Hill storms to race two win at Brands Hatch Swan Yamaha scored the second race win of the weekend at Brands Hatch this afternoon as Tommy Hill secured victory at his home round after holding off the challenges from the HM Plant Hondas of Ryuichi Kiyonari and Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne. There was drama for the Samsung Crescent Racing team before the race got underway as Jon Kirkham was forced to retire at the end of the warm up lap and when the race got underway Byrne once again took the lead on the opening lap into Paddock Hill Bend from Hill, Laverty and Kiyonari. There was further disappointment for James Westmoreland on his debut with the Motorpoint Yamaha team when he crashed out for the second time today on the eighth lap when he fell at Druids. Byrne held the lead until the fourteenth lap when Hill made an impressive move at Graham Hill Bend to hit the front of the field and held on to maintain his advantage; taking the win and also the championship lead. Kiyonari was able to move to second place when Byrne went wide at Paddock Hill Bend on the penultimate lap after trying to make a move on Hill in an attempt to make it a winning double on his return. Kiyonari was defending hard and was able to fend off his team-mate to return to the podium. Laverty took an impressive fourth place after his huge crash in the first race ahead of John Hopkins who had been embroiled in a battle with Stuart Easton for fifth place. Hill: “It has been a long four days as it has been the most I have ridden for a while! Last week I was concerned about my elbow and I had so much treatment throughout the week to be ready for here and it paid off. It is fantastic to be leading the championship but it is only round one and it is early days still. The bike has been working well and we couldn’t have asked for a better start today. We are now looking forward to Oulton Park and getting the bike to work around what is a completely different track. Hopefully we can get there and come away with a very similar result.” In the Mirror.co.uk BSB Evo race Glen Richards took a second victory of the day from team-mate Alex Lowes. MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, race two result: 1. Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 2. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.142s 3. Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +0.598s 4. Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +4.463s 5. John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing) +10.089s 6. Stuart Easton (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +11.984s 7. Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) +13.048s 8. Dan Linfoot (Sorrymate.com Honda) +13.897s 9. Peter Hickman (Tyco Honda) +18.431s 10. Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +18.473s MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Brands Hatch: 1. Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 45 2. Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 41 3. Stuart Easton (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 23 4. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 20 5. Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) 19 The next round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship is next weekend (30 April – 2 May) at Oulton Park. For more information and to book visit www.oultonpark.co.uk or call 0843 453 9000. More, from a press release issued by Honda: MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 01 EASTER MONDAY 25 APRIL BRANDS HATCH INDY CIRCUIT Weather: Hot and sunny Temperature: Ambient 19 degrees C / Track 40 degrees C Attendance: 40,000 weekend crowd figure issued by organisers BYRNE FIRST AND THIRD, KIYONARI TAKES A SECOND AS HONDA RIDERS DOMINATE Shane Byrne enjoyed a winning return to the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in the opening race of a dramatic, incident packed first round on the short Brands Hatch Indy circuit but the HM Plant Honda rider had to settle for third place, just adrift of his team-mate, the three times champion Ryuichi Kiyonari, in a race won by Tommy Hill. Byrne, back on the circuit where he had begun his racing career, shattered the outright lap record, with an amazing lap of 45.112secs around the 1.2079mile Kent circuit to claim pole start for the first race, using it to good effect as he made the running on the opening lap before Yamaha rider Michael Laverty forced his way into the lead. Laverty led for the opening third of the race before high-siding at Clark Curve right in front of Byrne and Hill who had to take avoiding action. Byrne held onto second place, though now to Stuart Easton but Hill dropped back to eleventh, prompting a brilliant fightback. Kiyonari, who had crashed heavily in the warm-up, without injury, but extensively damaging his HM Plant Honda, was forced out of fourth place by a machine problem and a series of crashes saw MotoGP rider John Hopkins tumble, as did Australian Josh Brookes. Byrne was clear of those dramas, soon taking the lead from Easton and powering to victory by a little over second from Hill who had carved through the pack. And in a dramatic finale, Tommy Bridewell aboard the privately entered Tyco Honda (last year’s title winning machine bought in close season) snatched third place from Easton. Byrne made the perfect start to the second race, leading comfortably, but adrift of him the threat of Hill and his Yamaha was intensifying and he made the telling move on lap 14 to head the action. Byrne rode hard, keeping in close contention, while the duel for third place was growing as Kiyonari gave Laverty, unscathed from his first race crash, plenty to think about. Byrne had plenty of speed out of Clark Curve on the penultimate lap and made a dive through on the inside going into Paddock Hill Bend, briefly taking the lead only to run wide. Hill was back in front, but Kiyonari had also exploited the error by his team-mate to take second place. The victory went to Hill by only 0.142seconds who leads the title stakes 45-41 over Byrne going into the second round at Oulton Park. Bridewell, who had ridden so well in the opener crashed out of eighth place in the closing stages, while in the “back to basics” BSB-EVO class the Team WFR Honda riders Alex Lowes and former Supersport and Superstock Champion Glen Richards took a win and a second place apiece. Honda rider quotes: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda): “Fabulous, first race with the team and I take the victory. All credit has to go to them as they worked so hard to ensure that my bike was perfectly set-up for the races. The first race was hectic though I was pretty confident that even when Michael Laverty had gone ahead that I could take him back but then he crashed right in front of me. I was lucky that I managed to miss him. I had a split second to decide which way to go! That incident bunched us up and it was important that I quickly regained the lead and then pulled a gap, which I did. Then in the second race, Tommy Hill got away from me, but I was fast through the final corner and going into Paddock Hill Bend on the penultimate lap thought I could take him, got ahead, then ran wide and on the short circuit there is no way back.” Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda): “This was a tough day. The morning began badly with a crash in the warm-up practice. Another rider slowed in front of me at a fast corner and I went down. There was big damage to the bike but the team worked hard to repair it. Then in race one, I had more bad luck with an engine problem. It was a pity as all weekend I had felt so good with the bike but in the second race, I took a second place. It was difficult for me to pass Michael Laverty in that race and that allowed the others to pull a gap on me and by the time I got past him I had run out of time. I really wanted to win the race as a tribute to my good friend Youki Takahashi whose death I learned about today I have many good memories of him.” Thomas Bridewell (Tyco Honda): “I was really pleased with the first race and to get mine and the team’s first outright BSB podium was fantasic and reward for all the hard work we have put in, In race two, I got a bad start and we were running really close to the white line along the back straight all weekend. With a couple of laps to go, I just went a little way over the white line and as soon as I touched the brake I went straight down on the grass. I’m really disappointed as I really needed those points but we have made good progress this weekend.” Note to editors: Yuoki Takahashi sustained fatal injuries in a road traffic accident in Japan on Saturday. RESULTS BRITISH SUPERBIKE RACE1: POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / GAP 1 / SHANE BYRNE / GBR / HONDA – HM PLANT HONDA / 23:47.412 / 2 / TOMMY HILL / GBR / YAMAHA – SWAN YAMAHA / 23:48.566 / 1.154 3 / THOMAS BRIDEWELL / GBR / HONDA – TYCO HONDA / 23:50.069 / 2.657 4 / STUART EASTON / GBR / KAWASAKI – MSS COLCHESTER KAWASAKI / 23:50.176 / 2.764 5 / JON KIRKHAM / GBR / SUZUKI – SAMSUNG CRESCENT RACING / 23:50.820 / 3.408 6 / MICHAEL RUTTER / GBR / DUCATI – RAPID SOLICITORS BATHAMS DUCATI / 23:51.722 / 4.310 7 / LORIS BAZ / FRA / YAMAHA – MOTORPOINT YAMAHA / 23:51.908 / 4.496 8 / DAN LINFOOT / GBR / HONDA – TEAM SORRYMATE.COM / 23:52.502 / 5.090 9 / MARTIN JESSOPP / GBR / DUCATI – RAPID SOLICITORS BATHAMS DUCATI / 23:52.512 / 5.100 10 / CHRIS WALKER / GBR / KAWASAKI – PR1MO RACING / 23:55.140 / 7.728 11 / GLEN RICHARDS / AUS / HONDA – TEAM WFR / 23:55.332 / 7.920 12 / ALEX LOWES / GBR / HONDA – TEAM WFR / 23:57.085 / 9.673 13 / PETER HICKMAN / GBR / HONDA – TYCO HONDA / 23:59.913 / 12.501 14 / STEVE BROGAN / GBR / HONDA – JENTIN RACING HONDA / 24:00.213 / 12.801 15 / SIMON ANDREWS / GBR / KAWASAKI – PR RACING KAWASAKI / 24:02.067 / 14.655 Fastest lap: Tommy HILL GBR Yamaha – Swan Yamaha Lap 4 45.674 153.22 Km/h RACE2: POS / RIDER / NAT / MOTORCYCLE / TIME / GAP 1 / TOMMY HILL / GBR / YAMAHA – SWAN YAMAHA / 23:03.483 / 2 / RYUICHI KIYONARI / JPN / HONDA – HM PLANT HONDA / 23:03.625 / 0.142 3 / SHANE BYRNE / GBR / HONDA – HM PLANT HONDA / 23:04.081 / 0.598 4 / MICHAEL LAVERTY / GBR / YAMAHA – SWAN YAMAHA / 23:07.946 / 4.463 5 / JOHN HOPKINS / USA / SUZUKI – SAMSUNG CRESCENT RACING / 23:13.572 / 10.089 6 / STUART EASTON / GBR / KAWASAKI – MSS COLCHESTER KAWASAKI / 23:15.467 / 11.984 7 / MICHAEL RUTTER / GBR / DUCATI – RAPID SOLICITORS BATHAMS