Snetterton Double Puts Byrne In Command
Round four of the 2015 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship took place at Snetterton where the Penrith-based Paul Bird Motorsport team enjoyed a superb day as reigning champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne stormed to a dominant double race win to lead the title chase.
Aboard the PBM Kawasaki ZX-10R, four-time champion Byrne started the first 16 lap race from pole position for the first time this season and a superb start saw him complete the first lap with an incredible 2.3 second lead. The rider from Sittingbourne maintained his advantage and increased his lead to almost four seconds before running to his pit board to come home a comfortable winner.
With further improvements to the machine for race two, Byrne again took an early lead in race two and although a safety car period allowed the pack to bunch up, by lap seven his lead was up to almost two seconds. Lapping over half a second quicker than all of his rivals, he wasn’t to be denied and he duly swept to his second victory, this time by almost five seconds.
It was Shakey’s 64th career win and the 14th time he had scored an MCE BSB double victory meaning he now holds a 17 point advantage over nearest rival Josh Brookes whom he beat into second place in both races.
Team-mate Stuart Easton, from Hawick, also enjoyed a reasonably good day at the Norfolk venue, somewhere he hasn’t enjoyed the greatest of fortunes in the past, and took a brace of top seven finishes to maintain his fourth place overall in the championship table.
Having taken a victory and a podium finish already this season, the results saw the former double British Supersport champion consolidate his fourth place in the standings as the Scot eyes a place in the all-important Showdown later in the season.
Shane Byrne: “The weekend could have been worse couldn’t it?! It’s been a superb weekend for me and with a great start in the first race, I was able to get into a good rhythm straight away. It allowed me to get a good advantage and it played into my hands as about a third of the way through the race, I had a slight issue with the quickshifter and so had to nurse the bike home a bit. The PBM team did a great job and rectified the issue for race two and I knew I could run a faster pace and that’s exactly what happened. I tried to keep it as clean as possible and pole position and a double is perfect.”
Stuart Easton: “Snetterton is always my least favourite circuit on the calendar so to come away with a sixth and a seventh is not a bad day at all. It was difficult out there and I was struggling in the last sector so it was a case of hanging on. The team gave me a great bike and it kept me in touch so a big thanks to them. Staying in a good fourth overall is what I wanted and I can look forward to my home round at Knockhill now where I’ll be looking to fly the Scottish flag high.”
Paul Bird, Team Owner: “It’s been a fantastic weekend for us and Shakey’s been dominant today. He never looked like being beaten and showed what a class act he is. It’s always been Stuart’s bogey track so for him to come away with sixth and seventh is better than we expected too and we’re looking strong in first and fourth overall in the championship. After a busy fortnight at the TT, we’ve shown our class today and got straight back into winning again so well done to the whole Paul Bird Motorsport Team.”
MCE British Superbike Championship Race One – 16 laps
1 Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki)
2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)
3 Jason O’Halloran (Honda)
4 Tommy Bridewell (BMW)
5 Dan Linfoot (Honda)
6 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
7 Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki)
MCE British Superbike Championship Race Two – 16 laps
1 Shane Byrne (PBM Kawasaki)
2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)
3 Jason O’Halloran (Honda)
4 Michael Laverty (BMW)
5 Tommy Bridewell (BMW)
6 Stuart Easton (PBM Kawasaki)
Championship Positions (after four rounds)
1 Byrne 151pts
2 Brookes 134
3 Ellison 118
4 Easton 99
5 Bridewell 77
6 O’Halloran 74
The fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship takes place at Knockhill in two weeks’ time (July 3/5th). For more information, please visit www.britishsuperbike.com and the brand new team website www.britishsuperbike.com
More, from a press release issued by Milwaukee Yamaha:
Podium joy for Josh as Milwaukee Yamaha move second in the standings
Josh Brookes claimed another double podium finish at the fourth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Snetterton for the Milwaukee Yamaha team with a pair of second places to move just 17 points adrift of the standings leader.
In the opening race Brookes carved his way through from sixth place to second by lap twelve and continued to close the deficit to race leader Shane Byrne over the closing stages to claim another second place finish. Broc Parkes put in a determined ride to battle up the order from 19th place on the grid to claim 11th, narrowly missing out on the top ten.
Race two again saw Brookes fighting in the leading group and determined to push for the first win of the season. However a problem caused the Australian contender to drop down the field, but in true Brookes style he didn’t give up and fought on to move back through the pack to finish second. Parkes had a strong start in the second outing, pushing towards the front of the race, but he later dropped down the order to score his second 11th place finish of the weekend.
