Ryuichi Kiyonari and Shane Byrne took the victories in a dramatic, incident packed eighth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Knockhill which has left the title race wide-open. As the series heads for next Sunday’s Oulton Park round, only 20 points separate the leading trio. Gregorio Lavilla, after a day of misfortune, saw his lead over his Airwaves Ducati team-mate Leon Haslam reduced to just eleven, while Kiyonari was denied the opportunity to make up further ground by a second race machine failure.
And there a best ever result for 19 year old Jonathan Rea. The Red Bull Honda rider had taken his first pole of the season at record breaking pace, and after a fourth place in the opener, battled brilliantly to take second place next time out. Poignantly, he stopped on his slow down lap at Duffus Dip, marking the spot were a heavy crash two years ago had threatened his career.
“Awesome,” smiled Rea, adding “It’s nice to put one over the official Honda team.” It was a moment to treasure for the Ballyclare rider whose maturing style has put him among the front running pack – now he is planning maiden race winning glory.
That will come easily, such is the intensity and determination among the leading contenders for the crown. Byrne, delighted to be re-united with his Rizla Suzuki race bikes, stolen on the eve of a test session at Croft but subsequently recovered nearby from a heap of farmyard manure, was hot on the charge.
He made the perfect start to the opener, but was struggling with grip and could do nothing as Haslam powered ahead of him, and then Kiyonari pushed him back to third place. Lavilla was running fourth, but at the hairpin, he all but stopped, a throttle problem causing momentary problems. He was soon back on the charge, but had too much to do, having to settle for eleventh place.
Kiyonari took the lead with five laps remaining, and then Haslam ran wide at the Hairpin, leaving the way open for Byrne to charge through into second place. The former champion’s team worked frantically between races to change the setting of the bike, and Byrne repaid them handsomely.
He was running out front from the start, and able to increase his lead lap by lap, smashing the record in the process while behind him Haslam was trying everything he knew to stay in contention. The Derbyshire rider was also being harassed by Lavilla, who, hot on the charge, was keen to avenge his earlier disappointment.
But, it was to end in tears for the reigning champion as he crashed heavily out of contention with four laps remaining – the Spaniard dislocated the little finger of his left hand, but will be fit to race next Sunday at the Cheshire circuit.
Rea lessened slightly the hurt for Lavilla as he nosed into second place, ahead of Haslam, to enjoy his first ever visit to the Superbike podium, but his joy hardly matched that of Byrne.
“Mega – the team have done a great job for me. No-one knows how much this result means to me. I was beginning to think, I’ve come back to this series but cannot win a race.
“This is a great result for me. The team transformed the bike between the races and then it was up to me to ride consistently, getting ahead and then pulling clear,” explaied Byrne. The win lifts him to fourth in the rankings, 94 points down on Lavilla, whose advantage has been cut 244-233 by Haslam, twice third here. Kiyonari is third with 224 points, and all to play for.
James Buckingham took a winning double in the British Superbike Cup class, and that despite riding his spare Quay Garage Honda, having experienced a gearbox problem in the raceday warm-up session.
Results: Race One 1 R Kiyonari HM Plant Honda 24m 34.062s, 92.99mph
2 S Byrne Rizla Suzuki 24:34.653
3 L Haslam Airwaves Ducati 24:35.523
4 J Rea Red Bull Honda 24:36.423
5 M Laverty Stobart Honda 24:49.520
6 C Coxhell Hawk Kawasaki 24:53.266
Fastest lap: Kiyonari 48.731secs, 93.91mph
Race Two:1 S Byrne Rizla Suzuki 24:28.093, 93.37mph
2 J Rea Red Bull Honda 24:31.247
3 L Haslam Airwaves Ducati 24:31.547
4 T Hill Virgin Mobile Yamaha 24:44.635
5 M Laverty Stobart Honda 24:44.876
6 K Harris HM Plant Honda 24:47.248
Fastest lap: Byrne 48.474secs, 94.41mph (record)
Championship standings:1 G Lavilla 244
2 L Haslam 233
3 R Kiyonari 224
4 S Byrne 150
5 K Harris 129
6 J Rea 129
7 M Laverty 118
8 T Hill 108
9 S Smart 74
10 G Richards 72
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