MCE British Superbike Championship

Oulton Park, England

August 9, 2014

Race One Results (all on Pirelli tires):

1. Ryuichi Kiyonari, Japan (BMW S1000RR), 15 laps, 24:11.609

2. Josh Brookes, Australia (Yam YZF-R1), -0.496 second

3. Shane Byrne, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -2.011 seconds

4. Tommy Bridewell, UK (Yam YZF-R1), -4.362

5. Dan Linfoot, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -5.981

6. John Hopkins, USA (Suz GSX-R1000), -7.149

7. Peter Hickman, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), -8.501

8. Josh Waters, Australia (Suz GSX-R1000), -10.690

9. Stuart Easton, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -13.781

10. Howie Mainwaring, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -14.519

11. Jakub Smrz, Czech Republic (Duc 1199 Panigale R), -14.649

12. Patric Muff, Switzerland (BMW S1000RR), -16.037

13. Barry Burrell, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -20.238

14. Jon Kirkham, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -21.919

15. Lee Jackson, UK (BMW S1000RR), -23.328

16. Glen Richards, Australia (Kaw ZX-10R), -26.916

17. Keith Farmer, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -27.083

18. John Ingram, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -32.974

19. Scott Smart, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -33.088

20. Jenny Tinmouth, UK (Hon CBR1000RR), -58.574

21. Aaron Zanotti, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), -58.850

22. Christophe Ponsson, France (Bim BB3), -66.348

23. Rhalf Lo Turco, Brazil (Kaw ZX-10R), -94.685

24. Martin Jessopp, UK (BMW S1000RR), -7 laps, DNF

25. Michael Rutter, UK (BMW S1000RR), -8 laps, DNF

26. Chris Walker, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -9 laps, DNF

27. Gary Mason, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), -10 laps, DNF

28. Ian Hutchinson, UK (Yam YZF-R1), -14 laps, DNF

29. Ben Wilson, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), DNS

More Americans competing at Oulton Park:

James Rispoli, riding his Team Traction Control Yamaha YZF-R6, finished ninth in the 10-lap Motorpoint British Supersport “sprint” race. Rispoli finished 16.356 seconds behind race winner Billy McConnell and his Triumph.

Former AMA Pro regular Ben Young, a resident of Canada, finished 20th out of 38 riders in the 1000cc Superstock race. Riding his Team WD-40 Kawasaki ZX-10R, Young was 48.963 seconds behind race winner Danny Buchan and his Kawasaki ZX-10R at the end of the 14-lap race. 

AMA Pro Superbike regular Cory West finished 25th out of 38 riders in the 1000cc Superstock race on his Splitlath Motorsport EBR 1190RS. West was 54.466 seconds behind race winner Buchan at the finish. 

More, from a press release issued by MotorSport Vision Racing:

ROUND SEVEN 9-10 AUGUST OULTON PARK
KIYONARI BOUNCES BACK AFTER CRASH TO TAKE VICTORY FROM BROOKES BY 0.496S

Result

Race one:
1: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW)
2: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.496s
3: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +2.011s
4: Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +4.362s
5: Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +5.981s
6: John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +7.149s

Championship standings:
1: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 277
2: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 199
3: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 164
4: Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) 127
5: Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) 125
6: James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 124

Report

Ryuichi Kiyonari bounced back from a heavy crash in qualifying to claim the opening victory at the Oulton Park triple-header round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship by just 0.496s from Josh Brookes.

The Japanese rider quickly charged into contention despite starting from the fourth row of the grid, making decisive moves on his rivals to carve his way up the order. At the front Brookes and Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne had been battling hard for the lead, swapping positions in their quest for victory. However the pair then came under fire from the Japanese ace who first mugged Byrne for second and then stormed ahead of Brookes for the lead.

Milwaukee Yamaha’s Brookes took some consolation for his second place as his fastest lap in the race gives him the pole position start for the first of the two Sunday races at the Cheshire circuit.

Kiyonari, now back in content to challenge for a record fourth crown, said: “I made a big mistake in qualifying. I had a crash and it gave the team a lot of work to fix the bike. This victory is very important for me and I am very happy, but after that race I want to go back to my hotel and sleep!”