Josh Brookes
R1: 2nd, R2: 2nd
“I definitely didn’t get the start I wanted in race one; as I let the clutch out, it was bunny hopping and I lost all my momentum. Going into the first turn, I got bunched up then – there were a lot of different bars bumping. In turn two, it was still a bit squirrelly, and I kind of got stuck in a position behind Stuart Easton for a while. He’s really strong on the brakes, and I struggled to find a way past him. I stayed there far too long, but once I did make the pass I could move forwards and make some passes easier, but we had a strong end to the race and I was happy to be back on the podium.
“We had a bit of an issue in the second race, we have limited electronics but where they work most is on engine braking and mid-way through that race it kept locking up the tyre, not completely but skidding into the turns and I was missing my apexes and losing power. If I rode in my normal way it would have caused me more problems as I would have gone further backwards as you would have seen, but I figured out a way to ride without using the engine to slow the bike up on the way in to the corners. I was able to come back through the pack to come back to second and I was really fortunate to make the end of the race as at one point I thought I might have to pit. I am really pleased though that we could make it a double podium.”
Broc Parkes
R1: 11th, R2: 11th
“The first race we started in 19th and got off to a good start, but we got hit in the second corner and went back down the pack and had to climb my way through and I was happy with my pace to finish eleventh and to catch up the time.
“In race two we could be a lot stronger from seventh and I got a blinder of a start and got up to fourth position and was hanging in there and thought I had a good pace. The safety car didn’t really help me and I didn’t get quick enough off the last corner when it came in and then two guys came under me and from there I didn’t quite have the pace and I felt like I lost a lot of rear grip and basically went back. The good thing was I was running near the front and I need to work on that and come back stronger.”
Team manager Mick Shanley
“It was a really positive weekend to come away second in the championship with Josh and feeling comfortable at the top. I think it is obvious we have the pace to be in contention for winning every weekend now.
“Broc also had a positive weekend and showed he had the pace and was capable of running up the front too, although he dropped back a bit at the end of the second race. Overall it has been a good weekend for Milwaukee Yamaha and we are looking forward to Knockhill.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
TOP 10 & PROGRESS-MADE FOR BENNETTS SUZUKI
Bennetts Suzuki made more progress with the set-up of its GSX-R1000 machines at Snetterton and the fourth round of the MCE British Superbike championship this weekend, which culminated in a top-10 finish for Christian Iddon in race two.
Iddon started from the second row of the grid after posting the sixth-fastest lap-time in race one and was battling for positions inside the top-10. The fight for every position saw the order of riders shuffling throughout the 16-lap race, with Iddon eventually finishing in ninth place; recording lap-times comparable with the front-runners and the fastest time through the second sector.
After being caught-out in qualifying by the rain, Iddon’s 14th-placed grid spot left him with work to do in the opening encounter. After working his way to 11th he set his sights on the group in front and the battle for fifth. Sadly some unexpected chatter issues and a mistake on the final lap saw Iddon run on, before he crossed the line in 16th.
Christian Iddon:
“Although the results have been disappointing, I think the weekend has been reasonably positive. We’ve made pretty good headway and got a good understanding of the areas where we need to improve. This track’s got a bit of everything and we were really strong in certain places, shown by the fact that we were fastest in sector two in the second race. We were unlucky in qualifying as I felt we had a good pace but I got a decent start in the first race. However a rider went down in front of me and dropped me back a few places, but I started to peg-back the group in front which was the battle for fifth. Unfortunately we got some chatter issues as the race went on and then I made a mistake. We solved the chatter issue for race two though and it felt better and I felt like we could run at a good pace, but it was a bit of a frustrating race: Every time I made a pass I’d run a bit wide and lose two positions and in the end it’s been a weekend of what could have and should have been, but sadly wasn’t.”
Team-mate Josh Waters started from ninth on the grid in race one and was lapping at a strong pace early on, ensuring he would start from eighth in race two, but he also suffered with chatter as the race progressed and finished 14th.
The team made some changes to try to solve the problem for race two, but sadly the issue remained. With Waters unable to push as hard he’d liked to have, he eventually finished 18th.
Josh Waters:
“It’s been a frustrating weekend for us. We made progress with the bike through the free practice sessions and qualified on the third row. We put in a lap-time in the first race but as the race progressed we suffered from some bad chatter. The team tried something different for race two but sadly it didn’t pay off and we suffered with the same issues again. I’m disappointed because I know we can be racing against the guys I was racing with last year; and we’ve shown the pace can be there. We’ve just got to get it right for the whole race.”
