No snow at Thruxton as Byrne and Crutchlow take the spoils After the opening round of the 2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch was postponed due to snow a fortnight ago, race action finally got under way at Thruxton today (Sunday 20 April). Following a dramatic afternoon of racing, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and Cal Crutchlow will be leaving the Hampshire circuit happiest, after taking victories in race one and race two respectively. It was Cal Crutchlow who led the pack in race one, shadowed by team-mate Leon Haslam for the first few laps. Pole-sitter Byrne passed Haslam on lap four, diving through on the Airwaves Ducati, before moving on to pass Crutchlow at the front of the field. He did so on lap thirteen and held on for his fourth victory at Thruxton. ‘Shakey’ said: “We have come along way, and it is great to be back racing and get this result. I settled into the race and Cal was really going for it. I gout up to second and the gap was opening up. As I came across the line a few laps later my pitboard was showing plus zero so I thought I should pull me finger out, which I did! It is a great result for us.” Despite race two of the Bennetts British Superbike event resulting in a maiden class victory for HM Plant Honda man Cal Crutchlow, all the headlines are likely to focus on Rob Mac Yamaha rider Karl Harris, who suffered a catastrophic accident which resulted in a red flag and a restart. The Sheffield-born rider was lucky enough to walk away from being clattered in the face by an airborne Rizla Suzuki, and a broken nose seems good value considering the force of the collision. After the restart Tom Sykes, on a spare bike after the Harris incident, took the initiative, however Crutchlow could sense a win and went for it with venom. Crutchlow – two laps after the lights went out for the second time – took to the front. After a superb race one, Michael Rutter got in the points again, on lap seven putting a move on Sykes, who by this time was going backwards. Winner of race one, Shane Byrne, looked dangerous again. He had to wait until lap thirteen before having the opportunity to pass Rutter for second place, and even when he had made up the place it was a battle until the end to hold on. After the disappointment of the snow-ravaged Brands Hatch, the Bennetts British Superbike Championship has returned with a vengeance, the action at Thruxton proving that it remains the most exhilarating domestic series in the world. The Bennetts British Superbike Championship next visits Oulton Park on the 3-5 May. Race one result: 1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati); 2. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +2.306s; 3. Michael Rutter (NW 200 Ducati) +3.573; 4. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +10.949; 5. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +18.745 Race two result: 1. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda); 2. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) +1.807s; 3. Michael Rutter (NW 200 Ducati) +2.136s; 4. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +7.942s; 5. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +11.863s Championship standings: 1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) 45pts; 2. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) 45pts; 3. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) 32pts; 4. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) 24pts; 5. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) 18pts. More, from a press release issued by Hydrex Bike Animal Honda: SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR ELLISON Hydrex Bike Animal Honda rider James Ellison overcame problems during qualifying to post an impressive pair of seventh place finishes when round two of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship took place at Thruxton in Hampshire today. Technical problems had blighted Shaun Muir’s team during pre-season testing and also throughout this weekend, but some radical changes by the team overnight saw Ellison and team-mate Guy Martin improve along with the weather conditions on race day. Ellison battled from his fourth row grid position to claim seventh in the opening twenty lap race and following an accident in race two which saw the race reduced to fifteen laps, he did likewise to open his points campaign for the year. Martin’s fifteenth place in race one saw him score a solitary point but he improved considerably in the second outing to take ninth position to justify the hard work which the team had put in throughout the weekend. After the opening round at Brands Hatch was cancelled due to snow, it means that Ellison and Martin lie in fifth and thirteenth respectively in the championship going into the next round at Oulton Park in two weeks time. James Ellison: “I’m happy enough. If we’d had a couple more laps in the last race I could have got up a couple more places. We made a lot of big changes between Saturday and Sunday which normally you don’t do but we needed to make some time up. I’m pleased for Shaun, Hydrex and Bike Animal and it’s good to put a good show on for them. I feeling happy going into the next round.” Guy Martin: “We put some new front forks in last night and the first race was just to get the gist of where we wanted to be. We took a step in the right direction so for the second race we made some more adjustments and it worked again so we made another step in the right direction. We’ll just keep plugging away, it’s going to come and I’m going to make myself a short circuit rider! The team has worked so hard, especially Warren, Kate, James and Havier so thanks to them.” Shaun Muir (Team Owner): “We’ve finally given James a bike he can race and not just drag around the circuit. The team has worked so hard for this and we will be challenging for the podium. All I expected was two top tens for James and two top fifteen places for Guy and both have bettered that. Now we can turn up at Oulton Park and be challenging for a podium. We have a test at Castle Combe before then where we’ll be doing some more development work. I feel that we’ve now turned the corner and it’s all looking very positive.” Superbike Race One Result 1, Shane Byrne, (Ducati) 25:33.903s, 2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) +2.306, 3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +3.573, 4, Leon Haslam (Honda) +10.949, 5, Leon Camier (Ducati) +18.745, 6, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +19.048, 7, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +19.406, 8, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +22.403, 9, Stuart Easton +22.709 (Kawasaki), 10, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +23.902, 15, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +40.272 Superbike