Byrne doubles up at Brands – Crash and a podium for Brookes
Race one:
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +1.615s
- James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +1.672s
- Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) +5.639s
- John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) +6.007s
- Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +6.235s
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +6.365s
- Richard Cooper (Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki) +7.328s
- Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +7.735s
- James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +7.735s
Race two:
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki)
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) +0.138s
- James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +1.785s
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +3.694s
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +5.376s
- Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +5.724s
- James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) +10.826s
- Dan Linfoot (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +11.488s
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +11.678s
- Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) +11.908s
Championship standings:
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 50
- James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 32
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 31
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 20
- Stuart Easton (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 20
- Ben Wilson (Gearlink Kawasaki) 19
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) 16
- John Hopkins (Tyco Suzuki) 16
- James Westmoreland (Buildbase BMW) 15
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 13
Shane “Shakey” Byrne kicked off his bid to take the MCE Insurance British Superbike crown for a record fourth time in stunning style as he held off the opposition to win both races in the opening round at his home circuit of Brands Hatch.
The Rapid Solicitors rider had bounced back after starting from the fifth row of the grid for the opening race after crashing in qualifying yesterday, but he was up for the challenge and remarkably was running seventh on the opening lap as Chris Walker aboard the Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki forged ahead at the front.
Byrne was carving through the pack though and soon had moved to second, closing down Walker at half distance when the race was halted after James Hillier’s Quattro Plant Kawasaki suffered a technical problem dropping oil on the track. On the re-start Walker led briefly before Byrne forced his way ahead to win by 1.615s whilst James Ellison aboard the second Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki ran solidly in third to give the team their first podium finishes in MCE BSB ahead of Gearlink Kawasaki’s Ben Wilson.
Byrne took charge from the start in race two, running ahead of his team-mate Stuart Easton with Walker in third and Ellison in fourth, whilst behind them Josh Brookes was powering his Milwaukee Yamaha into contention. The Aussie who had crashed three times in qualifying had also slid out in the opening race and he was keen to set the record straight.
Brookes was riding hard to be in third place at two thirds distance and attacking Ellison whilst Byrne continued to lead. However the Milwaukee Yamaha rider hadn’t given up on his chance of victory and Brookes passed Ellison to go second and then closed in on Byrne. On the final lap Byrne had the narrow edge to complete the double, taking his victory tally to 53 in the series and taking the lead in the overall standings.
Byrne said: “This is the perfect start to the championship for me and it really has been a great team effort and I am proud of the boys for the work they’ve done to turn the bike around after the crashes. I’m feeling a bit second hand after two crashes but winning is a wonderful drug, although I’m ready for a day or two off now before Oulton Park!”
Ellison scored his second podium finish of the day in third, this time ahead of former three times title winner Ryuichi Kiyonari who was making his race debut with the Buildbase BMW team. Walker held on to fifth from reigning Motorpoint British Supersport champion Easton in the closing stages.
Byrne leads the championship standings from Ellison and Walker as the action now moves to Oulton Park over the Bank Holiday weekend (3/4/5 May).
Josh Waters scored 15th and 16th place finishes while countryman Mitchell Carr carded a 20th in race one but failed to finish the second bout.
British Supersport
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship heavyweights Mar-Train Yamaha and Gearlink Kawasaki kicked off their season with a victory apiece at Brands Hatch with Glenn Irwin scoring his debut in the class whilst Alastair Seeley returned to winning ways in the Feature race.
In the opening race of the weekend Irwin stole the limelight in sensational fashion after a closely-fought battle with Luke Jones and Jake Dixon. The lead pack had been dicing for the opening win of the season in the damp conditions but on the last lap Irwin had the edge over his rivals. In second place Jones was holding off Dixon, who crashed out on the exit of Druids ending his strong race, leaving Seeley to claim the final podium position.
Irwin said: “This weekend has gone really well at the first round with my new team Gearlink Kawasaki. To take my win was such an awesome feeling, everything just felt right and the Gearlink team got my bike working perfectly in the wet. I was nervous with my first pole position but I was also keen to have a good strong race, I pushed hard the entire race and Luke Jones was challenging me on several occasions for the win but I was so keen to be up at the front.”