DUCATI / 23:16.531 / 13.048 8 / DAN LINFOOT / GBR / HONDA – TEAM SORRYMATE.COM / 23:17.380 / 13.897 9 / PETER HICKMAN / GBR / HONDA – TYCO HONDA / 23:21.914 / 18.431 10 / GARY MASON / GBR / KAWASAKI – MSS COLCHESTER KAWASAKI / 23:21.956 / 18.473 11 / CHRIS WALKER / GBR / KAWASAKI – PR1MO RACING / 23:22.116 / 18.633 12 / ALEX LOWES / GBR / HONDA – TEAM WFR / 23:25.694 / 22.211 13 / LORIS BAZ / FRA / YAMAHA – MOTORPOINT YAMAHA / 23:26.998 / 23.515 14 / GLEN RICHARDS / AUS / HONDA – TEAM WFR / 23:27.367 / 23.884 15 / MARTIN JESSOPP / GBR / DUCATI – RAPID SOLICITORS BATHAMS DUCATI / 23:34.215 / 30.732 Fastest lap: Michael LAVERTY GBR Yamaha – Swan Yamaha Lap 5 45.679 153.20 Km/h CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TO DATE: 1 HILL 45, 2 BYRNE 41, 3 EASTON 23, 4 KIYONARI 20, 5 RUTTER 19, 6 BRIDEWELL 16, 7 LINFOOT 16, 8 LAVERTY 13, 9 BAZ 12, 10 KIRKHAM 11, 11 WALKER 11, 12 HOPKINS 11, 13 HICKMAN 10, 14 JESSOPP 8, 15 LOWES 8. NEXT EVENT: ROUND02 -02 MAY, OULTON PARK More, from a press release issued by Splitlath Motorsport: POSITIVE FIRST STEPS FOR SPLITLATH SPLITLATH Motorsport have made positive steps with the development of their Aprilia RSV4 machine in the opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch. Hudson Kennaugh was the only one of the team’s two riders to race at the Kent circuit this weekend after the team were forced to withdraw Jenny when her bike developed technical problems on Friday. Due to delays in many of the parts arriving, this weekend was the first opportunity both riders had to test their new bikes, and the team came into the round fully anticipating to use it as a test. Kennaugh took to the track for both races, but pulled in to retire late on in both. However both Hudson and Team Manager John Dimbylow come away from the round feeling positive about what they have achieved this weekend. John Dimbylow said: “Well that was harder than we thought it was going to be! It was always going to be a tough weekend for us, with both Hudson and Jenny sitting on these bikes for the first time and doing all of our testing during the last two practice sessions and during the race. “But we have got lots of positives out of this weekend. It would have been easy for us just to have packed up and gone home, but we have to be realistic, these are entirely new bikes. “We had significant technical problems with Jenny’s bike on Friday, and then similar issues with Hudson’s, but we chose to stick at it. We are now looking forward to Oulton Park next weekend where we will get some more testing and track time in. “Let’s just say, if this was easy, then everybody would be doing it. But they aren’t.” The second round of the 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship will take place at Oulton Park, Cheshire next weekend, April 30-May 2, when Jenny will make her Superbike debut with the squad. More, from a press release issued by Sorrymate.com Honda: Superb start to season for Linfoot and sorrymate.com Honda Dan Linfoot and the sorrymate.com Honda team got their British Superbike Championship season underway in fine style at the weekend when they took two 8th place finishes at the opening round at Brands Hatch. With the season more competitive than ever before, Dan was on the poace all weekend and rode superbly in both 30-lap races to come away with a haul of 16 points and lie in joint 6th in the Championship table. With perfect conditions throughout practice and qualifying, Dan got his weekend off to an ideal start when he recorded the 6th fastest time in Saturday’s first free practice session and he was able to lap quicker still later in the day, a time of 45.794s consolidating his place in the top six. Warmer conditions on Sunday meant times for the majority of the field were slightly slower on Sunday morning but Dan and the team had established a good machine set-up in preparation for the solitary qualifying session on Sunday afternoon. With competition in BSB stiffer than ever, a lap of 45.745s saw Dan end up 12th on the grid for race 1, only one tenth of a second off 5th place! Hopes were high for Monday’s races after such a good, consistent showing over the previous two days and a good start saw Dan immediately move forward and slot into 9th at the end of the first lap. The pace, like the weather, was hot and the first incidents appeared on lap 11 when race leader Michael Laverty crashed out putting team-mate Tommy Hill onto the grass. Having lost a couple of places on lap 7, that elevated Dan up to 8th and with the safety car deployed, positions remained the same for the next three laps. That left half of the race still to go and it was a manic 15 laps with Dan shuffled back initally to 10th. However, he regrouped and was back up to 8th by lap 22, a position he held until the chequered flag, only 5 seconds adrift of race winner Shane Byrne. Race 2 later in the day followed a similar pattern only this time Dan started from 10th on the grid having set the 10th fastest lap in the first race. Another good start saw him jump up to 8th and here he remained until lap 10 when he overtook Michael Rutter. There was little to choose between Dan, Rutter and Tommy Bridewell but Dan managed to eke out a small gap by mid-race distance. Bridwell, third