Jack Valentine – Team Manager:
“It’s been disappointing in one respect as we had similar issues with both bikes in the first race with bad chatter, which we hadn’t had all weekend, but it got worse as the races went on, which meant both riders couldn’t push to their limits and resulted in only Josh scoring points. The chassis set-up before the chatter started was good, shown by the fast laps both riders put-in and their grid spots for race two. Changes to Christian’s bike resulted in him being able to mix-it a lot more in the second race. Unfortunately the changes to Josh’s didn’t make the same difference and he had the same issues as the first race, so we need to go and look into it in more detail back at base. On the positive side Christian lapped in the mid 1:48s, which is a very competitive lap time, and he was fastest in the second sector, so we know the package is competitive. We’re just going to have to work harder to find the sweet spot.”
Race One Result: 1. Shane Byrne, 2. Josh Brookes, 3. Jason O’Halloran, 4. Tommy Bridewell, 5. Dan Linfoot. 14. Josh Waters (Bennetts Suzuki). 16. Christian Iddon (Bennetts Suzuki).
Race Two Result: 1. Shane Byrne, 2. Josh Brookes, 3. Jason O’Halloran, 4. Michael Laverty, 5. Tommy Bridewell. 9. Christian Iddon (Bennetts Suzuki) 18. Josh Waters (Bennetts Suzuki).
More, from a press release issued by Quattro Plant Kawasaki:
Good points haul at Snetterton for Quattro Plant Kawasaki
After their successful fortnight at the Isle of Man TT Races, Quattro Plant Kawasaki were back in British Superbike Championship action at Snetterton at the weekend and the good results continued with Howie Mainwaring Smart and Luke Mossey scoring a hatful of points.
Mossey, riding at his local circuit, took a season’s best eighth in qualifying whilst Mainwaring Smart found himself back in 16th for the first race but fourth and third respectively for the duo in morning warm-up was a true indicator of their potential. Indeed, the pairing both put in fine rides in the first race and it was Aylesford’s Mainwaring Smart who came out on top in eighth place, one spot ahead of Mossey who claimed his best finish of the season so far in ninth.
Howie’s pace during the race had been the stronger though and he lined up in fifth place and on the second row for the second 16-lap race compared to Luke’s 18th. Although Howie dropped back to 12th in the early stages, he fought back strongly and had moved up into fifth place by lap ten but his race ended in the gravel trap a lap later, just as his best finish of the year looked to be on the cards.
That left Luke to fly the flag and although he wasn’t able to replicate his top ten finish of earlier in the day he nevertheless got more points on the board in 13th place, the first round where he’s scored points in both races.
Howie Mainwaring Smart: “It’s been a good weekend and although qualifying didn’t quite go to plan, I felt confident about the races. Except for the crash I was really pleased with how they went, firstly coming through the pack to eighth after starting 16th and then running inside the top five in the second. I was annoyed with myself for the crash as the team have worked so hard to give me a great bike but there are lots of positives to take away with us. We’ve made a massive leap from where we were this time last year so I’ll be looking to get back into the top six next time out.”
Luke Mossey: “After struggling here at the test a few weeks ago, where nothing clicked, we made good progress this weekend and with the right head, I found some good pace. The bike was working really well and I made it into Q3 for the first time this year so it was nice to convert that into a top ten finish. The second race was a bit frustrating as I had a small issue with the bike but I scored more points and the plan now is to stay there for the rest of the year.”
Pete Extance, Team Owner: “It was a good weekend for both riders and in race one Howie and Luke ran a consistent pace throughout. Howie did a great job coming from 16th to eighth whilst it was also really pleasing to see Luke get his best result of the season so far after such a good qualifying performance.”
“Howie set a good lap time to put himself on the second row but just as it looked like he could finish in the top four, he unfortunately lost the front end at the final chicane, which was obviously disappointing for him and the team. Luke scored more solid points and although we’re disappointed that a top four result eluded Howie, he more than proved he can run at the front. We can now look forward to the next round at Knockhill where we hope to have both riders score more good points.”
The fourth round takes place at Knockhill, Scotland on July 3-5.