In the Feature race Seeley and the Smiths Racing Triumph team-mates Graeme Gowland and Billy McConnell were all scrapping for the final podium finishes of the weekend with some exhilarating laps to decide the final outcome. Seeley held on to claim his first win for Mar-Train Yamaha whilst the Smiths Racing Triumphs battled throughout the final lap with Gowland making a move on the drag to the line to push McConnell to third.
Seeley said: “After positive tests we knew we would be coming to Brands Hatch with good pace, but the weather really threw us. It was the first time we’ve ridden the Mar-Train Yamaha in the wet and we didn’t want to take any chances and ruin our championship. In the dry I knew it would be a dogfight as it always is in this class. I sat back and watched for a while and there was a bit of a rub when I made the pass at Paddock Hill but there was nothing malicious. After that I just watched my boards and it was quite comfortable. The Mar-Train Yamaha worked superbly well and I’m delighted to be leaving Brands Hatch leading the championship for the whole team.”
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship – feature race
- Alastair Seeley MarTrain Yamaha
- Graeme Gowland Smiths Racing Triumph +2.904s
- Billy McConnell Smiths Racing Triumph +2.975s
- Luke Stapleford Profile Racing Triumph +4.587s
- Glenn Irwin Gearlink Kawasaki +9.492s
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings
- Alastair Seeley MarTrain Yamaha 41
- Glenn Irwin Gearlink Kawasaki 36
- Luke Jones Acumen Industrial Service 30
- Billy McConnell Smiths Racing Triumph 26
- Alex Olsen (E) Power Projects Racing/T3 Triumph 18
Motul British Motostar Championship race
Joe Irving aboard the Redline KTM Moto3 bike took the victory by a little over a second from Ryan Saxelby riding the 125GP RS Honda with Jordan Weaving riding the Burkert KTM Moto3 third after a race long battle. Jayson Uribe, fourth on the road was the third finisher in the Moto3 class on the FPW Racing RSR Honda while Edward Rendell, Banks Honda, and Bradley Ray, riding the FAB Racing EE125 completed the 125GP podium finishers.
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship race
Danny Buchan led through a race re-started after a two rider tangle at Paddock Hill to take the victory by some 3.5 seconds aboard the Tsingtao WK Kawasaki. Jason O’Halloran took a solid second for Honda with Josh Elliott enjoying his first ever podium in the series as held off Filip Backlund with Adam Jenkinson running fifth ahead of Lee Jackson and Conor Cummins. David Johnson finished 10th on the PR Racing Kawasaki.
Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship race
James Lodge enjoyed his first ever victory in the series as he snatched the lead on the final lap, bringing his Moto-Breakers Kawasaki home 0.025secs ahead of Mason Law with Joe Collier back in third place from pole starter Andy Reid who had led the first dozen laps. The race was re-started over 14 laps after seven riders had tumbled on the opening lap, without injury, at the exit of Druids. Levi Day scored a ninth place finish on the CPE Kawasaki. James Mutton was 19th.
Levi Day – “Happy with a solid result in the race today! Made hard work for my self by qualifying so badly down in 16th, but worked through to finish 9th in the race. Not where I’d hoped to start the season, but have to take the positives out of it, that we got a top 10 finish after screwing up qualifying. Definitely learnt a lot this weekend and lots for me to improve before round 2 at Oulton Park. Thanks to my team at C P E Motosport, Triff Stevens, Road Andrace and John Crockford for working so hard all weekend and giving me a mega bike and helping me move forward in my riding!.”
James Mutton – “It was a tough weekend and we slowly made progress as the weekend went on and I was able to make up some places during the race after qualifying in 28th place. I managed to get a good set up for race day and made up nine places which I’m pleased with. I hope we can continue to make progress as the season goes on.”
Ducati TriOptions Cup
Leon Morris took the early lead in the chase for the Ducati TriOptions Cup with a hard working victory in the torrents of rain on Sunday and then a fighting second to series new-boy Rob Guiver in the Bank Holiday Monday sun.
