Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

British Superbike Race One Results From Mallory Park:

1. John REYNOLDS, Suzuki, 30 laps, 26:15.170
2. Yukio KAGAYAMA, Suzuki, -0.133 second
3. Scott SMART, Kawasaki, -3.417 seconds
4. Ryuichi KIYONARI, Honda, -3.498 seconds
5. James HAYDON, Yamaha, -5.247 seconds
6. Michael RUTTER, Honda, -5.948 seconds
7. Sean EMMETT, Ducati, -12.573 seconds
8. Dean THOMAS, Ducati, -14.241 seconds
9. John McGUINNESS, Kawasaki, -20.052 seconds
10. Dennis HOBBS, Suzuki, -28.226 seconds
11. Steve PLATER, Yamaha, -28.463 seconds
12. Kieran CLARKE, Yamaha, -30.097 seconds
13. Iain MacPHERSON, Ducati, -31.898 seconds
14. Gary MASON, Yamaha, -32.945 seconds
15. James ELLISON, Yamaha, -33.343 seconds


British Superbike Race Two Results From Mallory Park:

1. Scott SMART, Kawasaki, 30 laps, 27:40.337
2. John REYNOLDS, Suzuki, -1.932 seconds
3. Ryuichi KIYONARI, Honda, -2.608 seconds
4. James HAYDON, Yamaha, -3.109 seconds
5. Sean EMMETT, Ducati, -8.231 seconds
6. Tommy HILL, Yamaha, -9.042 seconds
7. Gary MASON, Yamaha, -10.775 seconds
8. Dean THOMAS, Ducati, -11.501 seconds
9. John McGUINNESS, Kawasaki, -11.563 seconds
10. Steve PLATER, Yamaha, -11.624 seconds
11. Craig COXHELL, Honda, -12.529 seconds
12. Dennis HOBBS, Suzuki, -14.783 seconds
13. James ELLISON, Yamaha, -16.120 seconds
14. Iain MacPHERSON, Ducati, -17.457 seconds
15. Yukio KAGAYAMA, Suzuki, -21.851 seconds

21. Michael RUTTER, Honda, -11 laps, DNF


British Superbike Championship Point Standings:

1. REYNOLDS, 335 points
2. RUTTER, 262 points
3. SMART, 240 points
4. KAGAYAMA, 229 points
5. EMMETT, 226 points
6. THOMAS, 124 points
7. KIYONARI, 124 points
8. HAYDON, 111 points
9. HILL, 98 points
10. MASON, 85 points


More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki:

REYNOLDS WINS AT MALLORY PARK!
Team Suzuki Press Office – July 18, 2004.

Rizla Suzuki’s John Reynolds raced to victory and a second place in today’s ninth round of the Think! British Superbike Championship at Mallory Park, Leicestershire and almost doubled his Championship lead.

In the first race, Reynolds and team mate Yukio Kagayama battled their way through a gaggle of fast riders to get to the front and once ahead, broke away from the chasing pack with ‘JR’ grabbing the lead with six laps to go, then held off Yuki on the last lap through the hairpin. The plucky Japanese ace, however, had the consolation of setting a new lap record of 51:741s.

Race two was interrupted with a red flag and two safety car appearances, but JR held his nerve to finish second on aggregate time behind Kawasaki’s Scott Smart. Yuki switched to his spare Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 just before the green light in a bid to improve his race pace. He was holding sixth and going for fifth when he ran off the tarmac at the super-fast Gerards bend, rejoining the race to finish 15th.

JR’s first and second place finishes made him the clear winner of the acclaimed `Race of the Year’ trophy – awarded to the Superbike rider with most points at the end of the meeting. His finishes nearly doubled his Championship lead from 38 to 73 points and maintain Rizla Suzuki’s string of podium finishes in every race so far this year. Suzuki is also streaking ahead in the manufacturers Championship with its GSX-R1000 production-based Superbike.

John Reynolds:

“Race one was a fantastic fight with Yuki for the top honours while race two ended up being interrupted and tested my concentration to the full. To be honest, I was glad to finish, as I don’t like my rhythm being interrupted and I really had to fight towards the end to keep second place.

“Winning the `Race of the Year’ trophy is a real bonus for me because this is a prize that has decades of history and heritage behind it. Thanks to my team for providing me with a brilliant GSX-R1000 this weekend and to my fans from Nottingham for making the trip and cheering me on.”

Yukio Kagayama:

“I am disappointed with the second race result. The first race was good fun riding with John-san at the front and he managed to outbrake me at the hairpin on final lap to win. I was hoping for similar race with me winning in race two but this was not possible. After the red flag I had to switch to my spare bike and the feeling is not so good, then near end I ran off the circuit while trying to overtake and ended up 15th.

