The first round of British Superbikes kicked off to a cracking start last Easter weekend at Kent’s Brand Hatch Circuit. The weather forecast was hot and sunny for the Bank Holiday break, but no one could have predicted the heat from the competition that was going to be out on track with Bike Animal Honda’s rookie Leon Camier, and HM Plant Honda’s Jonathan Rea racing hard, the two 20 year olds were really showing the crowds what they are made of. Airwaves Ducati rider and BSB veteran Gregorio Lavilla took the double, but not without a fight and numerous crashes during the races to really mess up the pace.
Brands Hatch was buzzing with an estimated 42,000 diehard fans attending race day. The action started at 9am with the warm-up sessions, first out was British Supersport, followed by the BSB boys, Virgin Media Cup, National Superstock Championship, British 125GP Championship and finally the National Superstock Cup. At 11.10am the pit gates opened for the pit walk, thousands of enthusiasts made their way through the tunnel to meet their hero’s and collect autographs.
Maxxis British Supersport Championship At 12.30pm the first of seven anticipated races was ready to start, lined up on the grid and ready to go were the Maxxis British Supersport Championship lads. This was to be a race of many incidents. The first crash saw Relentless Suzuki’s Michael Laverty high-side and Dennis Hobbs crashing out, the race had to be re-started and was reduced to 10 laps. Just two laps after the safety car came in another incident with Virgin Media Optoma Loans Yamaha’s Billy McConnell crashing and the race being stopped. Suzuki’s Laverty ended up winning the race.
Race One, Superbikes Next up was race one of Bennetts British Superbike’s, running slightly late from the previous races incidents. The grid was brimming with brolly dollies and bikes and the stands packed. With HM Plant Honda’s Jonny Rea on pole the race got started, Bike Animal Honda’s Leon Camier got the perfect start ahead of Rizla’s Walker, Airwaves Haslam and Lavilla. Camier held onto the lead for most of the race and after a few small mistakes, Lavilla managed to eventually get through and win the race. Leon Camier took second with Irishman Jonny Rea in third; they were followed by Shakey Byrne, the returning Chris Walker, Leon Haslam, Tom Sykes and last year’s winner Ryuichi Kiyonari.
Virgin Media Cup The fresh raw talent of the Virgin Media Cup were out on grid next, always an exciting and extremely tough series the youngsters were raring to go. Scot David Paton managed to get holeshot into Paddock Hill and was closely followed by Dane Hellyer and BJ Toal. Paton lead for eight laps, then a late braking manoeuvre by Hellyer put them both into the gravel, giving Ulsterman Toal the win.
Metzler National Superstock Championship Last year’s Metzler Superstock winner Hudson Kennaugh fought a tough opening race with Glen Richards who had started on pole, Richards eventually won the battle to take the win.
British 125GP Ashley Beech won an impressive race in the British 125GP Championship opening round. It was a tough challenge for all of the riders with stiff competition throughout. Ashley only just beat Kevin Coghlan and Anthony Rogers by just a couple of seconds.
Race Two, Superbikes After an exhilarating first race, everyone was ready and gagging for race two. Spaniard Lavilla got an impressive start into Paddock Hill, charging ahead of the rest of the pack. It wasn’t long before he managed to pull a ten second lead over Camier, Kiyonari, Rea Haslam and Walker, who were all giving it their all behind.
Rizla’s Byrne went in a bit hot into and was pushed out wide at Hawthorn Bend at 150mph, but managed to stay on his machine. A nasty high-side at Druids from Malcolm Ashley, who was running last, saw the safety car deployed as man and machine were cleared from the middle of the track.
The ten second plus gap between Lavilla and the rest of the group had closed and had made the game more open again. This made no difference to Gregorio who once again raced off leaving Rea and Camier to fight it out for second and third. Fourth went to Haslam, he was followed by Sykes, Harris and Rutter. Kiyonari came in eleventh.
British Superstock Cup First Victory of the season of the Superstock Cup went to James Hurrell.
Last weekend’s racing was just the start of the season, and we have another 12 rounds ahead of us. There are definitely a few new faces out on the grid for us to watch out for the year, with many surprises to come. Watch this space for interviews and the best coverage and galleries.
Bennetts BSB Race 1 Result: 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 28m56.903s,
2, Leon Camier (Honda) +1.701s,
3, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +4.576s,
4, Shane Byrne (Honda) +5.699s,
5, Chris Walker (Suzuki) +6.357s,
6, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +14.868s,
7, Tom Sykes (Honda) +20.794s,
8, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +21.760s,
9, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +26.591s,
10, Michael Rutter (Kawasaki) +30.829s.
Bennetts BSB Race 2 Result: 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 31m09.132s,
2, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +1.308s,
3, Leon Camier (Honda) +2.103s,
4, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +3.834s,
5, Tom Sykes (Honda) +10.456s,
6, Karl Harris (Honda) +10.465s,
7, Michael Rutter (Kawasaki) +11.154s,
8, Chris Walker (Suzuki) +11.261s,
9, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +11.676s,
10, Dean Thomas (Suzuki) +12.317s…
13, Shane Byrne (Honda) +15.667s.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship Positions after Round 2: 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 50pts
2, Leon Camier (Honda) 36pts
3, Jonathan Rea (Honda) 36pts
4, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 23pts
5, Tom Sykes (Honda) 20pts
6, Chris Walker (Suzuki) 19pts
7, Shane Byrne (Honda) 16pts
8, Michael Rutter (Kawasaki) 15pts
9, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 13pts
10, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 12pts
The second and next round of Bennetts British Superbikes is this weekend at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire. We will be covering the event and keep your eyes peeled for the latest galleries.
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