Dennis Hobbs made the running for much of the first race only to be taken three laps from the end by his team-mate Leon Morris who then forged almost a second clear to take the victory, though there was nothing easy about it.
Morris said: “It was treacherous, the worst wet conditions, so slippery, that I’ve been in. We were lapping people and there were crashes and it was a bit confusing – I capitalised on it and got ahead of Dennis for a good result.” Hobbs was not complaining, happy with solid points in the difficult going.
Former Supersport champion Dave Heal, rolling back the years of a long illustrious career, took third and reckoned it could have been better: “If I had seen a bit more of it I would have won – my visor was misting so badly that I tore it off in the closing stages. I enjoyed it, especially as I only saw the bike for the first time this week and did not testing.”
But it was a different story next time out with defending champion Marty Nutt keen to improve on his earlier fourth place charging into the lead, though it was short-lived amid a fierce four rider duel at the front with Morris going ahead and then Guiver asserting himself to take a lead he was not to relinquish on the fifth lap. Morris settled for second best, ahead of Heal, Sean Neary and Nutt.
TriStar R&G Triple Challenge races
Freddy Pett took a pair of seconds, adrift of Phil Atkinson and then Sam Cox, and that with his victory in the Easter Sunday opener gives him a 13 points lead in the early season standings. The final race of the three was a typically closely fought affair with Cox, who had taken the lead on the third lap from Atkinson, winning by less than half a second from Pett who had taken over in second place on the fourth lap.
Eastern Airways British Sidecar Championship races
Roger Lovelock and Aki Alto held on to take the victory in the day’s first race by a split second from Sunday’s race winners Sean Hegarty/James Neave after a race long duel. Mark Edwards/Lee Barrett ran third ahead of Craig Chaplow/Kees Endeveld and Tony Brown/Ashley Hawes. But in the third encounter it was Hegarty who took charge, winning by over a couple of seconds from Lovelock to open up a 14 points advantage over him in the title stakes.
Milwaukee Yamaha Report
Josh Brookes claimed his first podium finish of the 2014 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship with the Milwaukee Yamaha team at Brands Hatch today after fighting back from his fourth row start in the second race.
In the opening race of the day Brookes was pushing at the front of the pack and crashed unhurt at Druids, ending his race and putting him back on row four for the second race. However a hard-fought race two saw the Australian charge through the field to close in on race leader Shane Byrne over the final laps to claim second place. Tommy Bridewell had a challenging weekend as he pushed to find a setting for the two races, however he was able to finish both races in the top ten scoring a seventh and ninth place result in the two races.
Brookes said: “I was really happy with how the second race went. Over the weekend Milwaukee Yamaha have given me everything I needed to do the job and all the mistakes have been mine so I can’t blame anyone but myself. Starting from tenth in race two wasn’t ideal but I didn’t know where I could finish so I wasn’t sure how it was all going to pan out. My focus was on whoever was in front of me, that might sound stupid, but I was looking at one rider at a time and nothing else. As I made passes I built confidence and caught Shane but it was too late and I wasn’t in a position to make a pass. I am not over the moon with second because we started the weekend with the potential to win races, but it wasn’t to be. We will take the second place and see what we can do at Oulton Park because in the past that has been a superb track for the Milwaukee Yamaha.”
Bridewell said: “We didn’t have the pace to be up there fighting in the races today and we need to have a look at our settings so that we can come back stronger at Oulton Park. We made a good start in the races but then we just couldn’t match the leaders and that was disappointing for me. I couldn’t have ridden any harder today and I am now ready to focus with the team on how we can rectify the pace we had here ready for the next round. Seventh place in the standings is still points towards our championship, so it could have been worse, but I have my goals and winning is one of them.”
Team owner Shaun Muir concluded: “Overall it has been quite a frustrating weekend for Milwaukee Yamaha after our strong pre-season testing campaign and also our good start in free practice. Before qualifying both riders had the pace to be fighting for podiums but four crashes put us on the back foot. Josh tried to dominate from the start in race one and just lost the front and crashed however he showed his real strength in character to be fighting again in race two for the podium finish. Today Tommy had two difficult races but we know that he will come back stronger.”
