Round ten 11/12/13 September Croft MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Stuart Easton powered in his, and the Hydrex Honda team’s, first victory in the top flight in a dramatic first race in the tenth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli at Croft but he had to settle for second best to series leader Leon Camier next time out. It was a bitter-sweet afternoon for Camier at the North Yorkshire circuit as his relentless charge to the country’s premier crown was slowed by what his Airwaves Yamaha team-boss Colin Wright described as a “schoolboy error.” That came after Camier, sluggish away from his eighth pole start, was running too hot into Tower Bend in his efforts to peg back places. He ran across the grass, through the gravel and narrowly avoided a ditch, but somehow Camier kept his bike running and was able to re-join the action in last place, prompting a scorching damage limitation ride through the pack into sixth place. Flying Scot Easton led throughout the race while adrift of him Josh Brookes, James Ellison and Simon Andrews battled for position, prior to Andrews tipping off with five laps remaining. Ellison, upping the tempo, closed in on Easton on the final lap, but the Hydrex Honda held him off, taking the victory by a third of a second. “That was great for me and for the team this is the first time that I have had a race package that has enabled me to go out and ride for wins,” enthused Easton while his team-boss Shaun Muir added: “Our first win, five years in the making and it could not be better on our local circuit. It is just rewards for our hard work and makes it all worthwhile.” Easton was at the heart of the action next time out, making the early running, but Camier was keen to make amends. Running third on the opening lap, prior to taking Brookes and on the sixth lap and he nosed in front of Easton and powered clear, taking victory number 16 of a dominant season. “The first race was down to my mistake I was very disappointed, but I just got too excited, too eager. I should have sat there and waited, I had all race to do it,” explained Camier. “That was all down to me, so in the second race I was 100% careful and when I made the move, I made it stick. It was awesome to take the victory that gives the team their championship, now, I have to take my title next time out,” he added. Easton had to settle for second best ahead of the re-surgent Brookes on the HM Plant Honda with Ellison running fourth which leaves him trailing his team-mate Camier 434.5-335 points in the title stakes ahead of the penultimate round at Silverstone. Camier has to wait for two weeks to seal his silverware, but already Gary Mason has secured the Mirror.co.uk Cup for independent teams and riders. He completed another stylish winning double aboard the Quay Garage Honda to put the title firmly out of the reach of his rivals. “I’m just over the moon to have done this the team have worked so hard to keep the wheels turning,” explained Mason. Results Round ten: MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli, Race one 20 laps Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) 27m 06.092secs James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.359s Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +10.216s Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +10.967s Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +19.612s Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) +21.436s Tommy Hill (Hydrex Honda) +22.380s Gary Mason (Quay Garage Honda) +25.776s Julien Da Costa (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +31.236s Graeme Gowland (Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha) +31.750s Race two 20 laps Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) 26m 57.535secs Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) +8.788s Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +11.336s James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +11.970s Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +17.437s Tommy Hill (Hydrex Honda) +17.589s Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +18.043s Gary Mason (Quay Garage Honda) +25.331s Julien Da Costa (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +27.433s John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) 28.579s Championship standings Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) 434.5 James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) 335 Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) 303 Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 134 Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 131 More, from a press release issued by GSE Racing/Airwaves Yamaha: GSE RACING CLINCH 5TH BSB TITLE The Airwaves Yamaha pair of Leon Camier and James Ellison today ensured they are the only riders who can still win the coveted 2009 British Superbike Championship. Series leader Leon recovered from a 6th in Race One to win Race Two. His teammate James came away with a 2nd and a 4th. Today’s results mean that GSE Racing, the team behind Airwaves Yamaha, has already secured a record fifth BSB title. At the start of Race One, James moved up to 3rd as Leon slotted in to 6th. On lap 3, whilst challenging Simon Andrews on the Kawasaki, Leon went straight-on at Tower, rejoining the race 22nd and last. Meanwhile at the front of the field, James went up into 2nd at the Chicane. He continued to push for the lead right until the chequered flag but was unable to find a way past. Leon managed to fight his way through to finish 6th. Leon got a better start in the second race going to 4th with James 6th. Posting the fastest lap of the race, 1:20.097, Leon managed to make his way into the lead by lap 6. James became involved in a number of battles throughout the race. He narrowly missed out on a second podium, eventually finishing 4th. On the days events James said, “I had a good start to the first race. Early on I thought Leon must have made a mistake so I knew I had a chance to score some good points for Airwaves Yamaha. I was pushing really hard to try and pass Stuart Easton but on the last lap there were yellow flags exactly where I wanted to pass. I tried one last time at the hairpin but didn’t have enough power to make anything stick. “I had a nightmare start in Race two and got stuck behind quite a few people. I’m pretty disappointed not to get on the podium again but I’m really happy that Airwaves Yamaha has wrapped up the Championship.” Commenting on his rare off, Leon said, “The mistake in the first race was 100% my fault. I was pushing too hard to get past and was 16kph faster than I should have been! Once I got back on track I got my head down and tried to work my way through the field. It was pretty tough to pass out there so I’m pleased to have got as high as I did and get some more Championship points for Airwaves Yamaha. “I got an ok start to Race Two, for a change. From there, everything went to plan. A massive thank you to the whole team. The YZF-R1 worked amazingly all weekend.” Colin Wright added “To come away from Croft with a 5th BSB Championship and Yamaha’s first for 11 years is absolutely awesome, I cannot thank the guys and girls in the team enough. We have enjoyed an amazing run of success since 1999 and I’m so very proud of all those that have made it happen, the records we have achieved over the last 10 years are unlikely to be matched. Therefore, GSE Racing will be known as the most successful British racing team for many years to come. “The only question is, will we be in a position to break records in 2010 and beyond? Thank you.” More, from another press release issued by British Superbike Championship organizers: Plater wins Supersport thriller ahead of title rival McConnell Round ten 13 September Croft Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship HM Plant Honda’s Steve Plater took a thrilling race victory in one of the toughest-fought Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship races in recent history at Croft to stay just ahead of Billy McConnell in the chase for the crown. The HM Plant Honda rider had made life difficult for himself with a poor run in qualifying that left him starting from the third row of the grid, but in the cooler conditions of raceday he gambled on a harder compound tyre, and that paid off. Pole-starter McConnell had made the break running ahead of Triumph riding James Westmoreland and local favourite Ian Hutchinson on the Padgetts Honda while Plater ran back in seventh. McConnell had the edge, but not by much and Westmoreland was piling on the pressure, his cause helped by the three lap intervention of the Safety Car after Robbie Brown had tipped off. That closed the pack, and briefly Westmoreland nosed ahead, but McConnell hit back. Westmoreland breezed ahead on the eleventh lap with McConnell then having to fend off Ben Wilson with Dan Linfoot charging into contention ahead of Hutchinson and Plater, but soon it was all change. Plater was lining them up and swooped through to fifth next time around, and then picked off a further two places to be running third on lap 13, ahead of McConnell while out front Westmoreland was holding off Wilson. Plater took his Lincolnshire rival Wilson to be running second and on the penultimate lap he was running out front. Behind him McConnell was on the charge, relegating Wilson into third place and closing in on Plater, but the win was just out of his reach. Plater’s third victory of the season has extended his lead in the standings to seven points over McConnell in the title stakes. He said: “We had issues through practice and qualifying and then into the morning warm-up. “We talked to other Honda teams, but I decided to go my own way and went for a harder rear tyre, it took time to work, but then it was time to rock ‘n roll. I knew where to attack and planned it all out, you have to plan four corners in advance here,” added Plater.