Top Six for Sykes at Silverstone 2007 Bennetts British Superbike Championship Rounds 5 & 6 Silverstone, Northants Sunday 29th April 2007 Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport rider Tom Sykes salvaged some pride from a disappointing weekend when round three of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship took place at Silverstone today. Riding the VK backed Honda Fireblade, the 21 year old Huddersfield rider followed up a seventh place in race one with a sixth place in race two which was red flagged a few laps early due to an oil spillage. Starting from row three of the grid, Sykes battled with a number of riders for the middle leaderboard placings as he added two more solid points scoring rides to his tally in his debut Superbike season to leave the Northamptonshire track in sixth position in the Championship. For team mate Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne, Silverstone promised much but delivered little as he left by not adding to his points tally after crashing out in both races. Starting from the front row of the grid, Byrne was hoping to add to his podium that he secured in the last round at Thruxton but slid out in race one before clipping the back of rival Leon Haslam in race two to end his chances for the weekend. As a result of two non finishes, Byrne has slipped back to eighth position in the Championship and will be looking to make amends next weekend at Oulton Park. Tom Sykes: “It’s a reasonable result for the weekend for me. I got a good start in the second race, but got held up a bit on the first lap but I’ve shown I can run consistent times and I’ve got some more points on the board. I’m happy with the whole team and really feel we’re making steady progress for sure. It’s just a shame the second race was red flagged as I was catching up and could have been on for a fourth place, but our time will come and it would be nice to repay the team with a podium sometime soon.” Shane Byrne: “There’s not much I can really say other than I’m extremely disappointed as not finishing races is not on the agenda. We need to move on from here and put this behind us and I need to do some winning to make up for this as the team has worked so hard for me.” Paul Bird: “Tom continues to go from strength to strength and posted a couple of solid results that we have come to expect of him and I’m delighted with his progress. As for Shakey, these things happen in racing, there’s not a lot I can say, we just need to move onwards and upwards from here and hopefully get back to the sort of success that we are expecting at Oulton Park.” The next round of the Bennetts British Championship takes place next weekend at Oulton Park, Cheshire over the Bank Holiday weekend (5th to 7th May). Race 1 Result: 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 28m49.500s, 2, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +5.800s, 3, Chris Walker (Suzuki) +8.760s, 4, Leon Camier (Honda) +8.847s, 5, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +16.073s, 6, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +16.347s, 7, Tom Sykes (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) +18.012s, 8, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +22.181s, 9, Karl Harris (Honda) +26.095s, 10, Michael Rutter (Kawasaki) +28.048s. Race 2 Result: 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 18m37.312s, 2, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +2.450s, 3, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +11.758s, 4, Chris Walker (Suzuki) +12.597s, 5, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +16.336s, 6, Tom Sykes (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) +16.966s, 7, Cal Crutchlow (Suzuki) +17.590s, 8, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +21.227s, 9, Michael Rutter (Kawasaki) +21.603s, 10, Tommy Bridewell (Suzuki) +31.640s. Bennetts British Superbike Championship Positions after Round 6 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 131pts 2, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 99pts 3, Jonathan Rea (Honda) 85pts 4, Leon Camier (Honda) 80pts 5, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 64pts 6, Tom Sykes (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) 59pts 7, Chris Walker (Suzuki) 55pts 8, Shane Byrne (Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport Honda) 45pts 9, Michael Rutter (Kawasaki) 41pts 10, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 37pts Round 1 7th to 9th April Brands Hatch GP, Kent Round 2 14th/15th April Thruxton, Hants Round 3 27th/29th April Silverstone, Northants Round 4 5th/7th May Oulton Park, Cheshire Round 5 18th/20th May Snetterton, Norfolk Round 6 15th/17th June Mondello Park, Co Kildare Round 7 30th June/1st July Knockhill, Fife Round 8 13th/15th July Oulton Park, Cheshire Round 9 20th/22nd July Mallory Park, Leics Round 10 10th/12th August Croft, North Yorkshire Round 11 25th/27th August Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire Round 12 21st/23rd September Donington Park, Leics Round 13 12th/14th October Brands Hatch Indy, Kent More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Walker scored a well-deserved and hard-fought third-place podium finish in the opening race at the third round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Silverstone in Northamptonshire. ‘Stalker’, starting from fifth on the grid, battled his way up to second before settling down for a race long duel for the final podium place in the opening race. Last lap heroics saw him take third and Rizla Suzuki’s first podium of 2007. In race two he was again fighting for the podium but the race was stopped after just 13 of the 20-laps and declared a result with Walker in fourth. Cal Crutchlow ran off at Becketts in the opening race, relegating himself to 14th before fighting back to 11th. In the second race he ran off and found himself in 14th again before fighting back to seventh when the race was stopped. Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari won both races at the 2.13-mile-long circuit. Rizla Suzuki returns to action next weekend at Oulton Park in Cheshire. Practice and qualification take place on the weekend with Superbike racing on Bank Holiday Monday, May 7th. Chris Walker: “The first race was ace. My Rizla Suzuki crew deserved the podium more than I did because they have worked so hard. This morning they tried something new on my bike – a geometry change – which worked a treat and we were right on the pace. “For the second race we stiffened the fork springs to give more braking power – it was better and I was a fair bit quicker. The problem was with more stopping power as I continuously out-braked myself. It’s been a positive weekend and now I’m off to Mondello in Ireland for a track day to learn the circuit before racing at Oulton Park next weekend.” Cal Crutchlow: “In the first race I was behind Tommy Hill and I used his braking markers. The problem was my Rizla Suzuki was a lot quicker than his bike and I ran straight on at 120mph. I rejoined but couldn’t get any higher than 11th. “In the second race I ran off at the opening corner as I had to pick my bike up to avoid the riders in front of me. I rejoined quickly and was in seventh fighting for fifth when the red flag came out on lap 14. I was comfortable and biding my time to pass the guys in front but the race was stopped early. My lap times were competitive and that gives me loads of encouragement. We are making progress and Oulton Park next weekend is one of my favourite circuits – bring it on!” Simon Buckmaster – Team Manager: “Chris’s podium finish was just what the team deserved and needed – it has given everyone a big lift and proven we can run at the front and compete. I take my hat off to Chris for his brave and determined riding. Credit must also go to his crew for their inspired decisions on bike set-up. “Cal had two good finishes which is just what we expect of him at this stage of his fledgling Superbike career. His lap times are quick and if he can get off the line faster then he has the chance to be mixing it in the top six regularly. He’s still learning and made more leaps forward with bike knowledge and race craft this weekend; there is a lot more to come from him yet. “It’s off to Oulton Park next weekend for the fourth round of the Championship and we’ll be going there with a spring in our step wanting to capitalise on our good performance this weekend. I’m proud of the spirit, determination and performance displayed by Rizla Suzuki today.”