HILL AND BROOKES WIN TO LEAVE TITLE SCRAP ON A KNIFE EDGE Round nine Cadwell Park 30 August MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Tommy Hill and Josh Brookes took the victories in the ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park, while Ryuichi Kiyonari packed the points, to leave the title fight on a knife-edge. Riding the Worx Crescent Suzuki, Hill powered out of a comparatively lean spell, first by taking pole start, and then taking that pace into the first race at Lincolnshire circuit, overcoming the early threat of HM Plant Honda rider Brookes by nosing ahead at Barn to take the victory by some five seconds. “We are back to where we needed to be, back to where we were at the start of the season, winning,” said a delighted Hill as he celebrated his first win in 15 races since his previous success at Thruxton back in April. “We’ve re-grouped as a team. We’ve had our ups and downs but we’ve muscled our way through. We tried various things in the last round at Brands Hatch which didn’t work and here we have gone dramatically the other way and that is working well,” added Hill. Brookes took second from his team-mate Kiyonari with Michael Laverty fourth for Relentless Suzuki ahead of the RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati of Michael Rutter as James Ellison took sixth for Swan Honda. Alastair Seeley virtually ensured his place among the six “title-fighters” going into the final phase of the series as he finished eighth on his Relentless Suzuki, while his key rival John Laverty tipped off on the final lap amid a controversial move by Tommy Bridewell who was later excluded from the results. Hill was eager to complete the daily double, taking an early lead but behind him Brookes, having attacked and passed Kiyonari, was pegging the leader back and looking for a way through. Brookes leapt spectacularly over the Mountain, cresting it perfectly and then upping the power charged ahead of Hill on the twelfth lap, but Hill was full of fight, determined to hit back. However three laps later, the race was red-flagged as James Edmeades crashed heavily, sustaining a fractured pelvis, leaving Brookes the winner by 0.230 secs. “That was what I race for I want wins, and I was thinking when and where to make the move, and then I thought just go for it,” said Brookes. Kiyonari took third ahead of Michael Laverty, Rutter and Ellison. These races decided the six riders going through to the “Showdown” phase of the series, which begins at Croft on 12 September, and as they arrive there, the “title-fighters” will have had their points scores at the end of the ninth round deleted instead, each will be credited with 500 points, plus the bonus points reflecting their performances to date. Taking this into account, Hill and Kiyonari are level on 525 points, with Brookes on 524, leaving all to play for over the next seven races, climaxing at the Oulton Park finale on 8/9/10 October. Liverpudlian Steve Brogan completed a winning double aboard his Jentin BMW in the Mirror.co.uk BSB-EVO class to take charge in the title stakes. For the record: Results Round nine MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship Race one 18 laps Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 26m 25.609s Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +5.116s Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +7.092s Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +12.522s Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +14.623s James Ellison (Swan Honda) +20.822s Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +28.158s Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +28.533s Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +34.523s Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +34.945s Race two 13 laps Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.230s Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.888s Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +5.071s Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +11.719s James Ellison (Swan Honda) +13.178s Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +15.712s Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +21.347s Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +24.287s Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +27.446s Championship standings: 1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 525 = Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 525 3. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 524 4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) 510 5. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 509 6. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 505 Next round: Croft – 10/11/12 September More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: With a win and a second place at Cadwell Park today, Worx Crescent Suzuki’s Tommy Hill has finished the first nine-round stage of the British Superbikes Championship with the lead on points. And Hill’s team-mate Yukio Kagayama meanwhile took two seventh places finishes to lift his standing in the Championship to 12th. In an exciting day’s racing Hill, riding his Suzuki GSX-R1000, was on top form and after dominating the first race, was challenging for the lead again in the second race when it was red flagged (on the 14th lap). In the first race, rival Josh Brookes had taken the early lead but succumbed to an attack from Hill on the eighth lap. Hill then maintained a constant 1:27-minute lap pace while his rivals withered, so as to take the win by a comfortable 5.116-seconds. In the second race Hill had led for 11 laps and was trailing Brookes by just 0.230-seconds after 13 laps when the race was stopped. Hill’s point tally from the nine rounds amounts to 287 points, three more than Brookes and six more than Ryuichi Kiyonari. However, with the Showdown phase now beginning, the championship points tally taken so far is cast aside. The championship will now be decided over the final three rounds (seven races) between the six highest points scorers so far, known as the Title Fighters. All the title fighters have their championship point tally put on an initial parity of 500, to which is added only the podium points they’ve scored thus far (podium points have been awarded as three for a win, two for second and one for third). On this basis Hill steps forward into the Showdown as joint leader with Kiyonari on 525 points apiece. Tommy Hill: “What a fantastic weekend! To see Yuki coming good as well – it’s been all good. In that first race I just felt really-really good, I could have made the jump earlier but I was interested to sit behind Josh to see what