Josh Brookes does British Superbike Double at Thruxton
British Superbike 2014 – Round Six – Thruxton – Superbike Race One
1: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha)
2: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +4.306s
3: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +5.058s
4: Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +6.039s
5: Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) +7.616s
6: Jakub Smrz (Millsport Ducati) +11.698s
British Superbike 2014 – Round Six – Thruxton – Superbike Race Two
1: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha)
2: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) +0.204s
3: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) +0.467s
4: Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) +3.343s
5: Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) +7.734s
6: Jon Kirkham (Halsall Biker Gear Kawasaki) +8.481s
British Superbike 2014 – Round Six – Thruxton – Superbike Championship Points Standings
1: Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 261
2: Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 179
3: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 139
4: James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 124
5: Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 116
6: Dan Linfoot (Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki) 116
Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes celebrated his first double win in the 2014 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Thruxton, holding off his arch title rivals and triple champions Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne and Ryuichi Kiyonari with just 0.467s covering the top three in race two.
The Australian shrugged aside his disappointments of missing out on the podium in recent rounds as he proved he is ready to get his assault on the championship back on track as he bids to close down series leader Byrne.
Brookes fired ahead of Dan Linfoot from the local Quattro Plant Bournemouth Kawasaki team in the opener, then settled into rhythm to increase his lead over series leader Byrne who had pounded his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki into second place.
Brookes took the victory by four seconds and said: “Once I was in front I focused on the strengths of my bike and kept pushing as hard as I could where I was strong. I maintained good lap times and the gap just grew and grew. It was exciting for me to win that race and get some points back on Shakey.”
Byrne held off the determined challenges from Buildbase BMW rider Ryuichi Kiyonari to take second from his Japanese rival with Linfoot finishing fourth. Next time out, Byrne was keen to make amends, forging into and early lead, but the race was red-flagged because of an oil spill.
On the restart Byrne made another flying start ahead of Linfoot, but Brookes was determined and moved from fourth to second in one fell swoop at the Club Chicane and then a lap later passed Byrne at Seagrave. This time Brookes was unable to break the triple champions but the Australian still claimed his second victory of the day by 0.204s from Byrne and Kiyonari.
Brookes said: “The second race was so much harder with Shakey and Dan (Linfoot) in front of me battling and I didn’t want to caught up in anything. I threw caution to the wind, passing them and then got a small gap, but that came down to almost nothing. I think this double win proves we are ready to get this fight back on track for the championship.”
Linfoot continued his best performance of the season with a fourth place ahead of Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki’s Chris Walker and Jon Kirkham on the Halsall Bike Gear Kawasaki.
Byrne admits he was disappointed not to leave Thruxton with a race victory after doubling up on second places for the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki. Byrne still holds the advantage in the overall standings but is ready to come back fighting at Oulton Park.
Shane Byrne: “In the greater scheme of things, I should be ecstatic with two second place finishes and 40 points given all the problems we had in practice and qualifying but I rode my heart out in both races and I am a bit disappointed not to have grabbed a win. I made a few mistakes in the first race which allowed Josh to make the break and the team did a great job to give me a bike I could challenge for the race win in the second race so I was more confident. I had to work so hard to keep up with Josh though and thought I might be able to nick it on the last lap but it almost ended in tears as I had to scrub off an awful lot of speed so as not to collide with him. It’s more points and fair play to Josh as he rode superbly all weekend but we’ll see what we can do at Oulton next weekend.”
Kiyonari scored another double podium finish as the War for Four titles continued at Thruxton. The Buildbase BMW rider believed Byrne had the measure of him at the high-speed track, but is ready for payback at Oulton Park in a few days’ time.
Kiyonari said: “That was a hard race and I tried so hard to pass Shakey. I almost did it but his braking was a bit stronger than me and he was mentally fighting hard. I had many chances but I just wasn’t strong enough or in some places brave enough! I enjoyed the battle with Josh and Shakey and we have been fighting for wins and podiums again which makes me happy. The Buildbase BMW is very fast and I will be more aggressive and try even harder at Oulton Park.”
Supersport
Graeme Gowland scored an incredible Feature race victory in the second Motorpoint British Supersport Championship contest of the weekend with five riders vying for the victory and all of them separated by just 0.685s at the finish line.
Over thirteen laps the leader was different each time they crossed the line and at the start Alastair Seeley headed the field from Luke Mossey and Gowland. However the battle for the podium positions continued to intensify throughout the race with the lead changing several times every lap.
Mossey hit the front of the pack on the second lap, but then Seeley was back ahead. The pair duelled for the position but soon Luke Jones was in the mix and he fired ahead of the pair to move to the front. His lead was then short lived as Mossey and then Gowland edged in front.
Seeley wasn’t giving up without a fight and by the tenth lap the Martrain Yamaha rider was back leading the pack, only to lose out to Mossey a lap later. The lead continued to change over the final half of the race and as it came to the final lap Billy McConnell and the Smiths Racing Triumph had the advantage. However on the final lap Gowland made a decisive move into Club for the last time, dramatically moving from fourth place into the lead on the run down to the chicane.
Gowland defended hard and he held the position on the drag to the line from Mossey, McConnell and Jones, who made an impressive comeback after running wide and dropping down the order in the closing stages. Seeley held fifth from Luke Stapleford with Glenn Irwin holding off the charge from James Rispoli.
Alex Olsen again scored victory in the Supersport Evo race ahead of David Allingham and Danny Webb.
Billy McConnell: “My head was a bit down after the first race but I took it on the chin and I’m happy enough with how the weekend ended although I thought I’d timed it right to win the second race. I hit the front at a really good time but for some reason, I struggled all weekend through that final sector with the wind buffeting me and there wasn’t much I could do about the other boys coming by. The team have worked really hard all weekend and we’ve scored some good points what with the racing being close, I think we can all expect every race from now until the end of the season to be like that!”
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship, Thruxton, Feature race:
1. Graeme Gowland (Smiths Triumph)
2. Luke Mossey (Techcare Profile Triumph) +0.077s
3. Billy McConnell (Smiths Triumph) +0.167s
4. Luke Jones (Premier Velocity Triumph) +0.390s
5. Alastair Seeley (MarTrain Yamaha) +0.685s
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings after Thruxton:
1. Graeme Gowland (Smiths Triumph) 192
2. Billy McConnell (Smiths Triumph) 191
3. Alastair Seeley (MarTrain Yamaha) 188
4. Luke Jones (Premier Velcocity Triumph) 152
5. Luke Stapleford (Profile Triumph) 143
Superstock 1000
Lee Jackson took out the Superstock 1000 category ahead of Danny Buchan and Jason O’Halloran. David Johnson carded a 12th place result.
Superstock 600
Kyle Ryde took out the Superstock 600 bout while Australian Levi Day failed to convert his front row start into good points, the South Australian failing to finish after being struck by another rider. Benjamin Currie was in the points with a 16th place finish.
