BROOKES WINS TWO, KIYONARI ONE MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship Round seven Snetterton 17/18 July Josh Brookes won the first two races in the seventh round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Snetterton with his HM Plant Honda team-mate, former two times title winner, Ryuichi Kiyonari taking the victory in the other. But, the joy of their victories was spoiled somewhat as each suffered “engine issues” on Sunday afternoon that sidelined them, Kiyonari in the opener and then Brookes next time out. For Brookes, his problem not only denied him a potential hat-trick of victories and also cost him the lead in the title stakes as Tommy Hill, returning to his early season consistent form, racked up a third place and then a pair of seconds to regain the lead in the title stakes, though by only two points at the half-way point of the campaign. Brookes made life hard for himself in the opening race on Saturday afternoon, held over from the weather ravaged Knockhill round, making a slow start, and then a minor error, to be running ninth on the opening lap of the re-started race, after rain had brought out the red-flags. Kiyonari was leading from Hill while Brookes as on the charges, picking off places to be second to his HM Plant Honda team-mate at half distance, and although he tried to line up overtaking moves, Kiyonari held him at bay, that is until the first corner of the final lap. Brookes had the inside line and made a perfect move, taking the lead, and with it the race, to win by half a second from Kiyonari. Further back, James Ellison who had started at the back of the grid was riding superbly to bring his Swan Honda through into seventh place but there was disappointment for his team-mate Stuart Easton who slowed with a machine problem prior to retiring. Michael Rutter made the running in the first of Sunday’s races with Kiyonari reeling him in, before the Japanese rider was forced out on the fourth lap by a machine problem as Brookes was moving through from fifth to be running third adrift of his title rival Hill. Brookes moved second at one thirds distance and closed in dramatically on Rutter who slowed momentarily going into the final third of the race, shortly afterwards pulling out with a gear shift problem to his Ducati. Brookes had the lead and he was in no mood to let that slip, controlling the action from the front and heading off Hill by some 1.5 seconds while Alastair Seeley grabbed third place from Ellison on the penultimate lap. Easton, involved in a slip-streaming five rider scrap on the long Revett Straight ran eighth just adrift of the privately entered Hondas ridden by Tommy Bridewell and Chris Walker. Ellison made a flying start to the second Sunday afternoon race, running just ahead of Brookes with Michael Laverty third from Kiyonari, Hill and Rutter, but there was bitter disappointment for Easton as a clutch problem prevented him starting. By the third lap, Honda riders were running in the top three, with Ellison ahead of Brookes and Kiyonari, but the Japanese rider was eager for better and nosed ahead of his team-mate on the seventh lap and began making inroads on the advantage of Ellison. Kiyonari was leading the race on the ninth lap and soon Brookes was tucked in behind him with Ellison dropping back to fourth and then being taken by Rutter. Brookes, going strong, was soon in trouble, pulling off with a machine problem. Then on lap 14, Ellison went down as Seeley tried a tight move going into a right-hander bringing Ellison down and the Safety Car out. Kiyonari kept his cool as the race resumed for real, holding off Hill to take his fourth victory of the season, one that consolidates his third place in the championship standings. Honda BSB personnel quotes After the Saturday race Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda): “I didn’t get the start I needed but I knew we had a good race pace so I wasn’t totally worried and knew I just had to keep composed and pick them off one at a time. I did that and then I was closing on Kiyo but I made a mistake into Russells then the laps quickly whittled away and I was running out of time. I didn’t really want to make the pass at turn one as then you have to defend for the rest of the lap but that seemed the only option so I just went for it and I just stayed there.” Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) “The race was tough and towards the end I knew Josh would be there as he has been so fast and the tyre life was not as good so I didn’t want to push too hard and crash. I changed my riding style a bit and I thought I was going to be able to hold him off but he just came by and I tried but it was impossible to get him back.” James Ellison (Swan Honda): “I was really happy to finish seventh having started at the back. We managed to make some tweaks since Friday practice that put us back where we need to be, which is encouraging for the Sunday races when we start further up the grid. I am happy to be back up there and I think we can expect even better.” Stuart Easton (Swan Honda): “It was another disappointing day for me and in the race I had a cam shaft sensor failure, which I felt straight away and I had no option but to pull in. I think that it has rounded out two bad days for me and I want to turn that around.” After the Sunday races Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda): “This morning before the race we made some changes to the setting as it wasn’t perfect yesterday and unfortunately we had a problem and couldn’t finish the race which meant we never had a real chance to test it. So for the third race we reverted back to what we had yesterday and I had the pace to fight for the win. I was disappointed after the second race not to have finished but winning race three made up for that.” Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda): “In the second race I had another bad start and made my way through; I saw Kiyo seemed to be having problems so knew I didn’t have to make a pass. He retired and then I had Rutter ahead of me and knew I had the time to catch him, but then he pulled off too. I just kept steady away and then just held it to take the win. Everything was going well next time out and I was stuck behind James for a few laps and then Kiyo got involved and I maintained the position as I knew Kiyo was quick after we got by Ellison. We then just had an engine problem which put me out, which was disappointing.” Havier Beltran (team manager HM Plant Honda): “It was fantastic to win all three races here at Snetterton and shows the strength of the Honda CBR1000. It is however obviously disappointing that both riders were forced to retire once whilst at the front of the races with engine issues. We know we have to overcome these if we are to win the championship.” Stuart Easton (Swan Honda): “In the first Sunday race I was happy to finish eighth after battling through from fifteenth on the grid after we had the problems in qualifying. It was a real confidence booster for me and then I was further up the grid for the final race and thought we had a good shot at a better result. I went out for the sighting lap for the final race and instantly knew there was a problem and the clutch was slipping so I knew that I couldn’t do anything about it and pulled straight into the pits.” James Ellison (Swan Honda): “In the first race I had the potential for a podium finish or maybe even a race win, but then a back marker got in the way and that messed up my chances so I wasn’t happy as that was a top three finish gone which I really needed and I felt robbed by that. In the second race I was happy leading; I knew I didn’t have the pace to break the HM Plant Honda boys but I felt that I could challenge them for sure and I felt like I could win that race. I knew Alastair Seeley was behind me and he was never going to get past me so it was harsh move and to be taken down by someone else’s mistake is always gutting. It hasn’t affected my leg but my back is really aching and I have displaced my pelvis so now I have to get back to the physio so I am prepared for the next round at Brands Hatch.” Results Race1 POS / NAME / NAT / BIKE / TIME / GAP 1 / Josh BROOKES / AUS / Honda – HM Plant Honda / 19:41.650 / 2 / Ryuichi KIYONARI / JPN / Honda – HM Plant Honda / 19:42.244 / 0.594 3 / Tommy HILL / GBR / Suzuki – Worx Crescent Suzuki / 19:46.125 / 4.475 4 / Michael RUTTER / GBR / Ducati – RidersMotorcycles.Com / 19:46.639 / 4.989 5 / Alastair SEELEY / GBR / Suzuki – Relentless Suzuki by TAS / 19:47.135 / 5.485 6 / Michael LAVERTY / GBR / Suzuki – Relentless Suzuki by TAS / 19:47.539 / 5.889 7 / James ELLISON / GBR / Honda – Swan Honda / 19:50.798 / 9.148 8 / Simon ANDREWS / GBR / Kawasaki – MSS Colchester Kawasaki / 19:52.955 / 11.305 9 / Gary MASON / GBR / Kawasaki – MSS Colchester Kawasaki / 19:56.014 / 14.364 10 / Tommy BRIDEWELL / GBR / Honda – Quay Garage Honda / 19:56.036 / 14.386 11 / Chris WALKER / GBR / Honda – Sorrymate.com SMT Honda / 19:56.348 / 14.698 12 / John LAVERTY / GBR / Kawasaki – Buildbase Kawasaki / 19:56.657 / 15.007 13 / Dan LINFOOT / GBR / Yamaha – Motorpoint Yamaha / 19:59.108 / 17.458 14 / Andrew PITT / AUS / Yamaha – Motorpoint Yamaha / 20:10.411 / 28.761 15 / Peter HICKMAN / GBR / Yamaha – Ultimate Racing / 20:10.583 / 28.933 Fastest lap: Lap 12 Josh BROOKES AUS Honda – HM Plant Honda 1:04.878 Results Race2 POS / NAME / NAT / BIKE / LAPS / TIME / GAP 1 / Josh BROOKES / AUS / Honda – HM Plant Honda / 24:13.327 / 2 / Tommy HILL / GBR / Suzuki – Worx Crescent Suzuki / 24:14.799 / 1.472 3 / Alastair SEELEY / GBR / Suzuki – Relentless Suzuki by TAS / 24:16.067 / 2.740 4 / James ELLISON / GBR / Honda – Swan Honda / 24:17.084 / 3.757 5 / Michael LAVERTY / GBR / Suzuki – Relentless Suzuki by TAS / 24:17.479 / 4.152 6 / Tommy BRIDEWELL / GBR / Honda – Quay Garage Honda / 24:28.967 / 15.640 7 / Chris WALKER / GBR / Honda – Sorrymate.com SMT Honda / 24:31.106 / 17.779 8 / Stuart EASTON / GBR / Honda – Swan Honda / 24:31.744 / 18.417 9 / Simon ANDREWS / GBR / Kawasaki – MSS Colchester Kawasaki / 24:32.187 / 18.860 10 / John LAVERTY / GBR / Kawasaki – Buildbase Kawasaki / 24:32.458 / 19.131 11 / Gary MASON / GBR / Kawasaki – MSS Colchester Kawasaki / 24:34.873 / 21.546 12 / Andrew PITT / AUS / Yamaha – Motorpoint Yamaha / 24:35.165 / 21.838 13 / Steve BROGAN / GBR / BMW – Jentin Racing – BMW Motorrad / 24:46.326 / 32.999 14 / Gary JOHNSON / GBR / Suzuki – AIM Suzuki / 24:48.296 / 34.969 15 / Tom TUNSTALL / GBR / Honda – Doodson Motorsport / 24:57.399 / 44.072 Fastest lap: Lap 10 Josh BROOKES AUS Honda – HM Plant Honda 1:05.195 Results Race3 POS / NAME / NAT / BIKE / LAPS / TIME / GAP 1 / Ryuichi KIYONARI / JPN / Honda – HM Plant Honda / 26:52.964 / 2 / Tommy HILL / GBR / Suzuki – Worx Crescent Suzuki / 26:53.555 / 0.591 3 / Michael LAVERTY / GBR / Suzuki – Relentless Suzuki by TAS / 26:53.918 / 0.954 4 / Michael RUTTER / GBR / Ducati – RidersMotorcycles.Com / 26:54.548 / 1.584 5 / John LAVERTY / GBR / Kawasaki – Buildbase Kawasaki / 26:56.861 / 3.897 6 / Simon ANDREWS / GBR / Kawasaki – MSS Colchester Kawasaki / 26:57.863 / 4.899 7 / Chris WALKER / GBR / Honda – Sorrymate.com SMT Honda / 26:59.091 / 6.127 8 / Andrew PITT / AUS / Yamaha – Motorpoint Yamaha / 27:01.175 / 8.211 9 / Gary MASON / GBR / Kawasaki – MSS Colchester Kawasaki / 27:01.313 / 8.349 10 / Yukio KAGAYAMA / JPN / Suzuki – Worx Crescent Suzuki / 27:02.530 / 9.566 11 / Peter HICKMAN / GBR / Yamaha – Ultimate Racing / 27:03.627 / 10.663 12 / Dan LINFOOT / GBR / Yamaha – Motorpoint Yamaha / 27:05.110 / 12.146 13 / Steve BROGAN / GBR / BMW – Jentin Racing – BMW Motorrad / 27:09.190 / 16.226 14 / Gary JOHNSON / GBR / Suzuki – AIM Suzuki / 27:10.266 / 17.302 15 / Hudson KENNAUGH / RSA / Aprilia – Splitlath Motorsport / 27:10.571 / 17.607 Fastest lap:Lap 3 Ryuichi KIYONARI JPN Honda – HM Plant Honda 1:04.991 Championship points Name Total HILL 218, BROOKES 216, KIYONARI 193, LAVERTY 183, RUTTER 165, LAVERTY 129, SEELEY 128, EASTON 100, WALKER 88, ELLISON 70, BRIDEWELL 66, MASON 60, ANDREWS 60, JESSOPP 57, LINFOOT 36. More, from a press release issued by Star Racing: Strong Sixth for O’Halloran www.jasonohalloran.co.uk Jason O’Halloran secured one of his best results of the season so far at round seven of the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport Championship at Snetterton Circuit today, Sunday 18th July. O’Halloran gained a very strong sixth place finish after enduring a fraught 20-lap battle on the East Coast Racing Yamaha. Jason has been working hard all weekend to find a good set up for the ultra fast Snetterton circuit and after the team made a few changes they found some settings that would produce consistent lap times over the race distance. The qualifying session was disrupted yesterday after alterations had to be made to the track; Jason was unable to match the pace of the pole sitter in qualifying and ended the session in 12th place 1.1 off pole. After a few overnight alterations Jason was very content after morning warm up and confident of a strong result if he could get a good start. As the lights changed the young Australian flew off the line and was sitting in ninth place at the end of the opening lap. By lap four he had moved up to seventh and was soon locked into a manic battle with fellow Australians Billy McConnell and Glen Richards for fifth place. Every lap Jason and Billy were changing places and fighting hard for the place. Finally by lap 17 of 20 Jason made the pass on McConnell for sixth position and held it to the chequered flag. Commenting he said “I’m really pleased with the result today and thoroughly enjoyed the race and the battles I was involved in. I managed to get a great start and pass a few into the first corner then also down the back straight. I knew if I could get away with them I could run with them as I’d managed to do consistent lap times all weekend and knew I could push the same pace in the race. Billy and I got a bit locked up with each other which allowed Glen to come through on us. Billy and I were dicing every lap and it was a good little battle, I’m so pleased I’m starting to get the results again and just hope this will now continue for the rest of the year after a couple of tough months. I’d like to thank Spider and GP James for all the work they did this weekend and hope I will be able to repay them with some stronger results at the remaining rounds.” Jason’s East Coast Racing team mate Pat McDougall finished a strong second place in the British Supersport Cup Championship and is still leading the Cup Championship by nine points. Pat battled hard over the weekend the salvage some good points for his Championship campaign. Speaking with him he said “This isn’t my favourite circuit and knew a good result here would be vital in order to remain in contention with winning the series. It was a hard weekend and a tough race, I got a pretty bad started and got nudged out wide into the first corner, which left me with a lot of work to do. I fought hard but just want to get to Brands now and see how we get on there.” Team Manager Phil Reed is pleased with the