“Now I go to the airport and fly to Japan to take part in the Suzuka 8-hour Endurance race for Suzuki. This is maximum important race and I will use my frustration to motivate best to win.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“We suspected the tight and twisty nature of Mallory Park would not suit JR’s smooth flowing riding style or the enormous horsepower of our Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000. JR then went on to qualify on the front row, win a race, finish second in the next, win the `Race of the Year’ and virtually double his Championship points advantage to prove that theory very wrong indeed.

“Yuki did a bike swap for the second race and that didn’t pay off – he rode well and deserved a better result than 15th – but a small mistake at the end cost him dear. The team will rally round and give him its full support for the next round at Croft.

“There is still a long way to go in the Championship race and both JR and Yuki know there are a lot of points still to be won. We’ll be staying focussed in the month away from the racing and will be going to round 10 stronger and more determined than ever before to win races.”

There is now a mid-summer mini-break for the BSB competitors before the 10th round of the Championship at Croft on August 15th. The North Yorkshire venue is new t o BSB for 2004 and Rizla Suzuki will be visiting for a test session on August 5th.


More, from a press release issued by Team ViTrans:

Round 9 of the BSB Championship brought mixed fortunes for Team Vitrans, at the very local track the team are based at the Mallory Park Circuit, returning to the championship having won at the previous round in Scotland, everyone had great confidence for this event.

Craig Coxhell went to the event happy that this was a circuit he knew well, lack of track time has been a disadvantage for the Australian rider this season. His qualifying sessions were all good and very busy as usual, with the technicians changing many things throughout the weekend, Craig started the race from 12th position, he commented “we ran the qualifier too soon in the second session, the clouds came over and we thought it was going to rain, I am not unhappy with my position, we have a great race set up”.

Race one saw Coxhell make a reasonable start, his lap times throughout the race were very good “it’s all in the start remarked team owner Robbie Burns, if Craig can get the bike off the line he will be running consistently in the top six, we have had a problem since the start of the season with the clutch, we are making improvements every weekend”, Craig made a mistake going in to the hairpin on lap 16 and lost the front, he was uninjured, and the team worked non stop between the next 2 races to get it ready for race 2, this is Coxhell’ preferred bike. ” I made a little mistake going into the turn, and unfortunately lost the front said Coxhell, I’m ok and ready for the second race”

Race 2 was an eventful and spectacular one for riders and officials, with the pace car coming out and the race being stopped, it was run as a two part race, Craig made a great start in race one, and not so good in the second one, again the times were excellent again throughout the race with a final position of 11th, “this was my best ride so far, pirelli have provided me with the best rear tyre in the race said a very happy Coxhell, I am looking forward to getting to the WSBK round at Brands Hatch, we had to sit out Silverstone due to the cost of doing these world events, but for the next round my team owner has said we can do it”, although my last race at Brands was very wet I had a great race, and I know we already have the set up for it”

Coxhell is 13th in the championship after round 18.

British Supersport

Last round winner Paul Young returned to his ‘home track’ in confident mood, “it’s great having a race track on your doorstep”, commented Young,

He had a good qualifying with 5th place, “I would have liked the front row and I really was not far off that” , the start was reasonable, Paul stayed safe for the first few laps with the ever exciting Supersport racing put on a tight and twist Mallory park this was definitely the best thing to do, he passed Craig Jones on lap 19 and was chasing Michael Laverty for 4th place, as they crossed the line Paul took 5th position, ” I am really happy with this, before the race my aims were to finish in the top 5 and be the first Pirelli runner home I have achieved both of these and got more points, I am now equal 10th in the championship which the team are very happy with having had such a bad start to the season”

Paul’s next outing is the Support Race at the British GP next weekend, ” I am confident Donington Park is one of my favourite tracks, and it will be good testing for the final BSB round in September”

Young’s team made Tom Tunstall had mixed fortune all weekend “Throughout practice and qualifying Tunstall was consistently inside the top 7 on both race and qualifying tyres The Vitrans rider was once again showing his true potential. After first qualifying Tom was provisionally 7th and although he improved his time in the final session he ended up 11th on the grid. Knowing how difficult it is to pass Tunstall was keen to make up places off the start. However things didn’t go to plan as Tom made his worst start of the season and instead of making places he dropped back to 20th position. Seeing the front riders getting away Tom was desperate to make back the lost positions however after already getting up to 15th, by the end of lap 6 disaster struck!

