MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Final round Oulton Park 9/10 October HAT-TRICK HERO KIYONARI TAKES TITLE FOR THIRD TIME Results: Saturday race one 16 laps: 1.Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 25m 43.282s 2.Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki)+0.821s 3.James Ellison (Swan Honda) +5.707s 4.Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +8.459s 5.Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +14.627s 6.Tommy Bridewell (Tyco Quay Garage Honda) +15.001s Sunday race two 7 laps 1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 11m 16.253s 2. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) + 2.993s 3. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) + 3.231s 4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +4.048s 5. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +7.437s 6. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +11.451s Sunday race three 16 laps 1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 26m 07.496s 2. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.639s 3. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +4.531s 4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +7.794s 5. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +9.355s 6. Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +10.721s MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship final standings: 1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 649 2. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 625 3. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 620 4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 604 5. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) 559 6. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 550 Report Ryuichi Kiyonari was crowned British champion for the third time after a final round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike series at Oulton Park of high drama and incident. He ended his season with a winning triple to head a HM Plant Honda one-two in the championship stakes ahead of his team-mate Josh Brookes. Kiyonari, the winner of seven races in a tough campaign, was delighted with his last round turn-around in fortune as he explained: “I’m very happy to be champion for the third time it was a big fight all of the way to the end and we were very lucky, but this title means as much to me as the other two. “It has been a hard season, nothing has been easy. Every race has been a hard fight but it feels good to leave here as number one. I am very happy, also very tired, but feel very good for myself and my team,” added Kiyonari as he savoured his championship success. He had gone into the action at the Cheshire circuit in third place in the standings, but powered into contention as he won the first of the three races, on Saturday afternoon, running ahead of the leader in the title stakes Tommy Hill by almost a second. That was the first turning point of the weekend for Kiyonari, but, he was to enjoy a slice of good fortune at the expense of Hill as the Worx Suzuki rider made an over eager move to regain the lead from James Ellison on the seventh lap of the first of Sunday’s races. Hill had made the early running, under pressure from Relentless Suzuki rider Michael Laverty with Ellison third on the Swan Honda from Kiyonari. Ellison was soon duelling with Hill for the lead, trading places, and Ellison had just moved ahead again. Trying to nose through, to regain the advantage on the inside line at Lodge Corner, Hill clipped Ellison’s bike they both tumbled, but Hill managed to re-start, only to crash spectacularly again shortly afterwards, extensively damaging his bike. Four other riders tumbled in the aftermath of that incident and the race was red-flagged. On the res-start, over seven laps, Kiyonari took charge, leading throughout to take the win comfortably from Brookes and Stuart Easton to move ahead, in the title stakes, of Hill who could only sit disconsolately and watch his title dreams fade. Hill’s team worked wonders to repair his bike putting him on the grid for the final race of the campaign, though with a third row start, while Kiyonari was on pole and soon running out front, having overcome the early challenges of Laverty. He had a few anxious moments as the Safety Car intervened for two laps as marshals dealt with Gary Mason’s crash, but, was back on the pace as the action resumed for real. Brookes was carving through the pack from seventh on the opening lap, and was soon duelling for fourth with Michael Rutter, whose season was to end shortly afterwards with a technical problem sidelining his RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati. Brookes went through and soon took Laverty to be running in second place and closing within 0.639secs of Kiyonari was taking his seventh victory of the campaign. Ellison, depite running ride at Hizzy’s midway through the race took third from Laverty with Hill rewarded his team’s work to rebuild his bike. Kiyonari celebrated the race win, and with it the British title, 649-625 over his team-mate Josh Brookes who reflected: “I gave everything to try and catch Kiyo, and went out with a bit of style. It is good to finish the season on a high, and I intend to do more next season, by winning the British Championship.” Hill, who had led the title chase for most of the season, finished third overall on 620 points. Next race Round one 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, April 22-25, Brands Hatch. More, from a press release issued by Swan Honda: SWAN HONDA END THE SEASON WITH A PODIUM FINISH The Swan Honda team ended the final races of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship with a double podium as James Ellison and Stuart Easton took a top three finish each at the season finale. Easton took a strong second place in the penultimate race of the season as he moved ahead of Josh Brookes on the final lap as Ellison suffered further bad luck as he was involved in a crash with Tommy Hill whilst leading the