progress the riders have made saying “The team have now come together nicely and everything is running smoothly and in the direction that we want it to. Both Jason and Pat rode a very good race and the results showed that. The East Coast Racing team hope to keep making steps forward and continue getting strong results for the rest of the season. Pat is in with a good shout of winning the British Supersport Cup Championship and Jason is settling into riding the Yamaha exceptionally well and the result proved that today. We are looking forward to getting to Brands Hatch in a couple of week’s time.” More, from a press release issued by Jentin Racing: JENTIN RACING-BMW MOTORRAD TAKE FOUR WINS AND A LAP RECORD AT SNETTERTON Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad took all four possible wins away from this weekend’s Metzeler National Superstock 1000 and triple-header Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO races – and smashed a lap record. Tristan Palmer, standing in for Richard Cooper, dominated the Superstock class all weekend. He was the fastest rider in every session and took Jentin Racing’s first Superstock win after starting on pole position. The race was red flagged on lap four following a crash. The race was restarted using positions at the last lap, leaving Tristan starting again from 5th. On the fifth lap of the resumed racing, Palmer pulled a stunning overtake on first place rider Luke Quigley around the outside of the 110mph Corams corner, taking race lead and eventually winning his debut race. Tristan also took a new lap record – 1:07.10 – which had been set by fellow Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad rider Steve Brogan in 2000. Stand in superstock racer Tristan Palmer said: “That’s was a tough race! I passed Luke around the outside of Corams for the lead and then made a break for it. The bike was feeling great so I just got my head down and used the clear track to pull out a bit of a lead, and broke Steve’s lap record in the process, I’m really chuffed with that!” The first of the weekend’s three British Superbike rounds took place on Saturday – the result of a weather-stopped race at Knockhill two weeks ago – in which BSB-EVO rider Steve Brogan take his first win of the weekend. Steve improved upon this performance with a further two wins today, under the eyes of BMW Motorrad World Superbike racer Troy Corser. The Australian racer spent the day at the East Anglian circuit commentating on the racing, meeting fans and spending some time with the Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad team. BSB-EVO rider Steve Brogan said: “Race one wasn’t too bad – though someone ran into the back of me at the Bombhole and nearly knocked me off, luckily I managed to stay on! “I got a good start in race two – but the pace car came out with about seven laps to go. On the restart I almost collided with a back marker who had rejoined the race from the pit lane and pulled right across on to the racing line in front of me. I was flat out but luckily managed to miss him – though it cost me a couple of positions. It was then a bit of a dogfight to the flag as I chased down the EVO leader but I managed to get him on the penultimate lap and hold on for the win. It’s been a tough but satisfying weekend and with the teams help we’re walking away as the championship leaders.” Bernie Toleman, Team Manger: “This is the definition of the perfect weekend. We’ve had four races and we’ve crossed the line first in every one. We’ve been trying to win a Superstock race all year and managed it on our first visit to Snetterton, which is particularly rewarding. Tristan rode very well all weekend and completely dominated the class. “Steve still isn’t fully fit but he dug deep and rode hard – and we’re leaving the circuit with the championship lead. Job done!” Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad leave Snetterton leading the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO championship and Tristan Palmer is in second place in the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 championship. The team hope that Richard Cooper – currently recuperating after an operation to relieve his arm pump – will be back on his bike in time for the Cadwell Park round at the end of August. To read and download full results of the Snetterton races courtesy of tsl-timing.com click here Metzeler National Superstock 1000 standings after Snetterton Jon Kirkham (Jon Kirkham Racing / Clarks BMW) 133 Tristan Palmer (Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad) 93 Howard Mainwaring (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) 86 Luke Quigley (BMW – Formwise-Astro Racing) 85 Glen Richards (Honda – Padgetts Motorcycles) 72 Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO championship standings after Snetterton Steve Brogan (Jentin Racing-BMW Motorrad) 245 Hudson Kennaugh (Aprilia Spitlath Motorsport) 241 Gary Johnson (AIM Suzuki) 176 David Johnson (Two Brothers Racing Kawasaki) 161 Aaron Zanotti (Red Viper Spike Suzuki) 146