Suzuki: HOPKINS ON THE PODIUM AT KNOCKHILL John Hopkins maintains his second place position in the 2011 British Superbike Championship after placing second in race one at Knockhill today. Unfortunately he crashed out of the second race in circumstances beyond his control. His Samsung Crescent Racing team-mate Jon Kirkham finished 8-11 to lift himself to eighth in the championship after five rounds. After wet practice and qualifying, today’s races were held in dry conditions, so there was a degree of relearning the track for Hopkins. Nonetheless he learned quickly and while being unable to challenge for the win in race one he was able to defend his second place position when under sustained attack in the closing stages. Jon Kirkham finished eighth. The second outing proved a major disappointment for Hopkins when a rear tyre issue compromised his race from the very start and eventually led to him crashing out on lap seven. Unwittingly his team-mate Kirkham was brought down in the melee but was able to remount and battle back to 11th place. John Hopkins: “Race one went well. I’m glad I had that test session here 11 days ago as the knowledge I gained from that certainly helped. I was riding too tight at the beginning to be able to match Tommy Hill, but as the race progressed I understood the track better and so was able to defend my position against Shane Byrne. “Right from the start of race two I was struggling with an issue that seriously compromised rear grip. This led me to crash when the bike wouldn’t slow coming into turn two. As I went down I hit my elbow and shoulder on the kerb and so I’m pretty sore, but I should be okay with some rest. “Fortunately we’re still where we want to be: in the top six, still in second place. And importantly we racked up more podium credits, which are going to be vital come the Showdown. The bike itself was excellent today and I’m sure we’ll be battling for podiums again come Snetterton in two weeks time.” Jon Kirkham: “I’m disappointed because I wanted to achieve much more this weekend. We had a brake problem in warm up this morning which meant I didn’t sort a dry setting for the races. Then in race one I had rear grip issues, so finished eighth. “In the second race I started from P13. I made a poor start and then straight after the first pace car I found John and his bike sliding on the track immediately in front of me. I went grass tracking to avoid a collision and slid off. I was so annoyed with myself that I picked up my bike and rode on aggression through to the finish. “So, not the weekend I was looking for. I’m looking forward to Snetterton, though; I liked this track when we tested there earlier in the year. I’ll be looking to score better points and make that jump back into the top-six.” Jack Valentine, team manager: “Hopper ran another calculated race in the first outing today. With his limited (dry) track knowledge it was always going to be difficult for him to match Hill, but his defense against Byrne at the race end was inspired. “What happened in the second race was through no fault of his own. A rear grip issue left him with compromised control and he crashed while trying to overcome that. Inadvertently his crash brought about what was probably the ride of the weekend from JK. His charge from lying last (27th) to finish 11th, passing some top riders on the way, was nothing short of brilliant. “All up, we’ve certainly had a tough day. We’re fortunate that we’ve really only sustained minor damages so far as the championship goes. Hopper’s position looking forward to the Showdown is still very strong and JK has in fact improved his position even if he didn’t leapfrog straight into the top-six as we’d hoped. “So we’re looking forward to Snetterton in a fortnight’s time. With the new ‘300’ track layout Hopper for once won’t be the only track rookie it’ll be the same for everybody. Our goals will remain unchanged: more podium points for Hopper and an uplift to top-six for JK.”