Race Two Result 1, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 19:05.302, 2, Shane Byrne, (Ducati) +1.807, 3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) +2.136, 4, Leon Camier (Ducati) + 7.942, 5, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +11.863, 6, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +12.461, 7, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +13.632, 8, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) +18.759, 9, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +23.395, 10, Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) +23.899 2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings after Round 2 1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 45 pts =, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 45 pts 3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 32 pt 4, Leon Camier (Ducati) 24 pts 5, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 18 pts =, James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 18 pts 7, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 17 pts =, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 17 pts 9, Leon Haslam (Honda) 13 pts 10, John Laverty (Ducati) 9 pts 13, Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 8 pts More, from a press release issued by NW200 Ducati: Double Top for NW 200 Ducati Team www.nw200ducati.com The NW200 Ducati team secured a stunning start to the Bennett British Superbike season at Thruxton Circuit. With Michael Rutter taking two superb third positions and John Laverty winning both the Daily Star Cup races. Rutter gained his first double podium since Knockhill in 2005, in doing so he picked up the Eurosport ‘Rider of the Day’ award and John Laverty was exceptional on the standard 1098R Ducati in the Cup. After cold and wet conditions throughout the weekend the sun finally managed to break through for the two 20-lap races today (Sunday 20th April). Rutter qualified third on the grid in wet conditions yesterday with John Laverty in ninth. The duo both gained fantastic starts in both races and Rutter on the North West 200 Ducati settled in well and dropped a place to fourth at the end of the first lap. The Midlands based rider kept the factory Honda’s of Crutchlow and Haslam and the Ducati of Byrne firmly in his sights. Conserving his Pirelli tyres Rutter timed the race to perfection and on lap 18 took advantage of the wearing tyres of Haslam making a confident move on him at the Complex for the final podium spot. John Laverty on the Buildbase NW200 Ducati rode a hard and solid race and finished 12th overall in the Championship, easily securing him the Cup win. Race two was action packed and Rutter once again was sitting in fourth position after the opening lap and John Laverty in an incredible seventh place. However by lap seven a huge crash involving Karl Harris and Tom Sykes forced the race to be red flagged and re-started as a 15-lap race. Rutter gained a great start in the re-start and was in third position after lap one and John Laverty in ninth. Rutter was dicing hard with the factory Suzuki of Tom Sykes and managed to find a way past on the seventh lap and was comfortably in second place for six laps when he was passed by race one winner Shane Byrne. The former team-mates battled hard to the end and only 0.3 separated the two riders at the chequered flag, Cal Crutchlow went on to win the race with Byrne in second and Rutter a fine third. John Laverty fought a solid race, convincingly taking the Daily Star Cup win and finishing 11th overall in the main Championship. A delighted Rutter said “It’s a mega feeling to be back up at the front and it’s been a long time coming. The whole team have worked so hard all weekend and this is a awesome result for everyone. I couldn’t have asked for better and I am confident we can continue this form through the rest of the season. I’d like to thank the whole team for working so hard this weekend and really pleased I could pull two good results out of the bag for them. I’ve had a few difficult years and I’m loving being back on a Ducati.” John Laverty said “I’m really pleased to have got the first races under my belt and I now have a comfortable 20 point lead in the Daily Star Cup series. The bike felt brilliant all weekend and considering I’m still on a very much standard road bike I’m very happy where I ended up in the main Championship. I was having a battle with my brother Michael throughout the weekend and hopefully I’ll be able to get the better of him at some point. I’d like to thank all my team for working as hard as they have and they deserve this result.” Team Manager Ken Foley commented, “I’m over the moon with the results that the two riders have gained today and we couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. It has made all the work over the last six or seven month worthwhile and we are definitely going in the direction that we had hoped for and it would be good for us if we can continue this form throughout the season and carry on achieving similar results. We’re looking forward to getting to Oulton Park in a couple of weeks time.” Race One Result 1, Shane Byrne, (Ducati) 2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 3, Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) 4, Leon Haslam (Honda) 5, Leon Camier (Ducati) 6, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 7, James Ellison (Honda) 8, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 9, Stuart Easton 10, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) Race One Cup Results John Laverty (Buildbase NW200 Ducati) Chris Burns (MV Agusta) Steve Mercer (Yamaha) Race Two Result 1, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 2, Shane Byrne, (Ducati) 3, Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) 4, Leon Camier (Ducati) 5, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 6, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 7, James Ellison (Honda) 8, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 9, Guy Martin (Honda) 10, Billy McConnell (Kawasaki) Race Two Cup Results John Laverty (Buildbase NW200 Ducati) Martin Jessopp (Honda) Malcolm Ashley (Kawasaki) Championship Standings 1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 45 pts 2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 45 pts 3, Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) 32 pt 4, Leon Camier (Ducati) 24 pts 5, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 18 pts 6, James Ellison (Honda) 18 pts 7, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 17 pts 8, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 17 pts 9, Leon Haslam (Honda) 13 pts 10, John Laverty (Ducati) 9 pts Daily Star Cup Championship Standings John Laverty (Buildbase NW200 Ducati) 50 pts Martin Jessopp (Honda) 30pts Malcolm Ashley (Kawasaki) 29