race. It was red flagged and he was forced to start from the back of the grid but fought hard to take ninth. In the final race Ellison looked set to challenge for the win, but he took evasive action as Kiyo braked harder and then after an off track excursion he recovered to finish third. Easton meanwhile was forced to retire from the race as he was suffering with a chatter problem. Ellison said: “It has been a rollercoaster of a year for me and again this weekend. I wanted to win so badly today and I have been pushing hard as I felt stronger here than I have over the past rounds. I wanted to end the season on a high and it just wasn’t to be. I thought I could win but Kiyo braked late and I had to brake harder to avoid him which unsettled me and I was on the grass. I couldn’t have tried harder this weekend and I have to thank the Swan Honda team for their efforts this season.” Easton said: “That was a tough race and the move was like I put on Leon last year, but I just waited and if I could do it then I knew I would just have to go for it. I think Hizzy must be up there helping me as I always seem to make my moves there. It’s not a win but its champagne so hopefully we can do the same in the last race. In the second race I was suffering with chatter problems which forced me to retire which was frustrating after the podium earlier in the day but I need to thank everyone at Swan Honda for their support.” Team Manager Shaun Muir concluded: “It has been a frustrating year overall for us, but we ended it with a double podium. We knew we had the potential and seeing James today makes you wonder what could have been. We are happy to have come away with these podium finishes and now we can go away and plan for next season to come back stronger.” More, from a press release issued by Tyco Racing: Sixth Place at Oulton for Bridewell Tyco Racing’s Tommy Bridewell put in one of his best performances of the season with a superb ride into sixth place in the opening race of the final round of the 2010 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park. Having qualified on row two of the grid for Saturday’s race, the 22-year-old from Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire battled his way up into the top ten early in the race before closing in on the leading bunch as the race progressed. Going into the final lap, Bridewell was well placed on the Quay Garage-prepared Honda and closing in on championship contender Josh Brookes but couldn’t quite pass the Australian and brought the machine home inside the top six for the third time this season. However, any hopes of continuing his great form disappeared when the machine suffered a mechanical problem in the warm up session just before the race which meant he had to sit out the remainder of the day’s action much to his disappointment, but consolation came in the smallest of forms as he managed to hang onto 11th place in the championship which was an impressive performance on his first full season in British Superbikes. Following the announcement at Silverstone two weeks ago, Bridewell and the rest of the team can look forward to making preparations for the 2011 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship which will see him contest the series on the machine that Ryuichi Kiyonari claimed this year’s title on in fine style in front of 40,000 fans at the sun-baked Cheshire circuit today. Tommy Bridewell: “I felt really good during Saturday’s race and the bike felt really strong so I was delighted to finish inside the top six and thought we could do even better today but after the problem in the warm up, it was game over. Naturally I’m disappointed as we have put a lot of effort in during these final few races but it wasn’t to be and I’d like to thank the Quay Garage Team and our sponsors Tyco and everyone else who has helped us this season. We’ll be back next year where the plan is to challenge for the British Superbike Championship title.” Ian Woollacott, Team Owner: “We used up all our spares following the problem we encountered at Silverstone and we were hoping to get through this weekend without any problems but the old girl cried enough. Tommy rode really well on Saturday and we felt a podium was on for today but we’ll now start to concentrate our efforts on next season. Thanks to all of the team and our sponsors for their help this season and also to Tommy who has ridden brilliantly. Roll on 2011!” MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race 1 (16 laps) 1 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 25m43.282s 2 Tommy Hill (Suzuki) +0.821s 3 James Ellison (Honda) +5.707s 4 Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +8.459s 5 Josh Brookes (Honda) +15.627s 6 Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Tyco Honda) +15.001s 7 Stuart Easton (Honda) +16.839s 8 Gary Mason (Kawasaki) +20.109s 9 John Laverty (Kawasaki) +28.032s 10 Loris Baz (Yamaha) +32.829s MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race 2 (7 laps) DNS Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Tyco Honda) 1 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 11m16.253s 2 Stuart Easton (Honda) +2.993s 3 Josh Brookes (Honda) +3.231ss 4 Michael Rutter (Ducati) +4.048s 5 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) +7.437s 6 John Laverty (Kawasaki) +11.451s 7 James Ellison (Honda) +11.474s 8 Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +14.902s 9 Loris Baz (Yamaha) +15.248s 10 Adam Jenkinson (Kawasaki) +20.726s MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship race 3 (16 laps) DNS Tommy Bridewell (Quay Garage Honda) 1 Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 26m07.496s 2 Josh Brookes (Honda) +0.639s 3 James Ellison (Honda) +4.531s 4 Michael Laverty (Suzuki) +7.794s 5 Tommy Hill (Suzuki) +9.355s 6 Loris Baz (Yamaha) +10.721s 7 Alastair Seeley (Suzuki) +12.856s 8 John Laverty (Kawasaki) +17.220s 9 Chris Walker (Honda) +17.331s 10 Dan Linfoot (Yamaha) +22.881s Final Championship standings (after 12 rounds) 1 Ryuichi Kiyonari 649pts 2 