he was doing. In the second race the pace was so fast, something like two-seconds faster than it was last year, and maybe it was that or maybe there was small issue with the rear tyre but I had a little bit of chatter to deal with. I still felt comfortable and while Josh had passed me when I made a small mistake on the Mountain I felt comfortable and was setting up to repass him when the red flags came out. “All in all I feel overjoyed. We get to leave here having effectively won the first part of the season and having beaten the HM Plant team in their own back yard – that’s kind of a bonus. But now its crunch time and to be going into this vital part of the season with a joint points lead is a great position to be in.” Yukio Kagayama: “Today was very good for me although for sure 7-7 doesn’t sound like a score I’d want to be happy with. But this was my first racing visit to Cadwell Park since 2004 as I missed the first round earlier this year, so I had no base settings to work from – and I set-up my bike quite different to Tommy. So no top-three for me, but I am happy that my lap times got better all weekend, and my second race today was much faster although the result was the same. And I enjoy riding the bike, my feeling for racing, for set-up, is getting better so I hope in the races to come I can challenge again for the podium.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “The team are buzzing’! There’s been so much work gone into this weekend and everyone can see we’ve made a major breakthrough with our set-up and this has really boosted Tommy’s confidence. He could have had two wins today but we’ll never know. The important thing is we’re in the strongest possible position as we head into the Showdown. The GSX-R is the strongest it’s been all season and Tommy’s got all the confidence in the world. “For Yuki, it’s been a good weekend for him as well. Having that big crash in practice couldn’t have helped him, but in the races he simply got quicker and quicker. He had to fight his way past Alastair Seeley in both races and he was mindful he needed to make a clean pass as it’s so tight here, but once past his lap time was on a par with those ahead, so he’s shown he’s getting his pace back. There’s every probability he’ll be able to fulfil the support role that’s needed as Tommy fights for the Championship. “So it’s the best feeling for us. We’ve made the breakthrough we’ve been looking for and we even know that wet or dry we’ve a set-up that works. We won’t be resting though; we’re going to be pushing for more – as we’re sure all the other teams will be doing!” MCE Insurance 2010 British Superbike Championship Round Nine, Cadwell Park: Race one result: 1. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 2. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +5.116s 3. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +7.092s 4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +12.522s 5. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +14.623s 6. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +20.822s 7. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +28.158s 8. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +28.533s 9. Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +34.523s 10. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +34.945s Race two result: 1. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 2. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +0.230s 3. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) +0.888s 4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +5.071s 5. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +11.719s 6. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +13.178s 7. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +15.712s 8. Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) +21.347s 9. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +24.287s 10. Gary Mason (MSS Colchester Kawasaki) +27.446s MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings after Cadwell Park: Showdown Title Fighters: =1. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 525 =1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 525 3. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 524 4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) 510 5. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 509 6. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 505 12. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 74 More, from a press release Swan Honda: ELLISON SECURES TOP SIX FINISHES AT CADWELL PARK James Ellison battled to a double sixth place finish at the ninth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park today as his Swan Honda team-mate Stuart Easton struggled with settings to finish tenth and eleventh. Ellison raced for the first time at CadwellPark and he continued to improve his pace and put in two hard-fought performances to finish both races in sixth place. Easton continued to struggle with settings and is now determined to turn things around at Croft. Ellison said: “It has been a bit of a frustrating weekend for us and two sixth places gave us some points, but it is disappointing as I was expecting more. I haven’t fought that hard for a sixth place in a while and it was just down to not getting quite there on the setting. I was particularly struggling through the Woodlands section with the steering and I just wasn’t able to take the tighter lines. We just need to get our heads together and resolve the issue for Croft. I was always a bit behind as the others had raced here back in May, but we were getting faster every session so that shows we were making improvements, so I am looking forward to getting back up there at Croft.” Easton said: “We struggled again here this weekend at the points where we had to carry corner speed; the heavy braking sections were not a problem but I was losing out at the faster areas. Myself and James had a similar problem and it had been the case for most of the weekend and we tried a whole spectrum of things but it never quite worked. This is a real tough circuit but we have to regroup and see what we can do at Croft.” Team Manager Shaun Muir concluded: “It has been a challenging weekend for the Swan Honda team, but James had a really positive two races, even though he finished sixth in both races. He had his work cut out having not raced here earlier in the year but he was determined to fight on. Stuart wasn’t able to find the form this weekend that we have previously seen from him and he has struggled with settings throughout the weekend. The team are now looking ahead to our home race at Croft in two weeks’ time.”