Final Round 10/11 October Oulton Park MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Stuart Easton snatched last lap victory in a four way thriller in the opening race of the final round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli at Oulton Park. It triggered a double celebration for the Flying Scot who earlier in the day had headed off the challenge of the newly crowned champion Leon Camier in the duel for pole start, and then in a hard-fought race, the Hydrex Honda again enjoyed the better of his Airwaves Yamaha rival. Easton is now well placed to challenge for the runner-up spot in the standings, going into Sunday afternoon’s two races just 39 points down on James Ellison, with 50 points to play for. The Saturday afternoon race was one of the best of the season, with the action, for real, being decided over a dozen laps of the Cheshire circuit after the initial start was red-flagged. Karl Harris crashed heavily at Island, suffering concussion and a sore back, but prior to that Graeme Gowland had spectacularly tipped off with his bike somersaulting into the lake. Racing resumed with Easton making a swift get-away but Ellison, riding Airwaves Yamaha was hounding him, and taking the lead at Hizzy’s there was little in it, while behind them Tommy Hill, Simon Andrews and Camier were locked in a shoot-out for third. Ellison held the advantage into the fifth lap before Easton went through with Camier snatching second from his team-mate, leaving Ellison to deal with the determined Hill. Easton was riding hard to hold off Camier, but the champion found a way through at Lodge on the tenth lap prompting a dramatic, and effective fight-back. Easton traded places twice on the penultimate lap but it seemed Camier had done enough. The Hydrex Honda rider had other ideas, and with a move that his mentor, the late former champion Steve Hislop would have been proud of, Easton nosed inside at Hizzy’s chicane, grabbing the lead, and his second victory, taking the flag by 0.208secs. “That was a proper victory, beating Leon fair and square, but it was hard work, very difficult,” said Easton, adding “the bike is getting better and better and it would be good to take Sunday’s two race wins.” Camier had no complaints: “That was unbelievable, a great race. Stuart deserved his win.” Hill took third for the Hydrex team, ahead of Ellison with Sylvain Guintoli taking fifth from Andrews on the final lap. Julien da Cost ran just ahead of Ian Lowry, Chris Walker and tenth placed John Laverty while Gary Mason headed the Mirror.co.uk Cup finishers, just clear of Peter Hickman, Tommy Bridewell, Tom Tunstall and Martin Jessopp. Top ten finishers MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship in association with Pirelli Race one 12 laps Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) 19m 21.434secs Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.208s Tommy Hill (Hydrex Honda) +0.222s James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.331s Sylvain Guintoli (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +13.129s Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +13.129s Julien Da Costa (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +13.599s Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +13.837s Chris Walker (Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha) +14.771s John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +14.815s More, from a press release issued by GSE Racing/Airwaves Yamaha: THRILLING OULTON PARK OPENER Airwaves Yamaha claimed their 34th podium of the season in Race One at Oulton Park today. 2009 British Superbike Champion, Leon Camier crossed the line in 2nd whilst teammate James Ellison finished 4th. Earlier on in the day, Leon qualified 2nd and James 5th for the weekend’s three 16 lap races. By lap four of Race One, the Airwaves Yamaha pair was locked in a five-way battle for the lead when a rider ahead of them fell and the race stopped. For the re-start, Leon lined up 3rd and James 4th. After getting away well from the grid, James led until lap five, before dropping back to 3rd behind his teammate. With two laps to go, Leon moved into the lead, going through on the inside on the approach to Lodge. Both Airwaves Yamaha’s pushed hard to defend their positions as the race drew to a close but were each overtaken by a Hydrex Honda at Hizzy’s Chicane on the final lap. Although they made a number of attempts to win their positions back, they were unable to find a way past by the chequered flag. After Race One Leon said, “I’m really happy for Stuart Easton. He totally deserves the win today but I’m frustrated I couldn’t get the better of him. The Airwaves Yamaha is strong in the turns, but we’ve no answer to them on the back-straight. We need to figure something out for the races tomorrow; find a way to out-fox them and get back on the top step of the podium.” Clearly frustrated to miss out on a podium finish, James commented, “For the re-start, I knew I needed to get in front early on to stand any chance of winning. Once I got into the lead, I tried to pull a gap but the Honda was too fast. It was a fun fight out there, it’s frustrating to lose out so late on in the race but I’m pleased to have got the fastest lap. I’m really looking forward to having another two good battles tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Sylvain Guintoli showed that the effects of his mid-season layoff due to injury were all behind him today when he fought back from a third-row start to finish fifth in today’s first race of the Oulton Park BSB programme. Guintoli started on a high note in this morning’s final free practice and on a wet track after overnight rain, he showed the slippery conditions held no fears for him as he powered the Worx Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 to second quickest. The Roll for Pole qualifier, however, didn’t run to plan. Sylvain Guintoli: “Qualifying was a disaster. I’d got my pace going well in Q2, sixth fastest, and was ready to improve on that. But in Q3 I kept making mistakes and never got a good lap in, instead going slower to place ninth fastest – third row for the race starts. “We had a restart after the race was stopped after four laps, but both times I was able to get good starts – at last! – and so I found myself in a five-rider battle for fifth place. To come through and win that battle over the other riders feels fantastic. “Definitely the race has lifted our spirits and I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’ll aim to make the jump into the lead group. A podium would be a great way to finish the season.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “A decent day in the office today. It started well with that wet session and that shows we’re well placed if it does rain tomorrow. But I’m a little bit disappointed with qualifying; Sylvain should have made second row. But in the race he made a good start and held his own. We saw the real Sylvain Guintoli today, so we’re looking forward to tomorrow. Sylvain’s very happy with the set-up on the GSX-R1000 and we’ll make no changes. As Sylvain said, there’s a lot left to come – from him. He will need to dig deeper – cut some more off his lap times – to make the lead group, but we know, and he knows, he has it in him.” Swan Combi 50 – Roll for Pole: 1. Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) 1m: 36.042s 2. Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.013s 3. Karl Harris (Sorrymate.com SMT Honda) +0.154s 4. Tommy Hill (Hydrex Honda) +0.185s 5. James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.662s 6. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.740s 7. Michael Rutter (Bathams Ducati) +0.758s 8. Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +1.104s 9. Sylvain Guintoli (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +1.294s 10. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +1.585s Race one result: 1. Stuart Easton (Hydrex Honda) 2. Leon Camier (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.208s 3. Tommy Hill (Hydrex Honda) +0.222s 4. James Ellison (Airwaves Yamaha) +0.331s 5. Sylvain Guintoli (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +13.129s 6. Simon Andrews (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +13.129s 7. Julien Da Costa (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +13.599s 8. Ian Lowry (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +13.837s 9. Chris Walker (Motorpoint/Henderson Yamaha) +14.771s 10. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +14.815s