Josh Brookes 625 3 Tommy Hill 620 4 Michael Laverty 604 5 Michael Rutter 559 6 Alastair Seeley 550 7 James Ellison 210 8 John Laverty 190 9 Stuart Easton 189 10 Chris Walker 130 11 Bridewell 105 More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: A crash in the opening race of today’s final BSB round at Oulton Park ruined Tommy Hill’s bid to become MCE Insurance British Superbikes Champion. Worx Crescent Suzuki favourite Hill had led the Championship into the two final races: Riding in second position in the early stages of race one, he was challenging James Ellison for the lead into Lodge corner when his bike kicked off a bump, causing him to come into the corner faster than planned, which led to a collision with Ellison and both riders crashed. Hill remounted in 19th position and was attempting to regain positions when the damaged master cylinder to his front brake failed completely – again at Lodge – and he was forced to the lay the bike down at high speed and the damage to the bike was extensive. With oil on the track, the race was red-flagged. Because of the ‘One Bike’ rule in force this season, the team was not able to repair the crash and fire-damage to the GSX-R1000 in time for the restart and Hill was forced to sit out the re-run- a race won by his key Championship rival Ryuichi Kiyonari. The Worx Crescent Suzuki team did however regroup to rebuild what was a written-off machine in time for the second race today. In the circumstances, the bike lacked the precision set-up and feel of the original; and after starting from the third row, Hill overcame set-up issues to finish a fighting fifth, but with rivals Kiyonari and Josh Brookes finishing 1-2, Hill was placed third in the Championship standings. Team-mate Yukio Kagayama took 13-11 to secure 15th place in the Championship. Tommy Hill: “I’m devastated. The team has put so much effort into this Championship and we wanted this championship so bad – and it’s not happened. “It’s been an incredible year, though. We started fantastic, we were fastest in testing; and we started the season so well. The pressure then came on but we responded and stayed at the front – so for it to go away in one race? Well, we’re all disappointed. I just have to thank everyone in the Worx Crescent Suzuki team; they’ve been incredible; they’ve given me the Championship of my life.” Yukio Kagayama: “Today was not the best. I started the season well with fastest in Spain in testing; and at Thruxton I was on the podium. But after I hurt my back in the crash here earlier this year it’s been a season of many crashes and many injuries. “The team has been fantastic throughout. I thank them for this year and I wish I could have repaid them with better results.” Jack Valentine – Team Manager: “Tommy knew he had to finish in front of Kiyo today. He was looking to do that in the first race when he had his coming together with Ellison. We then fell-foul of the ‘One Bike’ rule and after a season of staying on top, answering to every test, this one crash has cost us the Championship. “As a team we couldn’t do any more. On the podium this evening, it was clear that Tommy was the People’s Champion, but today we wanted to give them a British Champion. It was one small mistake, severely punished.” Crescent Director- Martyn James: “I’d like to express my gratitude to the team for a job well done this season. They’ve had a brilliant season and deserved the ultimate reward for all the effort they put in. They did all they could do to capture the title and for one misfortune to rob them of the Championship barely seems just. I am proud though of all that they have achieved.” MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship (Round 12) Oulton Park: Race two: 1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 2. Stuart Easton (Swan Honda) +2.993s 3. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +3.231s 4. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) +4.048s 5. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +7.437s 6. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +11.451s 7. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +11.474s 8. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +14.902s 9. Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +15.248s 10. Adam Jenkinson (Buildbase Kawasaki) +20.248s 13. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +23.703s Race three: 1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 2. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) +0.639s 3. James Ellison (Swan Honda) +4.531s 4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +7.794s 5. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +9.355s 6. Loris Baz (Motorpoint Yamaha) +10.721s 7. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +12.856s 8. John Laverty (Buildbase Kawasaki) +17.220s 9. Chris Walker (Sorryate.com SMT Honda) +17.331s 10. Dan Linfoot (Motorpoint Yamaha) +22.881s 11. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) +30.228s Final championship standings: 1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 649 2. Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda) 625 3. Tommy Hill (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 620 4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 604 5. Michael Rutter (Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati) 559 6. Alastair Seeley (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 550 15. Yukio Kagayama (Worx Crescent Suzuki) 92 More, from a press release issued by Honda: MCE INSURANCE BRITISH SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Final round Oulton Park 8/9/10 October HAT TRICK HERO KIYONARI IS BRITISH CHAMPION FOR THE THIRD TIME Ryuichi Kiyonari was crowned British champion for the third time after a dramatic and incident packed triple race final round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike series at Oulton Park. The HM Plant Honda rider had gone into the action in third place in the standings, but powered into contention as he won the first of the three