Category:
Racing
Created: 06 October 2006
Ryuichi Kiyonari was crowned the Bennetts British Superbike Champion as he took a victory and then a second place to Leon Haslam in an eventful incident packed final round at Brands Hatch.
But there was heart-break for the defending title holder Gregorio Lavilla who saw his hoped of retaining the crown for a second year ended when he crashed out on the opening lap of the re-started first race, and then was sidelined by a gearbox problem next time out.
The Spaniard could only watch disconsolately as the two pretenders for the crown slugged it out amid the heavy showers one of which had brought the first race on the afternoon to halt on the fourth lap. Haslam had his Airwaves Ducati ahead at that point: “I was gutted that I had to call the race stop but the conditions were deteriorating, it was too wet.”
He made the running on the re-start, but was a little concerned by “an engine noise” but that cleared, and having traded places with the HM Plant Honda of Kiyonari was running second when the race was red-flagged again, this time because of Shane Byrne’s high-side off his Rizla Suzuki on the approach to Druids.
Also present today was the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team, with one of their riders; John Hopkins. John had familerised himself with the circuit the day before in wet conditions, and once again it was wet, but that didn't stop him going out and on the first lap doing a huge stand-up wheelie the length of the straight in front of the grand-stand. Everyone cheered him on and the noise was incredible, a real treat for the race-fans. Could MotoGP run here next year?
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