Brookes who is bidding to close down Byrne in the standings explained: “I made a mistake in the middle part of the race but I still maintained the gap, but then Kiyo came flying passed me! It was not good enough from me today but I will work harder and try and change that tomorrow.”

Tommy Bridewell took fourth on the second Milwaukee Yamaha ahead of Quattro Plant Kawasaki’s Dan Linfoot and former MotoGP rider John Hopkins on the Tyco Suzuki.

More, from a press release issued by Milwaukee Yamaha:

MILWAUKEE YAMAHA BACK ON THE PODIUM AT OULTON PARK

Josh Brookes celebrated another podium finish for the Milwaukee Yamaha team in the opening race of the triple-header seventh round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park today (Saturday).

Brookes qualified on the front row and then was embroiled in a three-way battle for the lead with title rivals Ryuichi Kiyonari and Shane Byrne. The Australian fought hard, ending the race just 0.496s adrift of the victory in second place at the chequered flag. Bridewell meanwhile made amends for dropping places at the start of the race to charge through to fourth place to move himself back inside the top six in the overall standings ahead of the two races tomorrow.

Brookes said: “During the race I had a good fight with Shakey, it is never easy but it was particularly difficult to make passes and make them stick. Every time I made a pass either through good luck or good judgement then he would be straight back by me. It was exciting but I wanted to try and lead the race and see if I had better pace, but ironically when I did get to the front I made a load of mistakes! My lap times were up and down whereas normally I am really consistent. I got a bit flustered and then Kiyo was on the scene and was clearly fast. I tried to stay with him to keep the pressure on, but he didn’t make any mistakes and I was forced to take second. I am happy enough; obviously I want wins and to close the gap to the front, but second had to do today.”

Bridewell said: “Today has not been a bad day really. We had quite a strong qualifying, which I was almost happy with, and we have been building really. In the race I didn’t make the start I needed to be honest and dropped a few places, but I pulled myself back up to fourth. I had a good go and a good fight and then in the last few laps I lost grip with the front tyre and I had to roll it off a bit. We do know now which direction we need to go in, not just for this weekend but for the rest of the season, and we have made a good step forward in today’s race.”

For more information visit www.milwaukeeyamaha.com

More, from a press release issued by Buildbase BMW Motorrad:

Triple Header round at Oulton Parks kicks off with another victory for Kiyonari.

Ryuichi Kiyonari delivered another incredible victory, this time from tenth on the grid in the first of three BSB races at the Triple Header at Oulton Park. Kiyonari has won more races at Oulton Park than any other BSB rider, with today’s masterclass in riding proving why that is as he took his 46th BSB victory.

Kiyonari’s weekend-long fast streak, which saw him top FP1, running second in FP2 and fastest in Q1 seemed to come to an end when he slipped off unhurt during Q2.

The Buildbase BMW Motorrad technicians worked flat out to get his bike ready, and he managed to return to the track just as Q3 came to an end – but unfortunately wasn’t able to cross the line while on his out-lap and ended up qualifying back in tenth place for the first of three BSB races. Lee Jackson narrowly missed out on getting through to Q2 so started 21st.

With the race underway, Kiyo rapidly moved through the pack while Josh Brookes and Shakey Byrne traded places at the front. Before long, the three-time champion was on the heels of the two riders. A daring move at Lodge saw him move up to second and, shortly after, leading the race after slicing up the inside of Josh Brookes. Despite Brookes’ best efforts, Kiyonari crossed the line just half a second ahead and took his third BSB victory of the year for Buildbase BMW Motorrad.

Lee Jackson took his second points-scoring finish in BSB, taking an impressive 15th place finish ahead of hugely more experienced riders. Jackson also finished fourth in the Pirelli National Superstock race, further consolidating third place in the championship.

Ryuichi Kiyonari said: “Right now I’m very happy… but after Q2 I was not! I had that big crash and the team had to work so hard to get my bike ready again, it was pretty much destroyed. But they did – and I was able to start the race. It wasn’t easy, I was sweating a lot and the ride was so hard. Shakey and Josh are so strong, so fast, I had to push every lap to keep ahead of them. I kept hearing the ‘du-du-du’ sound from Josh’s bike every corner, and I was thinking ‘ahhh!’ but I kept going and I won.”