in race 1, began to close the gap and as the race entered it’s final third, he managed to find a way through although Dan immediately re-took him. On lap 25, Dan was pushed back to 9th as both Bridewell and Rutter went by but when the former crashed out a lap later, Dan was back up to 8th and here he remained to make it 16 points from the two races. Speaking afterwards, a delighted team manager Robin Croft said: “Two words sum up the weekend – absolutely brilliant! We’ve had good pace all weekend and progressed from session to session so deep down I was hopeful of two top-eight finishes but to actually get it really is the perfect start to the year.” “I’m delighted with the team’s work this weekend and with Dan’s maturity; he knew what we wanted from him and he delivered in every aspect. He worked really hard all weekend and rode two extremely good races with no mistakes and if you’re racing with, and overtaking, someone of the calibre of Michael Rutter, then you know you’re not doing a bad job! I couldn’t be happier with how the first round has gone and to be joint 6th in the Championship is a terrific start. We now head to our local round at Oulton with confidence high so let’s hope for more of the same there.” The second round of the British Superbike Championship takes place at Oulton Park, this next Bank Holiday weekend, April 30-May 2. More, from a press release issued by Tim Reeves’ publicist: Reeves/Cluze take the spoils at Brands The Eastern Airways British Sidecar Championship announced its arrival back on the main British Championship scene over the Easter weekend with a double victory at Brands Hatch for Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze. The duo, who only arrived at the cicuit late on Saturday, led every single lap around the Indy circuit to leave with a maximum 50 points and a 10-point advantage over Ben and Tom Birchall who took a brace of seconds. After the Birchalls topped the leaderboard during free practice, there was a surprise for the field in Saturday’s qualifying when Reeves and Cluze, who were not scheduled to contest the event, arrived at the circuit and, subsequently, a three-way battle ensued for qualifying. Pole position changed hands frequently but, at the end of the 20-minute session it was Barry James and Jamie Winn that came out on top just 0.212s ahead of Reeves/Cluze. The Birchalls were three tenths further back in third with the local team of Andy Peach/Charlie Richardson rounding out the second row. With only 0.09s between the same three crews in morning warm-up, Sunday’s first 18-lapper was set to be a cracker but Reeves and Cluze had other ideas. It was they who grabbed the holeshot and they were able to control affairs from the front as James and Winn also got pushed back to third by the Birchalls on the opening lap. They pressurised Reeves and Cluze as they posted the fastest lap on lap 3 and again on lap 14 reducing Reeves’ lead from 1.4s to 0.6s. However, the Anglo-French pairing were consistently lapping in the mid-48s bracket and, when they ran into backmarkers, they were able to edge away in the closing stages before taking victory by 0.711s. The battle for third saw James and Winn go head to head with Scott Lawrie/James Neave and Roger Lovelock/Rick Lawrence and although the pole sitters held sway early on, Lawrie/Neave got quicker and quicker as the race wore on and secured third for good on lap 12. Their task was made easier when James/Winn crashed out of fourth at Paddock Hill on lap 14 and that allowed Lovelock/Lawrence to take the position with Ben Holland/Lee Watson and Phil Bell/Ashley Hawes rounding out the top six. Meanwhile, Simon Gilbert/Shelley Smithies and John Clarke/Stuart Graham crashed out after a coming together at Clark Curve. The second race on Monday, in front of the Eurosport TV cameras, saw Reeves and Cluze make it two wins from two with another start to finish victory in the 18 lap race. The duo again grabbed the holeshot and consistently pulled away during the course of the race to take a near 3-second victory, with the race ending 2 laps early due to a collision between Ian Drowne/Ryan Anderson and Gordon Shand/Lee Barratt at Clearways. Both passengers required medical attention but, fortunately, neither were seriously injured. It was Reeves/Cluze who, like Sunday, grabbed the holeshot, this time from Lawrie/Neave but there was disappointment for Peach/Richardson as their outfit ground to a halt in a plume of smoke just after they’d left the line. By lap three, the Birchalls had found their way past Lawrie and Neave but, try as they might, they were unable to close the gap on Reeves/Cluze and, save for lap 7 when the Birchalls set their fastest lap of the race, the no77 machine was able to continually pull away as each lap was chalked up. Behind, there was an excellent battle for third between Lawrie/Neave and Lovelock/Lawrence, which eventually went the way of the latter with a similar battle going on behind between Bell/Hawes and Holland/Watson. Holland appeared to have it in the bag but Bell wasn’t to be denied and he claimed the 11 points although his cause was aided by the premature finish just as it looked like Holland would go through again. Meanwhile, another