British Superbike 2014 – Round Five – Brands Hatch
Ryuichi Kiyonari beat off a hard-fought challenge from Shane Byrne to win the opening race of the fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. However he couldn’t repeat the feat in the second wet race as Australian Josh Waters powered to his debut victory in the series.
Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki’s Byrne had led at the start, but was under pressure from James Ellison and Kiyonari. The Japanese rider snatched the lead with three laps remaining to take the victory by 0.103s aboard his Buildbase BMW.
Kiyonari said: “In practice I was not as fast, but the team changed things on the bike and got it working well. That is why I can I can hardly believe we won, it is down to my team and I am very happy.”
Ellison took third ahead of his Lloyds British GBmoto Kawasaki team-mate Chris Walker with Dan Linfoot enjoying his best result of the season on the Quattro Plant Kawasaki in fifth place ahead of Milwaukee Yamaha’s Josh Brookes.
Byrne was eager to make amends in race two, charging his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki into the lead but the race was stopped after three laps by a spectacular crash by Ellison. Ellison’s bike cart-wheeled across the track and Byrne was clipped by the flying machine. Byrne said: “It was a bit of worry when I saw it. James went onto the grass and his bike came around and hit me and that squeezed my fingers against the lever.”
The re-start lasted only four laps before it was halted by rainfall. The race restarted in wet conditions and Waters took charge on the Tyco Suzuki to take his maiden win in the series. Waters said: “This is awesome and not something I was expecting after the weekend I have had, but it was pretty cool when I got the lead. Then with five laps to go I was concentrating on keeping the gap.”
Waters took the win by almost five seconds from Anvil Hire TAG Kawasaki’s Richard Cooper and Keith Farmer on the PR Racing Kawasaki, who also scored their first podium finish in the championship. Tommy Bridewell ran fourth on the Milwaukee Yamaha with Byrne finishing in fifth.
Waters continued; “It’s just what we all needed and the win is as much for Philip Neill and the boys in the team and everyone at Suzuki and Tyco; and all our other sponsors, as it is for me. It will certainly make my flight to Japan a lot more pleasurable and my lucky Irish Leprechaun charm, that the boys got me, is packed and making the trip to Suzuka!”
Some consolation for Byrne was being crowned the “Monster Energy King of Brands”, with the results across the two races combined to decide the victor. Byrne also increased his lead in the standings to 92 points over Josh Brookes who struggled to eighth, whilst race one winner Kiyonari was forced out of the second race by a technical problem.
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“I thought I would go forward in the wet second race with those conditions, but I didn’t have the confidence in the wet either. At one point I was starting to get a feeling that I could make a bit of progress and then I ran off the track when the bike slid. I then just bought it home and thought, don’t bust it here, save it for the next round”.
Championship standings:
- Shane Byrne (Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki) 221
- Josh Brookes (Milwaukee Yamaha) 129
- James Ellison (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 124
- Ryuichi Kiyonari (Buildbase BMW) 107
- Tommy Bridewell (Milwaukee Yamaha) 101
- Chris Walker (Lloyds British GBmoto Racing Kawasaki) 96
British Supersport
Mar-Train Yamaha’s Alastair Seeley closed in on Billy McConnell in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings after a stunning double win in the Feature race.
Graeme Gowland had led off the start from Luke Jones and Jake Dixon with Seeley holding fourth, but the ‘Wee Wizard’ was determined and moved up to third over the opening laps. At the front Jones moved ahead of Gowland, but Seeley was pushing hard.
Seeley hit the front on the fifth lap and then was coming under huge pressure from his Smiths Racing Triumph’s Gowland but the former champion kept his cool. Gowland was pushing until the final lap to make a move, but Seeley was defending hard to hold the lead to the line with Jones in third.
Seeley said: “I’ll take this win! It has been a dream weekend for me with two wins. We knew that we had to get back into it here and not let the Smiths boys get away with it. We went away for a two day test, worked our butts off and it got me more comfortable with the bike. This weekend you can see what I can do when we are comfortable.”
Billy McConnell: “It’s been a very tough weekend for myself although it started off well as the bike felt good and I was confident of being up there. In the first race, I made a good start and I went into Druids 1kph slower than the previous lap but trailed the front brake for a bit longer and down I went. We made a few changes before today’s race but I didn’t feel good with the front end and whilst I could run a decent pace on my own, when I was in amongst other riders, I couldn’t. I got a finish and I’ve kept my championship lead so we’ll go away, look at a few things to see how we can improve and move forward once more.”
In the Evo battle Alex Olsen extended his advantage at the top of the standings with another victory ahead of Danny Webb and David Allingham.
