Bennetts British Superbike Championship Round 10 Croft, North Yorkshire 12th/13th August RUTTER MUSCLED OUT OF IT AT CROFT Stobart Motorsport rider Michael Rutter was left ruing his luck at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire as he left round ten of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship a disappointed man. Riding the VK and Vent Axia backed Honda Fireblade, the 33 year old Midlander qualified on row two of the grid and despite the threatening weather; he posted a battling sixth place finish in the opening 20 lap race. But it was in the wet second race that Rutter looked to have put his disappointing run of results behind him as he shot to the front of the field and led in the opening laps. However, any hopes of a podium were dashed when eventual winner Leon Haslam tried a pass which resulted in Rutter being forced onto the grass at Tower Bend, thus ending his challenge as he eventually battled back to another sixth place. “I’m a bit disappointed really and there are some scores to be settled at Cadwell Park after some people pushed me around a little. We’ve proved we can still run up at the front and the bike has improved a lot over the weekend so I’m looking forward to Cadwell in a positive frame of mind. Two sixth places with all things considered is OK, but not what I wanted” said a dejected Rutter. Meanwhile team mate Michael Laverty was hoping to be challenging for a podium position at the circuit where he impressed last season but problems in race one saw the 25 year old Ulsterman eventually finish in a lowly 13th place before bouncing back with a better ride into seventh in the treacherous conditions of race two. “I’m happy enough with my performance in race two but I was spinning up a bit on the rear meaning I couldn’t get past Michael and Kiyo. We changed some settings before race one and that was a bit of a disaster but race two made up for it. We’ll move onto Cadwell now and try to make sure we’re fast from the off as this weekend, it’s been a bit of a struggle” said Laverty. Team owner Paul Bird was entertaining a number of important sponsors at Croft and whilst he was pleased to see his rider in the lead, he shared Rutter’s frustration: “That was alright but what happened was typical of the sort of luck we’ve had this season. I’m happy with four finishes but it was a bit of a character building weekend. We’ll move on to Cadwell in a couple of weekend’s time and see what that brings us but for whatever reason, it’s just not been our season so we’ll have to hope it turns around in the last three races” said the Penrith businessman. The next round of the Championship takes place on August 27th/28th at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire. Superbike Race One Result 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 27m23.430s, 2, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.947s, 3, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +2.132s, 4, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +2.339s, 5, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) +19.107s, , 7, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +37.520s, 8, Craig Coxhell (Kawasaki) +38.093s, 9, Steve 6, Michael Rutter (Stobart Honda) +25.601s Plater (Suzuki) +38.838s, 10, Karl Harris (Honda) +39.410s”¦ 13, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) +54.545s. Superbike Race Two Result 1, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 26m57.266s, 2, Karl Harris (Honda) +0.090s, 3, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +13.712s, 4, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) +15.954s, 5, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +23.642s, 6, Michael Rutter (Stobart Honda) +25.553s, 7, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) +26.782s, 8, Peter Hickman (Kawasaki) +43.486s, 9, Glen Richards (Honda) +45.633s, 10, Craig Coxhell (Kawasaki) +49.399s”¦ 13, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +1m06.496s. Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings (after round 10) 1, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 310pts 2, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 307pts 3, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 292pts 4, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) 198pts 5, Jonathan Rea (Honda) 176pts 6, Karl Harris (Honda) 175pts 7, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) 139pts 8, Michael Rutter (Stobart Honda) 138pts 9,, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 127pts 10, Glen Richards (Honda) 87pts More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Racing: STRONG DEBUT FOR BYRNE AT CROFT Rizla Suzuki’s Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne narrowly missed the rostrum on his first Superbike visit to Croft in North Yorkshire for the 10th round of the Bennetts British Championship. In a treacherously wet second race, Shakey recovered from an uncharacteristic poor start and an early run off the track to chase down the leaders. He would have challenged for third if the race which had been shortened by two laps due to the weather had run its full distance. In the opening race, plagued by drizzling rain on a dry track, he took fifth place. Steve Plater, making his second appearance for Rizla Suzuki as a stand-in for the injured James Haydon, took impressive ninth and 11th places from starting 19th on the grid. Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari won the opening race and Ducati’s Leon Haslam the second. Rizla Suzuki will attend the official MCRCB test at Cadwell Park next Thursday, August 17th. The team will then return to the Lincolnshire circuit for the 11th round of the Championship on Bank Holiday Monday, August 28th. * Brendan Roberts won the National Superstock Championship at Croft with three rounds to spare on his Crescent supplied Suzuki GSX-R1000. Shane Byrne: “In the second race my bike was mega and I was smiling inside my helmet. If I hadn’t made a simple mistake and run off the track early on and lost a lot of time rejoining, then I could have had a podium finish. “It’s another weekend of finishing fourth and fifth. That doesn’t make me happy and I need to break this run of being just behind the podium results; it’s not where I want to be and I should be challenging for the wins.” Steve Plater: “I am starting to gel the Rizla Suzuki and this weekend has been a big step forward. The results are ok but what’s more important is the progress I have made with the bike. I am starting to understand and exploit its performance. “I am satisfied with the day’s work, especially in the second race when I had real confidence in the bike and could ride aggressively I hope I get another chance to race it. Being part of Rizla Suzuki is a great experience and I’m enjoying every minute of it.” Robert Wicks – Team Manager: “For the second meeting in a row Shakey has scored fourth and fifth place results. He has shown again he has the pace to challenge for the podium. He’s strong and his confidence remains sky high as we enter the final leg of the season. “Steve enjoyed two inspirational rides from a lowly starting position. It’s been another decent performance from him. James Haydon will have a medical examination early in the coming week to assess whether he will be capable of racing at Cadwell Park. We are keen to get him back but if he is unavailable we have a strong substitute in Steve. “Congratulations to Suzuki’s Brendan Roberts on securing the National Superstock Championship with three rounds to go. He has been the class of the field and his victory shows just how good the production based GSX-R1000 really is. His bike is almost identical to the model you can buy in any authorized Suzuki showroom and is the class of its field.” Race One Results: 1: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 27:23.430, 2: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.947, 3: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +2.132, 4: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +2.339, 5: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) +19.107, 6: Michael Rutter (Honda) +25.601, 7: Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +37.520, 8: Craig Coxhell (Kawasaki) +38.093, 9: Steve Plater (Rizla Suzuki) +38.838, 10: Karl Harris (Honda) +39.410. Race Two Results: 1: Haslam 26:57.266, 2: Harris + 0.090, 3: Lavilla +13.712, 4: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) +15.954, 5: Kiyonari +23.642, 6: Rutter +25.553, 7: Michael Laverty (Honda) +26.782, 8: Peter Hickman (Kawasaki) +43.486, 9: Glen Richards (Honda) +45.633, 10: Coxhell +49.399. 11: Steve Plater (Rizla Suzuki) +1:00.790. Championship Positions (after 10 of 13 rounds): 1: Kiyonari 310, 2: Haslam 307, 3: Lavilla 292, 4: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) 198, 5: Rea 176, 6: Harris 175, 7: Laverty 139, 8: Rutter 138, 9: Hill 127, 10: Richards 87. 16: James Haydon (Rizla Suzuki) 36. 17: Steve Plater (Rizla Suzuki) 27. More, from a press release issued by Brendan Roberts’ publicist: Roberts seals Championship National Superstocks Croft Round 10 www.brendan-roberts.com 21-year-old Brendan Roberts secured the National Superstock Championship this weekend with three rounds of the series still remaining. Taking Pole Position, setting the fastest lap and also the race win, Roberts certainly sealed the title in true style. The young Australian dominated all weekend at the 2.12-mile Croft Circuit. Varied weather conditions throughout the weekend proved challenging for him but this did not deter him from topping the time sheets in every session. With the race being declared as wet and not having a morning warm up or a wet session, the riders were given two sighting laps before being thrown straight into the 16-lap race. A steady start for Roberts saw him slip back to fourth place but he was soon finding his feet in the damp conditions and began to move forward through the field. A battle with Irishman Marshall Neil proved interesting for the initial laps of the race allowing front runners Steve Brogan and Aaron Zanotti to make a break from the chasing pack. A tidy manoeuvre on lap three saw Roberts move up to third and he was soon hunting down Championship contender Zanotti, a tidy pass on him into turn one on lap 10 enabled Roberts to move a step closer to clinching the title. With a huge 76-point lead going into Croft he only needed a strong finish to take the title, but Roberts had other plans and wanted to ensure that he meant business and took another race win. A strong pass on Brogan down the start/finish straight on lap 12 saw the Grantham based rider take to the front and bridge a gap of nearly two seconds in the remaining four laps and seal a confident win. A delighted Roberts commented “What a weekend, I surprised myself during practice and qualifying with the times I managed. I feel riding with the Europeans in an even tougher series has helped me out 100% and its starting to show. To get me to where I am now I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family and friends. A big thanks has to go to Jonny and Chris from Moto-Direct for taking an interest in my career and Niall Mackenzie for his advice and friendship since I’ve been in the UK. Roberts will next be competing at Cadwell Park on August Bank Holiday weekend in the National Superstock series. More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki: Point Scoring Weekend for Hawk British Superbikes – Croft – Round 10 Hawk Kawasaki had an extremely positive weekend at round ten of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire this weekend, 11th – 13th August. The three riders Dean Thomas, Craig Coxhell and Peter Hickman all gained points in both of the Superbike races on board the Dunlop-shod Kawasaki ZX-10R’s. Thomas, who is recovering from serious injuries he sustained at Snetterton