Tyco Suzuki Report
John Hopkins made a solid start on his return to the British Superbike paddock with Tyco Suzuki, putting the Northern Ireland-based team’s GSX-R1000 on the front row in third position then racing to fifth place in the opening encounter on Bank Holiday Monday.
Hopkins goes into round two at Oulton Park in fortnight’s time holding seventh place in the championship standings. His new team-mate Josh Waters had a tough weekend at Brands taking a solitary point from the opening race at the Kent venue.
In the Supersport class Taylor Mackenzie took eighth place from Monday’s second race after finishing 17th in Sunday’s sprint race.
John Hopkins: “It’s no secret that the Brands Indy circuit wouldn’t be one of my favourites on the British calendar, but we can take a lot of positives from the weekend. Qualifying was tough in the wet conditions, but to put the Tyco Suzuki on the front row was pleasing. Fifth place was a solid enough result, but in race two I made a small uncharacteristic mistake and lost a few places that I couldn’t get back. Oulton Park was good to me last time I was here in British Superbike so it’s a circuit I’m looking forward to racing next time out.”
Josh Waters: “I’m obviously disappointed with my results this weekend, but along with the boys in the team, we worked hard to find a suitable set-up and did make progress. I just need to dig deep now and move things forward at Oulton.”
Philip Neill – Team Manager: “After a long winter it’s good to get the season underway, even though the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit is not the ideal place for us. The weekend didn’t quite return what we had hoped for in terms of results, but we have a strong team spirit and we will be back fighting at Oulton Park for round two.
“A front row qualifying position and a strong ride to fifth in race one for Hopper were the highlights from the weekend, and it was also pleasing to see Josh improving his lap-times as we continue to find the optimum set-up for him.
“Supersport is always a difficult race around the Indy Circuit and Taylor’s second race from 17th on the grid to eighth was pleasing. In reality his weekend was made much harder after a bad qualifying position in very difficult conditions on Sunday. It was also great to see all our sponsors again this weekend. Hopefully we can give them more to celebrate in the upcoming races.”
Anvil Tag Racing Report
The Anvil Hire TAG Racing team enjoyed two promising points scoring finishes in their debut British Superbike Championship outing at the tight and twisty Brands Hatch Indy circuit today.
Richard Cooper scored an eighth and a 15th place finish in the day’s two outings, securing nine points to leave the Kent circuit 12th in the championship, while team-mate Mitchell Carr posted 20th in the opening race, before crashing in race two.
Cooper started the squad’s first ever superbike race from an impressive sixth on the grid following a dramatic wet weather qualifying on Saturday. The 31-year-old Nottingham rider made one of his typically swift starts to battle in the group fighting for a podium place in the early afternoon race, only for the red flags to be brought out following as a result of a competitor’s bike laying oil on the circuit.
Following a lengthy delay, while the organisers cleaned the track surface, Cooper resumed the race from fifth place, but without the advantage he had built up prior to the stoppage. In a thrilling 12-lap dash around the 1.2-mile circuit, Cooper brought the TAG Racing prepared Kawasaki ZX-10R home in eighth place, while Carr made strides to close in on the battle for 16th and bring the sister machine home in 20th.
With race two starting positions determined by the riders’ best laps in race one, Cooper lined up 13th on the grid with Australian debutant Carr 20th. After running in the battle for 10th in the opening laps, Cooper slipped back as low as 16th place but fought back hard to earn a point for 15th after 30 grueling laps. Carr, having made some changes to his bike set-up between the races, was once again running in 20th but slipped off under braking with seven laps to go.
Both races were won by three-time champion Shane Byrne.
The Anvil Hire TAG Racing team was also represented in two of the support class events. Samuel Hornsey, riding the team’s Triumph Daytona 675 in the British Supersport Championship, fought through from 20th in wet weather qualifying to end Saturday’s sprint race in ninth. The 20-year-old Shropshire rider was then involved in a good five-way battle for eighth in Sunday’s 20-lap feature event, taking the flag in 10th for two points scoring finishes and ninth in the championship standings.
