Legendary Assen circuit set for MCE BSB battle royale this weekend
The MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship’s Showdown six line up for the penultimate battle of the season this weekend (30 September – 2 October) at the legendary Assen TT circuit in the Netherlands as the championship makes its annual visit to mainland Europe.
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne heads the chasing pack by 27 points after the Be Wiser Ducati rider emerged from the opening Showdown event at Donington Park with a double win last time out. The four-time champion will be going head-to-head with arch-rival and former World Superbike ace Leon Haslam.
Haslam had to settle for second in the first Showdown race, but the ‘Pocket Rocket’ kissed goodbye to a podium finish in race two when he crashed out of second place whilst pushing to defeat Byrne. However the Dutch circuit has in the past thrown up drama for the leading contenders and with the pressure mounting ahead of the championship-decider at Brands Hatch, the Title Fighters can’t afford any errors this weekend.
Dan Linfoot’s second place at Donington Park saw him move up to third in the overall standings for Honda Racing; the Yorkshire based contender trails Haslam by 26 points, but is fully focused on reeling in the leading duo in this weekend’s two races.
Linfoot has also got to keep the chasing pack at bay; James Ellison is just five points adrift and the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider is still hunting his first victory of the season as he bids to overhaul the riders ahead of him in the standings.
Six points adrift of Ellison is Jason O’Halloran; the Honda Racing rider dropped from third to fifth in the standings after the previous round when the Australian was involved in a crash on the opening lap of race two. He has previously been a podium finisher at the Dutch circuit before and has high hopes of moving back up the order in his first Showdown appearance.
Luke Mossey completes the Showdown six after a tough weekend at Donington Park but the Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki rider is ready to come out fighting for a podium return.
The six pack also have to contend with Showdown spoilers from the chasing pack who, with nothing to lose at this stage of the season, will be aiming to take points off their hands in their quest for individual glory. These include ePayMe Yamaha’s John Hopkins, Buildbase BMW’s Richard Cooper and the Tyco BMW pairing of Christian Iddon and Michael Laverty, who are all ready to make their mark this weekend.
MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship standings:
Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati) 593
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 566
Dan Linfoot (Honda Racing) 540
James Ellison (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) 535
Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) 529
Luke Mossey (Quattro Plant Teccare Kawasaki) 514
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Shane Byrne (Be Wiser Ducati)
Championship leader
“Obviously Donington Park was a dream start to the Showdown really; we went in three points down and came out 27 points ahead. However I know how quickly it can turn around – we have seen that before. It is important for us to just keep our heads down. Yes we have an advantage but 27 points is nowhere near enough to win the championship with five races still to go and nobody is going to just give me title number five!
“We need to approach the weekend in the right way; the same way we do every weekend. We need to be scoring wins and minimise losing any points to Leon after the two races. I have been training hard and I feel ready to try and add to that tally this weekend.”
Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki)
Second in the standings
“I am really looking forward to Assen, especially after Donington. That was my first crash in a race this year and it was just really bad timing with it being a Showdown race. We had a few issues with temperature and that affected our tyre option, so that is something we need to work on again at Assen.
“Assen is a circuit that usually produces really close racing and I have to go out and do what I usually do, which is to give it my all. Yes, we are down on points compared to before Donington but we have closed a bigger gap than that before and we still have five races to come.
“In the past I have had ups and downs at Assen, but this will be my first BSB race there. In the World Championship I have been on the podium before a couple of times and I am going into the weekend looking forward to trying to get back to winning at a battling track that should suit me.”