superb ride came from Stephen Kershaw/Robin Wilson who, in just their 3rd race on the F1 machine, took 7th place but there was further disappointment for James/Winn and Clarke/Graham who were both forced to retire. Race 1: 1st Reeves/Cluze (LCR Honda), 2nd Birchall/Birchall (LCR Yamaha) +0.711s, 3rd Lawrie/Neave (LCRSuzuki) +16.802s, 4th Lovelock/Lawrence (LCR Suzuki) +19.888s, 5th Peach/Richardson (LCR Suzuki) +27.525s, 6th Holland/Watson (LCR Suzuki) +31.061s Race 2: 1st Reeves/Cluze (LCR Honda), 2nd Birchall/Birchall (LCR Yamaha) 2.862s 3rd Lovelock/Lawrence (LCR Suzuki) +11.505s, 4th Lawrie/Neave (LCR Suzuki) +12.681s 5th Bell/Hawes (LCR Suzuki) +20.546s 6th Holland/Watson (LCR Suzuki) +20.546s The second round of the Eastern Airways British Sidecar Championship will again be at Brands Hatch on the weekend of May 20-21. More, from a press release issued by Marty Nutt’s publicist: Early season points for Nutt Castlerock’s Marty Nutt got his 2011 British Supersport Championship campaign underway in solid fashion over the Easter weekend when he finished in 13th place at the opening round at Brands Hatch. Competing on an all-new GSXR600 Suzuki for the first time, Marty continually improved as the weekend on and was rewarded with 3 points in the second of the two races. Having his very first outing of the year, the weekend started on a positive foot for Marty as he posted the ninth fastest time in the first free practice session but it went better still in Saturday’s second session as a time of 47.420s made him the 6th fastest rider going into the solitary qualifying session later in the day. However, problems with grip meant it was taking Marty longer than he would have liked to put in a quick time and just as everything was up to temperature, the red flag came out due to oil having been deposited on the circuit. Consequently, Marty was slightly disappointed to line up in 19th place for Sunday’s ‘Sprint’ race where he utimately finished in 17th, just outside the points. However, with the 11th fastest lap of the race, that meant he was able to start from the advanced position of 11th on the grid for Monday’s longer 26-lap race where conditions were again perfect with blue skies and warm sunshine again bathing the Kent venue. A slightly sluggish start saw Marty slip back to 15th but he was well in the hunt and never outside the points for the entire race distance and, by the mid-race point, he was up to 14th and just on the back of a four-man dice for 11th. There was little to choose between any of the riders although there was equally little opportunity to pass but, on lap 20, Paul Young retired from 9th and this promoted Marty to 13th where he stayed for the remainder of the race to pick up 3 hard earned points. Speaking afterwards, a satisfied Marty said; “Having not raced the bike before this weekend, the main objective was simply to try and pick up a few points to get the season up and running so I’m pleased to have achieved just that. We’re still awaiting a number of parts to arrive for the bike but there’s enough there to give me plenty of confidence for the rest of the season as what we have is already a good package; we just need that little bit extra to put us on an equal footing with the other guys and firmly establish ourselves in the top ten.” “In Monday’s race, the tyre went off in the last third and I was just hanging on for a finish at the end but to have two solid, mistake-free races and to be in the points on a new bike and with zero testing, unlike all the other riders, is very pleasing. I’ve been able to build up my confidence with each and every outing and I still have a way to go before I’ll be running at maximum pace and finding the limits of the bike but we’ve made good progress this weekend and am confident I’ll be in the top ten sooner rather than later.” Marty’s next meeting comes next weekend with the second round of the British Supersport Championship taking place at Oulton Park, Cheshire, April 30-2 May. More, from a press release issued by AP Kawasaki: AP Kawasaki Out of Luck at Brands Hatch The AP Kawasaki team endured a baptism of fire at Brands Hatch over the weekend with all three riders failing to finish their respective Superstock rides. Problems in qualifying for Leon Hunt, Anthony Haywood and Freddie Russo left them playing catch up for the remainder of the weekend and their luck deserted them on race day. Russo suffered chatter problems during qualifying for the Mezteler National Superstock 600cc race and lost a lot of valuable track time which subsequently left him back in 17th on the grid. A good start in the race soon saw him up inside the points and he gradually picked off the riders in front of him one by one to move into the top ten by mid-race distance. However, just as the Brentwood rider had taken over eighth place and looking to move up into the top six, he was caught out by another rider and crashed out uninjured with just four laps remaining. The two riders in the Metzeler National Superstock 1000cc category fared little better. Haywood, from Chesterfield, qualified in 25th place overall whilst Hunt, from Brighton, was seven places further back and had to go through the ‘Shoot Out’ race to ensure he