In the National Superstock 1000 Championship, the team was represented by brothers Gary and Shaun Winfield. Riding the team’s Kawasaki ZX-10Rs in the championship for the first time, Shaun just missed the cut for Sunday’s race after finishing 15th in the Saturday evening qualifying race, while Gary retired in the opening stages of the race.
The team’s next outing is at Cheshire’s Oulton Park circuit on the weekend of 3-5 May. Images from this weekend’s racing can be viewed and downloaded here.
Richard Cooper: “It was good to get sixth on the grid, even though we always knew that wasn’t really representative of our pace in the dry. That said, I felt comfortable running with John Hopkins in the first race and had it not been stopped we would probably have finished fifth. I’d have liked two top tens but I am happy to have fought back into the points in the second race. There are a lot of positives to take away with us. Our bike is certainly fast but it’s hard going around here and we were struggling a little getting out of Clearways. We’ve got a lot to try at the next round and getting two solid rides under our belts is a good start to the season.”
Mitchell Carr: “It’s been a tough weekend with wet and sketchy qualifying and then a crash in race two. I’m new to everything, the track, the bike, everything… but we are making some inroads and were getting closer to the group in front of us over the weekend. We changed some things on the bike between the races and that improved it in some areas, but I lost the front going into Druids. I’m happy that the first round is done and dusted and we can take a lot of positives on to Oulton Park in a few weeks time.”
MWR Kawasaki Report
It was a tricky start for the MWR Kawasaki team at the opening round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend. Their best result came in the Pirelli National Superstock 600 class with Andrew Irwin who secured 10th place, James Mutton finished in 19th.
In the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship the two riders James Egan and Nicolas Grobler had a difficult weekend and the weather conditions played havoc with track time. With different elements needed to be tested during a dry session the team were unable to put this into play as the rain fell heavily on Sunday. In the wet session both riders set very good times but the dry times counted. This put both riders into the final shoot out race and each were unlucky not to get through to the main race with James finishing in 11th and Nicolas in 14th.
James Egan – “It has been a difficult for us in the MWR camp and we have not had much testing time to get the bike set up correctly. We ran out of dry time this weekend as I had some new things to try but the wet session put a stop to that. We found a good wet set up and we were running well in the wet but knew race day was set to be dry. I used this weekend as a test weekend and will hope that my season is kick started at Oulton Park in a few weeks time.”
Nicolas Grobler – “This year is a huge learning year for me and riding for the MWR team, everything is new for me including all the circuits. Each one I will learn when I get to, I’ve only tested at Snetterton so far. I like it over here it’s a new experience and new challenge for me. I’ve never ridden in the wet before so I was surprised to be able to do the fastest lap in the shoot-out race but it’s a good sign that things should keep improving as the season progresses. I’d like to thank Mark at MWR for this opportunity plus my Dad and girlfriend for their support and Mum who is back home in South Africa. We are testing at Oulton Park next week then racing there the week after so I am really looking forward to that.”
In the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship the MWR team struggled with the lack of dry testing but worked hard to ensure Andrew Irwin and James Mutton had a good set up for the race. Andrew qualified in 13th place on the grid and James in 28th. The race was action packed and a red flagged was shown after only two laps, this forced a full re-start. Both riders got off the line well with Andrew moving up to ninth and James to 21st. Andrew was locked in a six bike battle for ninth place and just missed out dropping to tenth on the line by 0.2 from Levi Day. James worked his way through the field and got up to 19th at the end of the 14-lap race.
Andrew Irwin – “It was a good positive start to the year for me and the MWR Kawasaki team and I have left the first round with some points in the bag which I am pretty pleased with. The MWR Team did a great job to get the bike set up right for the race and everyone worked really hard over the weekend so I’m looking forward to getting to Oulton and hopefully improving my results for the rest of the season.”
James Mutton – “It was a tough weekend and we slowly made progress as the weekend went on and I was able to make up some places during the race after qualifying in 28th place. I managed to get a good set up for race day and made up nine places which I’m pleased with. I hope we can continue to make progress as the season goes on.”