Motorpoint British Supersport Championship standings after Brands Hatch GP:
- Billy McConnell (Smiths Racing Triumph) 162
- Alastair Seeley (Mar-Train Yamaha) 152
- Graeme Gowland (Smiths Racing Triumph) 151
- Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing Triumph) 124
- Luke Jones (Acumen Industrial Services/T3) 119
Motul British Motostar Championship
Aussie Olly Simpson enjoyed his first winning ride in the series easing his KTM home ahead of his Moto3 rivals, Jordan Weaving and Joe Irving. Bradley Ray aboard the FAB Racing EE was fourth overall and won the 125GP category ahead of Taz Taylor (FPW Hookless Holidays Honda) and Ed Rendell on the Banks Honda.
Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship
Danny Buchan made it four wins from five starts to extend his lead in the title stakes, but the Tsingtao WK Kawasaki had a real fight on his hands. Lee Jackson battled hard, briefly snatching the lead on the Buldbase BMW, but then being forced back into third place by the determined Honda-riding Aussie Jason O’Halloran. Defending champion Hudson Kennaugh was fourth.
David Johnson suffered a huge high-side and is battered and bruised but on the upside has no broken bones to report.
David Johnson said. “I am disappointed not to have added to our points tally in the Superstock race, but am really pleased for Keith’s podium. I made the wrong tyre choice during qualifying that meant I qualified badly. Then the rear of the bike let go at Westfield Bend in lap 7 throwing me in to the gravel. I feel sore with bruising on my upper body, but no broken bones. I have every faith in the guys to get the bike ready for Thruxton, where I will be all out for a win.”
Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship
Kyle Ryde moved into second place in the standings after taking his second victory of the season aboard the PacedayZ Trackdays Yamaha, running over a second clear of Joe Collier on the Be Wiser Kawasaki . MWR Kawasaki’s Andrew Irwin took third with series leader Andy Reid fifth on the FFX Yamaha. James Lodge finished twelfth overall to slip to fourth in the standings after this weekend, behind Collier.
South Australia’s Levi Day carded a creditable eighth while countryman Benjamin Currie finished 19th.
Tyco Suzuki Report
Popular Australian Josh Waters took his maiden British Superbike victory, and Tyco Suzuki’s first top-step of the season, during a shortened BSB race two at Brands Hatch on the GP circuit on Sunday.
The former Australian Superbike champion forced his Tyco Suzuki GSX-R1000 to the front of field in the opening laps of the 15-lap encounter on a wet and treacherous Brands Hatch GP circuit, and from there the affable Aussie stretched his lead to an unassailable five seconds.
A delighted Waters, who heads to Japan today in preparation for next weekend’s Suzuka 8-hour with the Yoshimura Suzuki team, said: “I’m absolutely over the moon to have got my first BSB win and to have done it with Tyco Suzuki is just amazing. The team has shown great faith in me and although it was unexpected, I felt great on the bike in that second race. I did think to myself, ‘they are going to catch me’ but I rode a pretty solid race and the GSX-R1000 was faultless.
“It’s just what we all needed and the win is as much for Philip Neill and the boys in the team and everyone at Suzuki and Tyco; and all our other sponsors, as it is for me. It will certainly make my flight to Japan a lot more pleasurable and my lucky Irish Leprechaun charm, that the boys got me, is packed and making the trip to Suzuka!”
His team-mate John Hopkins had an equally impressive ride in the opening 20-lap race. Unfortunately Hopper stalled his bike following the warm-up lap due to a clutch adjustment problem, and when the full grid was forced into an additional warm-up lap, the number 21 Tyco Suzuki was left to start from the rear of the grid.
Visibly frustrated and fired-up, Hopper showed some of his best moves on track this season, lifting himself to ninth at the end of the race. In the second race after a strong start, he drifted back to finish 10th.
Hopkins said: “I’m obviously disappointed and was angry at the time to have to start from the back row of the grid, but also pleased that I was able to pass so many riders. I’m not sure what exactly the problem was with the clutch lever, but it was an encouraging finish, although I do believe we could have been in that front group challenging for a podium had we not had the problem.”
Team Manager Philip Neill said: “What a fantastic ride from Josh today. I can’t express how happy we are for him as a team, as he is one of the nicest guys in racing and his talent is unquestionable.
“It’s fair to say we have had a tough start to the year, but I’m confident this is a turning point. We have always been confident in the performance level of the GSX-R and a fighting ninth place for John in race one was also a very respectable result from the back of the grid.
“In Supersport Taylor is fighting as hard as ever, and again we believe he has the talent to progress further as the season progresses. We have already implemented some additional benefits this weekend off the track, which should help him push closer to where his talent deserves to be in the class.”
Taylor Mackenzie said of his weekend: “It’s a case of trying to qualifying stronger in the coming rounds, but I was a lot happier with today’s performance than Saturday’s race. I had a really good morning warm up which inspired confidence and I wasn’t so far away from the front group in today’s race with some good lap times.”
Milwaukee Yamaha Report
The Milwaukee Yamaha team have vowed to come back stronger after a challenging fifth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch.
In the opening race of the day both riders were determined to fight their way through the pack, but for Josh Brookes he was unable to match his pace from earlier in the weekend and battled to sixth position, whilst Tommy Bridewell was forced to retire.