Halfway around the ultra-fast 5th gear Gerrards bend Tunstall lost the front causing bike and rider slid off the track at around 100mph, Tunstall commented ” I’m very disappointed. The start was terrible as the bike bogged off the line, leaving me with a lot of ground to make up. I was pushing hard and at that part of Gerrards I’ve been struggling to make the bike turn most of the weekend.


More, from a press release issued on behalf of JR Motorsport:

ROBINSON BACK IN THE POINTS AT MALLORY

After two wet races in which he failed to add to his points tally, JR Motosport team rider Jamie Robinson took maximum advantage of the dry conditions to record a battling 13th place finish in round nine of the British Supersport Championship at Mallory Park.

Having qualified on row four of the grid and less than one second slower than the pole position setter, Robinson had high hopes of a top ten finish and despite not getting a good start in the race, he started to make his way through the field around the tricky confines of the Leicestershire circuit.

Soon, the former 250cc British Champion was inside the top ten and looking to home in on the leading bunch but in typical Supersport action, half a dozen other riders had the same idea as they battled it out over 28 action packed laps.

In the end, the 28 year old Holmfirth rider had to settle for 13th position and at the rear of the group which was covered by just over a second but was relieved to get some more points on the board for only the third time this season.

“That was another bloody hard race and I know I keep saying it, but the racing is so tough this year. I’m glad in a way I’ve scored some more points but disappointed that I didn’t finish higher as I know I could have done but it’s a step in the right direction” said Robinson afterwards. “The bike was working well and I feel as though I’m riding it a lot better now and it’s all a lot more positive than it was earlier in the season. I’m really looking forward to Croft next month as we’ve tested there and got a good set up.”

Team mate Paul Veazey had a mixed weekend of fortunes at Mallory and after posting his best qualifying position of the season, the Middlesbrough teenager was hoping to reproduce that form and to claim his first championship points of the season. Despite a good start and some promising lap times, the 17 year old suffered a recurrence of the arm-pump problems that plagued him during the early part of the season but still ended up in 19th place at the finish.

“Everything was looking good and I was feeling pretty strong but as the race wore on, I really started to struggle as I couldn’t feel my arms. With all the heavy braking, the problems I suffered earlier in the year surfaced again and it was just a case of hanging on in the end” said Veazey who will be looking for a better result at his local track of Croft next month.

In the meantime, the JR Motosport team are hoping to ride in the one-off MCN Supersport Cup which takes place at the British Grand Prix at Donington this forthcoming weekend.


More, from a press release issued on behalf of Hobbs Racing:

DOUBLE DELIGHT FOR DENNIS

Hobbs Racing rider Dennis Hobbs rewarded his hard working team with not one but two victories as a double win kept his hopes of the THINK! British Superbike Cup well and truly alive after a masterful display at MalloryPark.

Riding the Scott Leathers backed 1000cc Suzuki, the 22 year old from Guisborough had not won a round all season but going into the Leicestershire circuit, he made his intentions clear as he set sixth fastest time overall during the early stages of final qualifying.

However, a minor gearbox problem put paid to his chances of a sensational row two start as Hobbs had to sit out the remainder of the session which resulted in him dropping back to tenth but still the top Superbike Cup rider.

With the rain of the previous two meetings thankfully behind him, Dennis relished in the dry conditions as he scrapped it out with a number of the factory stars around the technically demanding Mallory speedbowl during race one, eventually coming home in tenth place overall, just pipping the Virgin Mobile Yamaha’s of former Mallory winner Steve Plater and team mate Gary Mason as well as Kieran Clarke and the ex championship winning Ducati of Iain MacPherson.

Having sampled the top step of the podium in the opening race in front of yet another massive BSB crowd, Hobbs was keen to repeat the feat and despite a race stoppage and two pace car interventions – one of which controversially cost him a number of places – Hobbs stuck to the task and brought the machine home in 12thplace but more importantly, one place in front of series leader James Ellison.

As a result, Hobbs has cut the gap to just 39 points going into his home race at Croft in a month’s time whereby he is red hot favourite to add to his tally of race wins around the North Yorkshire circuit.

“I needed those wins but I was disappointed not to finish higher in the second leg as a number of riders overtook me before the green flag on the line when I was busy avoiding crashing into Kieran Clarke who went down at the Devils Elbow!” said Dennis. “Those were important points and I’m looking at reducing the gap even further at Croft”

THINK! Superbike Championship Cup Standings (after Round 9)

1, James Ellison (Yamaha) 333 pts

2, Dennis Hobbs (HobbsRacing Suzuki) 294 pts

3, Jon Kirkham (Suzuki) 261pts

4, James Buckingham (Suzuki)) 235pts

5, Sam Corke (Suzuki) 208pts

6, Chris Martin (Suzuki) 126pts