qualified for Monday’s feature race, something he duly he did. However, Haywood crashed out of 19th place on unlucky lap 13 and Hunt could only finish 23rd. Leon Hunt: “It was a tough weekend and I’ve struggled with the set up of the bike throughout. Everything that worked when we went testing in Spain didn’t work here so it’s been frustrating to say the least. Going to the ‘Shoot Out’ obviously wasn’t in the plan but the bike wouldn’t hold a line through the turns and we tried everything in practice and qualifying but to no avail. The main race on Monday was a battle but it was good track time, if nothing else, and we’ll dig deep at Oulton next time out and look to put it right.” Anthony Haywood: “I’m obviously disappointed to have crashed as I felt really good in the race and was confident of moving forward some more places. I’d experienced similar problems to Leon in qualifying and it made it hard work but I made up a couple of places in the early laps and was looking for more of the same as the race wore on. I was just trying too hard though and tucked the front going into Druids. On the plus side, the changes we made to the bike for the race worked and I felt a lot more comfortable so I’ve learnt a lot and will now look forward to Oulton and hope to get the season properly underway there.” Freddie Russo: “The aim for this weekend was to get the season off to a good start with some solid points and that’s exactly how it was all going in the first half of the race. A lack of track time in qualifying due to chatter issues meant I only had 15 minutes to post a time so I wasn’t as high up on the grid as I would have liked but I got stuck in and, having made up a few places in the early laps, reeled in the group battling for fifth. I’d got up to eighth and had got into a really good rhythm but the rider in front of me braked really early going into Druids and it messed up my corner entry, the chatter returned and down I went. It’s a real shame as a top six finish was definitely on the cards but we had a good pace and there are a lot more positives than negatives to come out of the race so onwards and upwards.” Alan Greig: “It’s been a tough weekend, all of the riders experiencing problems in practice and then all of them posting non finishes. Leon struggled with the set up all weekend and never got the bike close to how he wanted it so we’ve a lot of work to do to help him feel more comfortable and happy with the bike. Anthony found a good direction with the bike only to lose it on the brakes but he knows now that it’s simply a case of fine tuning what he has to move forward further. “Freddie lost time in qualifying which meant he was on the back foot all weekend but he dug deep for the race and was looking really strong when he crashed out. We know that he’s capable of running inside the top six so let’s hope we’ve used up our bad luck and got rid of the gremlins so we can get the results we know all three riders are capable of.” The next round of the Metzeler Superstock 1000 and 600 Championships takes place at Oulton Park next bank holiday weekend. More, from a press release issued by John McGuinness’ publicist: Top ten finish gets McGuinness’s British season underway Straight from finishing 5th at the Bol d’Or 24-Hour race, Morecambe’s John McGuinness got his British short circuit season underway on Easter Monday when he placed a fine 10th in the opening round of the National 1000cc Superstock Championship. Held on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, McGuinness ran a strong pace all weekend on his Padgetts Honda and claimed a hard earned six points in what promises to be another tough, competitive year in the class. With 49 riders trying to qualify around the 1.2-mile circuit, the sessions were split into 2 and John was constantly in the top 6 in his particular group. Fourth after the first 25-minute session, John was able to take three tenths of a second off his time in Sunday’s second and final session and a time of 47.378s placed him fifth overall in his group. However, when the times for the two groups were combined he found himself in 13th place on the grid although this did give him the more favoured left hand side of the circuit. Conditions on race day were again perfect and a great start saw John immediately leap forward 3 places from his qualifying position to move up inside the top ten. Just as the race was beginning to get into its stride though, the red flag was out due to an incident and the race was stopped after just 4 laps. On the re-run, shortened to 16 laps, John made a carbon copy start although it proved to be a rather uneventful race as he stayed in 10th from beginning to end. However, he was right on the back of a 4-rider scrap for 7th and well in contention so it was certainly a strong result in what is always one of the hardest fought classes in the series. Talking later, a pleased John said; “I’m pleased with how the race went today and to finish inside the top ten and be so close to the top 5 bodes well for the rest of the year. I was happy with my pace throughout the weekend and made a mega start in both the original start and in the re-run, which was extremely pleasing as that’s something I haven’t always done in