The second race was halted twice and was restarted in wet conditions. Bridewell was eager to score points for his championship challenge after missing out in race one and worked his way up to fourth place with some decisive moves. Brookes meanwhile had been picking off the riders ahead of him, but then on the tenth lap he ran on at Surtees. The Australian was able to rejoin and salvage an eighth place finish to leave Brands Hatch in second place in the overall standings.
Brookes said: “I am not sure why it has been difficult this weekend. The thing that troubles me the most is that I went faster on Friday than I have done the rest of the weekend. In second practice I did a lot of good times, consistently. The rest of the weekend I have not even been able to get close to those times and I even crashed in qualifying trying. We have had an off weekend, of course you would like to be perfect at every event, but for some reason I didn’t have a good feeling for the bike after the crash.
“I thought I would go forward in the wet second race with those conditions, but I didn’t have the confidence in the wet either. At one point I was starting to get a feeling that I could make a bit of progress and then I ran off the track when the bike slid. I then just bought it home and thought, don’t bust it here, save it for the next round”.
Bridewell said: “Today was a testing day for me and the team to be honest. We showed a really good and strong pace all weekend. I loved riding my bike in all the conditions today though so all credit the team. We have made no secret we have had a niggling brake problem the last couple of races and it got the better of us in race one which forced me to DNF. We did everything possible to solve it and then it rained, so we can’t be certain we fixed the problem, but we didn’t have any issues in race two. All in all it has been a satisfying weekend, we are fifth in the championship, and we are not a million miles away so we can’t be too disappointed.”
Team co-ordinator Mick Shanley said: “This weekend has not been what we expected, especially when free practice started well for us. In qualifying and the races though, we struggled to match that pace and we now need to work hard to work out why and resolve that ready for Thruxton. It has been frustrating as we know we should be pushing for more than what we have achieved today, but we need to focus our efforts on Thruxton and we will be doing everything to fulfil our potential.”
Smiths Triumph Report
The Smiths Triumph Racing Team endured mixed fortunes at round five of the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship at Brands Hatch this weekend with Graeme Gowland taking a brace of second places but team-mate Billy McConnell suffering a first race crash and seeing his championship reduced further with a sixth place in race two.
Northumberland rider Gowland and Australian McConnell lined up in second and fourth places respectively for Saturday’s 12 lap Sprint race and the duo maintained their positions in the opening two laps. By lap three, Adelaide’s McConnell was up to second but a lap later his race was over as he crashed out at Druids so it was left to Allandale, near Hexham rider Gowland to fly the flag for the Gloucester-based 2012 British Champions.
This he did and for the remainder of the race as he was locked in battle with Alastair Seeley and despite never being much of a gap, the Ulsterman held on for the win with Graeme, aboard the factory-backed Triumph 675R machine, just a fraction behind in second place.
It all meant the championship table had closed up considerably prior to today’s 18 lap Feature race and it was to change further by the conclusion of the race as Seeley and Gowland battled all the way for the lead with McConnell down the order in sixth.
Just like Saturday’s race, there was nothing between Seeley and Gowland but try as he might, the Geordie was unable to get close enough to make a pass stick and he had to settle for his second runner-up spot of the weekend. McConnell, meanwhile, slipped back to seventh at one stage before fighting back to claim sixth place and what could prove to be ten valuable championship points.
McConnell still leads the Motorpoint British Championship by ten points from Seeley with Gowland a single point further back in third with 14 races still to go.
Graeme Gowland: “I’m disappointed not to have won a race this weekend but at the same time, I’m happy as I came into the meeting 41 points off the championship lead and now I’m only 11 points away from Billy. I felt like I had a bike good enough to win but whilst I could draw alongside Alastair, I just couldn’t quite get enough drive out of the corners to make a pass happen so had to settle for a close second in each race. With Alastair’s wins I’ve dropped a spot to third overall but there’s now only 11 points between the three of us with everything to play for. We’ve a really busy period of racing coming up and I’m really looking forward to be racing week in week out and building on our points tally.”
Billy McConnell: “It’s been a very tough weekend for myself although it started off well as the bike felt good and I was confident of being up there. In the first race, I made a good start and I went into Druids 1kph slower than the previous lap but trailed the front brake for a bit longer and down I went. We made a few changes before today’s race but I didn’t feel good with the front end and whilst I could run a decent pace on my own, when I was in amongst other riders, I couldn’t. I got a finish and I’ve kept my championship lead so we’ll go away, look at a few things to see how we can improve and move forward once more.”
Rebecca Smith, Team Manager: “The weekend started well for the team and we had high hopes of scoring some good results even though the changeable weather made it difficult for everyone. Both of the riders qualified well but Billy’s crash dented his confidence a bit although he rode a solid race today to score some solid points and maintain his championship lead. Graeme rode fantastically well all weekend and he can consider himself unlucky not to have won one of the races but with a brace of seconds, it’s really closed the championship up. We’ve got a busy period ahead of us with the meetings coming up so we’ll look forward to the next round at Thruxton now and getting back on to the top step.”
