Rain stopped play at the fifth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Mondello Park after torrential rain flooded the Irish circuit. The rain thrashed the 2.176 mile long track and built up throughout the morning and early afternoon with several inches of standing water on the circuit. Despite the best efforts of the marshalls and staff, the decision was finally taken to cancel races.
The Superbike races will not be rescheduled and the Championship will now be decided over points scored in 12, not 13 rounds. The sixth round of the series takes place at Mallory Park in Leicestershire on Sunday, June 4th.
Stuart Higgs, BSB Race Director said:"The meeting has been abandoned due to the amount of water on the track. Everyone did the best job they could to get the riders out for the warm up but the weather deteriorated thereafter and we made the decision to cancel the race meeting."
John Morris, Managing Director, Mondello Park said:“I am bitterly disappointed for the fans, riders, teams and circuit staff. They put in a super human effort to put on a show as good as anything else in the British Superbike Championship and I am genuinely very upset. We could have gone on hoping for conditions to improve but the rain was getting heavier and we made the fair decision early to let people know the racing was cancelled."
Rob McElnea, Team Manager Virgin Mobile Yamaha:“It was a great shame that the meeting at Mondello had to be cancelled. The rain was relentless on race day and with safety paramount we had no alternative but to cancel the event. So many people put such a lot of hard work into making these events happen, not only the teams and riders but all the back room staff, the marshalls and track crew. They were all stretched to the limit trying all they could to make the races happen, the fans really look forward to the BSB heroes coming over to their shore once a year, the support in Ireland for motorcycle racing is fantastic so it was very disappointing for us all that we could not give them a show. After an early morning circuit inspection it was decided that we would try in the warm up and make a decision afterwards. Half an hour later six of the very top Superbike riders had crashed! Everyone really wanted to try and race but the weather would not give in, the marshalls relentlessly using their shovels to try and furrow water away was all in vain as the heavens continued to open. We have to pick up and get ready for Tommy’s first World superbike race this weekend so not much time to dry out, watch this space!!"
Championship Positions after five of 12 rounds:1: Lavilla 182,
2: Haslam 121,
3: Kiyonari 108,
4: Harris 88,
5: Shane Byrne 81,
6: Rea 75,
7: Rutter 61,
8=: Laverty 52,
8=: Tommy Hill (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) 52,
10: Scott Smart 50,
20, Billy Mcconnell (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) 6,
25, Kieran Clarke (Virgin Mobile Yamaha) 2
Related Linkswww.virginmobileracing.com
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