recent times. The bike was flying and my lap times were consistent all the way to the end so to be only 4 seconds off 5th at the end of the race was satisfying. It already looks like it’s going to be another extremely tough year in the class but I’m confident I’ll be there or thereabouts at all of the rounds I contest.” There’s little respite for John with round 2 of the Championship taking place this weekend at Oulton Park, Cheshire, April 30-May 2. More, from a press release issued by Tom Bridewell’s publicist: Brands Hatch Podium for Bridewell Tyco Honda rider Tommy Bridewell claimed his first BSB podium with a superb ride into third place in the first race of today’s opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch. After qualifying on row two of the grid with a fantastic last lap effort, the 22 year old from Etchilampton near Devizes in Wiltshire gradually made his way through the field as a few of his rivals fell by the wayside and with a lap to go, was poised in fourth behind the Kawasaki of Stuart Easton. It looked as if he would have to settle for fourth place when he spotted a gap on the inside and made his move on the final corner before out-dragging Easton to the line to claim the final podium placing on the ex Ryuichi Kiyonari championship-winning machine. With confidence high for race two, despite qualifying on row three, Bridewell again had to work his way through the field and with three laps to go, he was well placed in seventh but joy turned to despair when he crashed out at Surtees, luckily without sustaining major injury. Bridewell holds an encouraging sixth position in the standings going into next weekend’s action at Oulton park where he’ll be hoping to be battling for the podium once again. “I was really pleased with the first race and to get mine and the team’s first outright BSB podium was fantasic and reward for all the hard work we have put in, In race two, I got a bad start and we were running really close to the white line along the back straight all weekend. With a couple of laps to go, I just went a little way over the white line and as soon as I touched the brake I went straight down on the grass. I’m really disappointed as I really needed those points but we have made good progress this weekend.” Result – Race 1 (30 laps) 1 Shane Byrne (Honda) 23m47.412s 2 Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +1.154s 3 Tommy Bridewell (Tyco Honda) +2.657s 4 Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +2.764s 5 Jon Kirkham (Suzuki) +3.408s 6 Michael Rutter (Ducati) +4.310s 7 Loris Baz (Yamaha) +4.496s 8 Dan Linfoot (Honda) +5.090s 9 Martin Jessopp (Ducati) +5.100s 10 Chris Walker (Kawasaki) +7.728s Result – Race 2 (30 laps) 1 Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 23m03.483s 2 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +0.142s 3 Shane Byrne (Honda) +0.598s 4 Michael Laverty (Yamaha) +4.463s 5 John Hopkins (Suzuki) +10.089s 6 Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +11.984s 7 Michael Rutter (Ducati) +13.048s 8 Dan Linfoot (Honda) +13.897s 9 Peter Hickman (Honda) +18.431s 10 Gary Mason (Kawasaki) +18.473s DNF Tommy Bridewell (Honda) 26 laps Championship Points (after Round 1) 1 Hill 45 points 2 Byrne 41 3 Easton 23 4 Kiyonari 20 5 Rutter 19 6 Bridewell 16 = Linfoot 16 Images attached courtesy of Double Red www.doublered.co.uk. ENDS 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Calendar R1 Brands Hatch 22-25 April R2 Oulton Park 30 April – 02 May R3 Croft 13-15 May R4 Thruxton 28-30 May R5 Knockhill 17-19 June R6 Snetterton 300 01-03 July R7 Oulton Park 15-17 July R8 Brands Hatch GP 05-07 August R9 Cadwell Park 27-29 August R10 Donington 09-11 September R11 Silverstone Arena GP 23-25 September R12 Brands Hatch GP 07-09 October More, from a press release issued by Swan Yamaha: SWAN YAMAHA TAKE CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AND PREPARE FOR OULTON PARK The Swan Yamaha team got their season off to a flying start at Brands Hatch for the opening round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship as Tommy Hill took a first and second place to lead the standings ahead of Oulton Park. The opening race of the day ended in dramatic fashion for Michael Laverty as he suffered a highside whilst leading the race at Clark Curve, which caused Hill to take evasive action and drop down the order to eleventh. Hill then fought back and a determined performance saw him finish second. In the second race of the day Hill took a sensational victory at his home round after holding off the challenges of race one winner Shane Byrne and defending champion Ryuichi Kiyonari. Laverty meanwhile recovered from his race one crash to finish in a solid fourth place. Hill: “It has been a long four days as it has been the most I have ridden for a while! Last week I was concerned about my elbow and I had a lot of treatment throughout the week to be ready which has paid off. It is fantastic to be leading the championship but it is only round one and it is early days still. The bike has been working well and we couldn’t have asked for a better start today. We are now looking forward to Oulton Park and getting the bike to work around what is a completely different track. Hopefully we