Circuit, battled through the pain barrier and gained two very creditable results with two twelfth places. After qualifying in 14th position Thomas fought hard all weekend to ensure that he gained some strong Championship points after missing the last two rounds. Thomas was content with the results commenting “I’ve not been out on a bike for three days on the trot since I crashed at Snetterton. It was certainly difficult and was very uncomfortable during both of the races but I wanted to get back out there. I knew it would be hard work and perhaps the weather conditions played in my favour and slowed the pace down a little. Hopefully I will be a lot stronger for Cadwell in a few weeks time.” Craig Coxhell struggled during qualifying and could only manage 17th place on the grid but from that the young Australian gained some very strong results with a eighth in race one and 10th in race two. Coxhell who favours the wet weather conditions put in some astounding lap times and was lapping as one of the fastest riders on the circuit. Coxhell was dicing in a freight train of riders in race one for seventh place with Tommy Hill, Steve Plater, Karl Harris, Simon Andrews and fellow team-mate Thomas. Coxhell said “I’m just gutted to not have qualified better as I know I could have been running further up the field if I had qualified in a stronger position. I have struggled all year to get my bike to work on qualifying tyres and therefore I have been struggling to put in a quick time. I am very happy to have gained two top ten positions as it has given me some good points in the Championship. Things are still all fairly close in the overall series and we also have double points at Brands Hatch to play for.” Youngster Peter ‘Hicky’ Hickman had an astounding ride at Croft and from qualifying 15th on the grid he gained 14th in race one and a fantastic eighth place in the second race. Hicky achieved his strongest race result to date in only his first year in the Superbike series, a credit to the 19-year-old. A elated Hicky said “The second race result was a great feeling. I got one of the best starts that I have ever had and right from the start I just felt confident and content. I was locked in a tight scrap with ex BSB Champ Shakey Byrne which was interesting, he was definitely on a mission but it was good to have a dice with him for a few laps. I’d like to thank everyone in the team for working so hard and glad I managed to get the result I did in race two as a thank you to them.” The Bennetts British Superbike series will next be at Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire on August Bank Holiday Weekend, 26th- 28th August. More, from a press release issued by Centurion Racing: SPALDING TAKES NINTH BRITISH SUPERSPORT CUP WIN AT CROFT CIRCUIT 19-year-old Pete Spalding sealed the Supersport Cup Championship this weekend at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire after taking his ninth Cup win of the season from nine races plus an outstanding fourth position overall in the Supersport Championship. A dramatic race was seen by the strong 30’000 fans in what proved to be an exciting and nail-biting 18-lap race. After qualifying in a strong 14th position the youngster was keen to gain a strong result to finally seal the Cup Championship Title, in which he has been working so hard to gain all season. Completely dominating the series, the Honda CBR600 rider once again stole the show and gained another fantastic result to add to the stunning fifth position he gained at Knockhill. After a first lap pile-up on the first corner, plus a heavy rain shower the race was red flagged after only two laps, enforcing a complete restart. The riders were given two laps warm-up in the wet conditions and were given a 16-lap race. Spalding gained a fantastic start and was up to seventh by the third corner behind Supersport regulars, Sykes, Emmett, Crutchlow, Vincent, Camier and Laverty. Spalding proved at Donington Park earlier in the season that he is becoming a wet weather specialist after gaining a great eighth place there. The youngster once again proved his worth in the tricky climate conditions and mixed in with some of the most Supersport riders in the country. Front runners, Crutchlow, Laverty and Vincent all succumbed to the weather and crashed out of the race, allowing Spalding a fighting chance of stepping on the steps of the main Supersport Class Podium. Hunting down current Supersport Champion Leon Camier, Spalding was eager to make a pass on the Champion for third place. A last lap, last corner nearly proved ecstatic and fatal for the youngster, fighting his way past Camier, he got on the gas a little early and nearly high-sided out of the race. Managing to fight and hold on to his Honda, he gained an amazing fourth place. Commenting a delighted Spalding said “It’s been an amazing year and now I have sealed the Championship I can relax a little more and just get on with the racing at not have to think about the results at the final rounds. The whole Centurion Team have worked exceptionally hard all weekend and all year and they deserve this title more than anyone, I would like to thank everyone for all their continued support and help. The race was fantastic and it was a great feeling battling for a Championship podium with Leon. I just hope things continue to get better and better for the remainder of this season and for next year.” Team Manager Gary Stubbington said “I’d like to back up Pete’s comments and thank everyone for all their help and support. A big thanks must go to Clive Padgett for offering his advice throughout the season. The result today is exceptional and we are all completely delighted. I hope this gives Pete a confidence boast and hope that we can continue to move from strength to strength. It’s a big learning curve but results like this certainly help with team moral.” The next Supersport Cup Race is at Cadwell Park on August Bank Holiday weekend.