MCE British Superbike Championship Race One – 16 laps
1 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)
2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)
3 Jason O’Halloran (Honda)
4 Tommy Bridewell (BMW)
5 Dan Linfoot (Honda)
6 Chris Walker (Kawasaki)
8 Howie Mainwaring Smart (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki)
9 Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Tec-care Kawasaki)
MCE British Superbike Championship Race Two – 16 laps
1 Shane Byrne (Kawasaki)
2 Josh Brookes (Yamaha)
3 Jason O’Halloran (Honda)
4 Michael Laverty (BMW)
5 Tommy Bridewell (BMW)
6 Stuart Easton (Kawasaki)
13 Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Tec-care Kawasaki)
DNF Howie Mainwaring Smart (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki)
Championship Positions (after four rounds)
1 Byrne 151pts
2 Brookes 134
3 Ellison 118
4 Easton 99
5 Bridewell 77
6 O’Halloran 74
9 Mainwaring Smart 45
17 Mossey 18
More, from a press release issued by Team Traction Control:
PODIUM HAT-TRICK FOR TEAM TRACTION CONTROL AT SNETTERTON
Team Traction Control proved they are ready to take on the opposition with James Rispoli, Andy Reid and Joe Francis all scoring podium finishes at the latest round of the Motorpoint British Supersport and Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championships at Snetterton in Norfolk last weekend.
The team’s strongest weekend of their campaign so far started with Rispoli and Reid both battling at the front of the pack in the opening Sprint race from their second and third row starts respectively. Reid was able to hold off his team-mate in the closing stages to score his second podium finish of the season in third ahead of Rispoli who finished in a solid fourth place.
The pair were fired up for Sunday’s Feature race and with Reid starting from the front row and just ahead of Rispoli the pair were gunning for team honours. However Reid’s challenge ended with a crash in the early stages of the race which left Rispoli fighting on for Team Traction Control. The American was holding third place after pushing his way into contention and looked set to claim a consistent fourth place, until Luke Stapleford and Kyle Ryde crashed out on the final lap, elevating Rispoli into second place for his first podium finish of the season.
In the Superstock class Francis was determined to make amends for his Donington Park crash and he didn’t disappoint, narrowly missing out on the front row in qualifying and scrapping with the leading pack to return to the podium with a third place finish and holding third place in the overall standings ahead of Knockhill in two weeks time.
Reid said: “We were struggling with set-up in qualifying and then we changed direction and in the race it felt much better straight away. In the first few laps of the Sprint race I got a bit swamped and then I had to push through and then I was quite settled where I was to take the podium which was important points for the championship. I felt I could have been stronger in the Feature race and I got into the lead, then had a big moment which dropped me down the order again and having to come back and do the work again. A crash wasn’t how I wanted to end the weekend but I will be doing everything I can to be back.”
Rispoli said: “We were nearly there in the first race and then the second was loose, real loose, but it was awesome and we had been consistent throughout the weekend. It was unlucky for the two guys in front but you know we picked up the pieces and we took my first podium of the season. I had a new helmet for the weekend which had a control, alt, delete style reset on it and coming in to this weekend I have trained harder than ever and I want to thank everyone who has been behind me. It was great to have Keith (Flint) here too for my first podium of the year, he has put so much in and I was just overcome with emotion – bring on Knockhill!”
Francis said: “I have to be happy with third place though really I’m gutted because I was moving forwards and catching the front two, but I made a couple of little mistakes and couldn’t get in their slip-stream, I was nearly there but not enough to pull them in. It was a great result for the team, especially as we did struggle in places a bit over the weekend, but now we can move on to Knockhill and take it from there.”
Team owner Keith Flint added: “It was awesome and I am so happy for James, Andy, Joe and the team. We keep plugging away and we all have our good and bad luck. It has been great to have some more trophies to take home from Snetterton!”
More, from a press release issued by James Rispoli’s publicist:
British Superbike Series: Rocket Rispoli Achieves 2ND Place at Snetterton
DAYTONA, F.L.
June 23, 2015
James “The Rocket” Rispoli accomplished yet another successful finish in the fourth round of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Snetterton 300 on Father’s Day weekend. As the only American competing in the series, the Team Traction Control racer hit an impressive milestone within the British Superbike series by winning his first podium of the championship.
After successfully qualifying into row two of the lineup alongside Hedger and Irwin, Rispoli didn’t disappoint for this past weekend’s race. Team Traction Control’s Rocket finished fourth on Saturday’s Sprint race (with a best lap time of 1:51:50), and managed to push his way up to an impressive secondplace in the Feature race.
“The race was awesome,” Rispoli commented to Eurosports Live “We picked up the pieces and [I] won [my] first podium of the year.”
“There’s been so many people behind me, and I want to thank my dad for all of his love and support. I’m so happy that my dad could be here with me for this moment on Father’s Days.”
Rispoli went on to mention his gratitude for owner Keith Flint of Team Traction Control, stating, “I also want to congratulate Keith; for him to show up and finally get a podium is just amazing. He’s put so much effort in for the whole team!”
While celebration may be in order for the young American, round five of the British Superbike Championship is just around the corner in early July, and focusing on the Knockhill track in Scottland will be essential for Rispoli’s continued success in the sport.