can get there and come away with a very similar result.” Laverty said: “Today has been a bit of a tough one for me. I am feeling a little bit sore, but I was able to walk away from a really big crash in the first race and that is the main thing but the team worked hard to get the bike back together for the second race. It was a shame to crash out as I felt quite good and I was feeling confident for the win. It was a big crash; the tyre just spun and I didn’t have time to save it. I did get clipped by Tommy but I was so lucky that both him and Shakey were able to miss me. In the second race I felt ok and set the fastest lap but then there were a few places where the front was folding and I didn’t want to crash again. We have a few days now before Oulton Park and I want to come out there and get back on the podium.” Swan Yamaha team owner Shaun Muir concluded: “What a start to the season for the Swan Yamaha team. We had a long winter and the hard work has paid off and we are delighted to be leading the championship after Tommy’s performance today. Michael was unlucky in the first race but he showed his potential despite that to challenge for the podium in race two. We are now really looking forward to next weekend at Oulton Park and hopefully we can be back on the top step of the podium again.” Race one 1: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 2: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) +1.154s 3: Tommy Bridewell (Tyco Honda) +2.667s 4: Stuart Easton (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +2.764s 5: Jon Kirkham (Samsung Crescent Racing) +3.408s Race two 1: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 2: Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.142s 3: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) +0.598s 4: Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) +4.463s 5: John Hopkins (Samsung Crescent Racing) +10.089s Championship standings after round one 1: Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha) 45 2: Shane Byrne (HM Plant Honda) 41 3: Stuart Easton (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 23 4: Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 20 5: Michael Rutter (Rapid Solicitors-Bathams Ducati) 19 8. Michael Laverty (Swan Yamaha) More, from a press release issued by Conor Cummins’ publicist: Cummins enjoys strong race comeback Only ten months after his terrible Isle of Man Senior TT crash, Conor Cummins enjoyed an excellent race weekend at Brands Hatch to finish 18th in the opening round of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship. It was the Manxman’s first race since fighting back from a catalogue of injuries and he was rewarded with an excellent finish and four solid days of practice and race action on the new ZX-10R Blackhorse Kawasaki that saw him getting quicker and quicker as the weekend wore on. With hot, sunny conditions throughout practice and qualifying, Conor got his weekend underway with the 16th fastest time in the opening qualifying session on Saturday but with hotter track conditions on Sunday he was unable to better his time and, subsequently he ended with the 17th fastest time in his group. That meant he had to go into the 14-lap ‘Shoot-Out’ race in order to try and qualify for Monday’s feature race but, grateful for the extra track time to help continue to build his fitness up, Conor put in a great ride to claim second thus taking his place on the grid on Monday. That meant he lined up in 30th place on the grid for the feature 24-lap race but a brilliant start saw him elevated up the order only for the red flag to come after just 3 laps due to an incident involving team-mate Victor Cox and Jonathan Howarth. 18th on the grid for the 16-lap re-start, a solid start saw Conor move up to 16th and on the brink of the points although he just didn’t quite have the pace to close the gap to the five-man group dicing for 11th. Instead, he found himself fighting it out with Gerard Kinghan and Seb Bulpin and he ended up crossing the line in 18th position, an excellent effort given he only came out of hospital last August and has spent the entire winter months fighting to get fit. Speaking immediately after the race, a delighted Conor said: “To get that first race out of the way feels absolutely brilliant and all weekend I’ve just been getting better and better. Practice went well and although the second qualifying session didn’t quite go to plan, I was glad to get the extra mileage in the Shoot Out race and we were able to try a few more things with the bike which really helped with the set-up. I achieved my goal of getting into the race proper and after that anything else was going to be a bonus.” “As it turned out, I got a mega start and achieved more than I thought I could. It’s very much work in progress but I feel like a racer again and to be battling it out close to the points after all I’ve been through is pretty good going in my book. I’ve got to say a big thanks to the team for making my life so much easier this weekend as they’ve absolutely worked their backsides off. I’ve also got to say a massive thank you to them and all my sponsors for sticking by me through the hard months I’ve had. To sum it up, I’m chuffed to bits!”