Stuart Hicken, Team Owner, said: “Just like I said last weekend, I couldn’t have asked for more from Kiyo, or from the team. He’s won the race from tenth on the grid and it was an outstanding race. We’ve now taken six podiums, half of them wins, from seven race starts. Kiyonari is back. We’ve had beautiful weather today, but tomorrow could be entirely different. If the storms hit, it’ll be a different story. Kiyo is strong in the wet, but Oulton is particularly tricky.”

Due to the potential of the incoming Hurricane Bertha, a dissipating tropical storm which has crossed the Atlantic and is likely to hit the UK, the Superstock 1000 and 600 races scheduled for Sunday were been brought forward to Saturday. Tomorrow’s racing has been tentatively re-scheduled, but is subject to further changes if the heavy rain and winds hit the area around Oulton Park.

MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, race one result:

1) Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW Motorrad)

2) Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.496s

3) Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +2.011s

4) Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +4.362s

5) Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) +5.981s

6) John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +7.149s

15) Lee Jackson (Buildbase BMW Motorrad)

More, from a press release issued by Tyco Suzuki:

SOLID 1ST DAY AT OULTON BSB FOR TYCO SUZUKI

John Hopkins and Josh Waters opened their Oulton Park British Superbike Championship triple-header weekend with sixth and eighth places in today’s opening race of three at the Cheshire venue as Taylor Mackenzie took eighth place in the Supersport sprint race.

Both BSB riders have improved their grid positions for tomorrow’s second race: Hopkins jumps onto the second row in fifth place with Waters heading-up row three in seventh.

John Hopkins:

“Yeah we can take plenty of positives away from today’s race but it was also frustrating that we couldn’t compete right at the front in the podium positions. The lap times are all pretty similar so we really need to make a good start and try to tag onto the front two or three tomorrow and hopefully use the draft to get pulled into a potential podium spot. We’ve made progress again as a team and everyone is working hard towards that first podium finish on my side of the garage.”

Josh Waters:

“That’s more like it. I’ve been consistently in the top-10 this weekend and it’s nice to be able to see the front of race and feel part of it for pretty-much the whole duration. It’s all about confidence and today I feel like I’m riding the Tyco Suzuki GSX-R1000 rather than it dictating to me. There’s a good buzz in the garage and with a row-three start tomorrow I’ll be hoping to build on today’s result. Thanks to the team for their support and Niall Mackenzie for the pep talks this week.”

Taylor Mackenzie:

“I was out-of-sorts yesterday but we made some radical changes today and the bike felt so much better. It took me a few laps to get dialled-in to the new settings but the GSX-R600 feels so much easier to ride and more like my 125cc days where I can bang the throttle open off the turns and not spin up. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s second race now.”

Philip Neill – Team Manager:

“We have to be realistic and this weekend my goals for John were top-five and today we were knocking on the door of that throughout. It’s the first time this year we’ve been in the mix at the sharp-end pretty much the whole race, which is pleasing and confidence inspiring for the whole team. There’s more to come and with a better grid position, if he can get away with the front guys, I’m confident he can improve on today’s result.

“Today we also started to see the real Josh Waters with consistent lap-times and great body language on the bike. He was also on the back of that leading freight train in the early stages, so wet or dry I’m confident we will also see improvements from Josh tomorrow.

“Taylor struggled a bit yesterday but, as he pointed out, we made some radical changes to his bike and not only does he feel more comfortable, but he’s also learning the benefits of understanding set-up changes that I believe will see him move forward, not just tomorrow but for the rest of the season.”

British Superbike Championship, Oulton Park, race one result:

1. Ryuichi Kiyonari (BMW)

2. Josh Brookes (Yamaha) +0.496s

3. Shane Byrne (Kawasaki) +2.011s

4. Tommy Bridewell (Yamaha) +4.362s

5. Dan Linfoot (Kawasaki) +5.981s

6. John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +7.149s

7. Peter Hickman (Honda) +8.501s

8. Josh Waters (Tyco Suzuki) +10.690s

9. Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) +13.781s

10. Howie Mainwaring (Kawasaki) +14.519s