races on Saturday afternoon, running almost a second clear of the leader in the title stakes, Suzuki riding Tommy Hill. That put Kiyonari into second place in the title takes, ten points down on Hill, and although admitting he was nervous going into Sunday, the Honda rider was to enjoy a slice of good fortune with Hill soon out of the running in the first of those races. An incident at Lodge Corner provided the major turning point in the outcome of the title. Hill was duelling fiercely with Swan Honda rider James Ellison for supremacy, with the lead changing several times but on the seventh lap it all went wrong for the Worx Suzuki rider who was running a close second. Trying to nose through on the inside line of the right-hander, Hill clipped Ellison’s bike they both tumbled, but Hill managed to re-start, only to crash spectacularly again shortly afterwards, extensively damaging his bike. Four other riders tumbled in the aftermath of that incident and the race was red-flagged. On the res-start, over seven laps Kiyonari took charge, winning comfortably ahead of his team-mate Josh Brookes to move ahead in the chase for the crown. Swan Honda rider Stuart Easton took third place, while Ellison, who had made the re-start was back in seventh place. Kiyonari had a 15 points advantage over Hill as they lined up for the final race of the season for which Kiyonari was on pole. Hill, on a bike rapidly re-built, was on the third row, but full of fight. There was no stopping Kiyonari once he had moved ahead of Michael Laverty on the second lap, as he dictated terms from the front, while adrift of him, Brookes carved through the pack from seventh on the opening lap, to be running second, and little more than half a second down. Ellison ended what had been a difficult campaign, in which his title hopes had been wrecked by a broken leg sustained in practice for the second row, finished the campaign with a solid ride into third place, but his Swan Honda team-mate Stuart Easton was sidelined by a machine problem. Kiyonari took his third British title 649-625 over his team-mate Josh Brookes with Hill, who had led the title chase for most of the season, third overall on 620 points. Honda BSB personnel quotes after the final round: Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda): “The first race on Sunday was good for me but I was feeling more nervous ahead of the last race as I felt that the pressure was on me and that I had more to lose. It was a good race and I wanted to win so badly. The second race I was pushing hard as I knew that the others needed the win, but it feels a relief now as the win was enough to be champion again. It has been a big fight all season and all the other riders haven’t made it easy for me all year. It has been tough and there have been good and bad moments but now I can relax. The championship means as much to me as the others and I have to thank everyone for their support and the team for their hard work.” Josh Brookes (HM Plant Honda): “The start of the first Sunday race was not great for me but I was making progress, then Tommy went down and then Michael crashed in front of me and it was crazy as I was on the grass and doing all I could just to keep going. The red flag came out and we changed the tyre but we had a chatter problem and I was doing everything I could but it just wasn’t enough as I was struggling. It was so frustrating when Stuart (Easton) went passed me but it was points that mattered. In race two I didn’t get a good start and I think I clipped the kerb going into the first corner and then it all was pretty mad and I dropped down the pack. We had made a slight change from the first race and it meant that I had the confidence to really push it. I was catching Kiyo but I just couldn’t get that final bit, but it was a good race to finish the year with a podium, but I really wanted the championship win. I suppose it is something to come back for next season! Havier Beltran (Team manager HM Plant Honda): “Coming into the weekend we knew we had a points deficit and we knew the title was obtainable but we had to beat Tommy Hill to do it. Thing changed for us and Kiyo was phenomenally fast and feeling confident we could win. Today we could never have expected and I couldn’t express how the team felt going into the final race of the season with the advantage. The whole team have worked hard all season with the support of our championship sponsors an to finish first and second in the standings is just fantastic and we couldn’t have asked for more from Kiyo and Josh.” James Ellison (Swan Honda): “It has been a rollercoaster of a year for me and again this weekend. I wanted to win so badly today and I have been pushing hard as I felt stronger here than I have over the past rounds. I wanted to end the season on a high and it just wasn’t to be. I thought I could win but Kiyo braked late and I had to brake harder to avoid him which unsettled me and I was on the grass. I couldn’t have tried harder this weekend and I have to thank the Swan Honda team for their efforts this season.” Stuart Easton (Swan Honda): “That was a tough race and the move to get ahead of Josh was like I put on Leon Camier here last year, but I just waited and if I could do it then I knew I would just have to go for it. I think Hizzy (the late former British Champion Steve Hislop) must be up there helping me as I always seem to make my moves there. It’s not a win but its champagne so hopefully we can do the same in the last race. In the second race I was suffering with chatter problems which forced me to retire which was frustrating after the podium earlier in the day but I need to thank everyone at Swan Honda for their support.” Shaun Muir (Team owner Swan Honda): “It has been a frustrating year overall for us, but we ended it with a double podium. We knew we had the potential and seeing James here makes you wonder what could have been. We are happy to have come away with these podium finishes and now we can go away and plan for next season to come back stronger.”