In race 1 the drama engulfed the opening British Superbike race at Oulton Park. With rain spotting as the riders took their positions at the end of the sighting lap, the red flag brought a swift conclusion as a host of riders, including holeshot rider Tom Sykes, crashing at the first corner.
A swift re-start ensued of the full 18-lap race distance. Sykes took the holeshot on his Rizla Suzuki again, stretching his lead to almost a second from Crutchlow’s HM Plant Honda by the culmination of the opening lap. Byrne, Haslam and Camier fought doggedly for third as Crutchlow took the lead with a classic manoeuvre at Lodge on lap 2.
Further down the field, Tom Grant on his first-ever Superbike ride, deputising for the injured Adam Jenkinson on the SMT Honda, was admirably holding his own in the wet conditions in eighth. Looking as if he may post a memorable top ten finish, his Honda stopped inexplicably on the final lap with a technical problem at Denton.
Cal Crutchlow looked to be dominating from the front, as he did at Thruxton two weeks ago. Stretching his lead over Byrne to 2.5s, an uncharacteristic error saw Cruthlow fall victim to Lodge corner, re-joining the race back in fifth with Byrne gifted an unbeatable lead. Leon Haslam conserved his tyres during the opening laps and set about chasing down Byrne in the closing stages. With time running out, Haslam clawed his way to just 0.2s from Byrne as the pair entered the final lap. Haslam took his chance with a determined pass at Island but paid the price, running wide into the Shell Oils hairpin. Byrne kept a tight defensive line, using all of the Airwaves Ducati’s torque to claim victory by 0.2s out of the final corner.
Race 2Shane Byrne capped off a remarkable weekend at Oulton Park, with his 20th British Superbike victory and his first double since his championship winning year of 2003. As six riders fanned out on the brakes into Hizzy’s Chicane for the second time, Byrne ran too hot, taking to the grass and losing nine places in the process. At the front, Sykes made the running with the HM Plant Honda duo of Crutchlow and Haslam in hot pursuit.
James Ellison on the Hydrex Bike Animal Honda, looked to be posting the ride of the day. Starting from ninth on the grid, Ellison latched onto the front three to make an eight-wheel breakaway. However, despite playing catch-up, Shane Byrne was the man on the move. Posting successive quickest laps of the race, Byrne elevated the Airwaves Ducati up into fourth and just 1.9s off race leader Tom Sykes’s Rizla Suzuki by lap 10.
Drama would unfold over the next few laps. Sykes looked strong at the front, but for the second meeting in succession fell victim to a hard move from Haslam as the Honda rider looked for the inside line into Hizzy’s on lap 11. Sykes crashed out, with Haslam re-joining back in fifth as Byrne moved up to second. One lap later, and Byrne slipped past Crutchlow at Island to take a deserved race lead. Haslam would eventually be removed from the results of race 2 for what was deemed ‘Careless riding in the course of a meeting’ by the series officials.
Rob Mac Racing Yamaha rider, Karl Harris’ season of bad luck continued as he crashed out for the second time today at Druids from tenth on lap 12. One lap later, and Crutchlow found himself joining Harris deep in the Druids gravel trap. A further incident involving Steve Mercer and Dean Ellison at Hill Top brought about the red flag and the race result declared.
Shane Byrne took his second win of the day and was joined on the podium again by teammate Leon Camier in third, his first podiums since Thruxton 12 months ago. James Ellison made his first visit to the podium on his return to racing in the UK.
The turnaround for riders will be short, as the deferred opening round has been rescheduled to take place at Brands Hatch next weekend, 10/11 May.
Shane Byrne: “This was the result I was looking for. It’s been an up and down weekend with the weather but Airwaves Ducati have given me a great bikes for both the wet and dry. I’m absolutely ecstatic with the result for the team’s hard work. It was great to see Leon (Camier) up there too. He’s had a tough time of it so far and deserves the result as he’s a real good rider. Hopefully this will be the shape of things to come!”
Gianmarco Spigolon, Pirelli Director of Motorcycle Business Unit (UK): “Both races were a fantastic advert for the Championship and for Pirelli. It is so good to see the likes of Ellison up at the front. I feel sorry for Sykes as he rode very well, but that is just racing. The Ducati does look very strong so far, but the overall race pace from all the riders was very encouraging to see and produced some fantastic close fought battles.”
Race 1 Result:1) Byrne (Ducati)
2) Haslam (Honda)
3) Camier (Ducati)
4) Rutter (Ducati)
5) Sykes (Suzuki)
6) Crutchlow (Honda)
7) M.Laverty (Suzuki)
8) J.Ellison (Honda)
9) Palmer (Honda)
10) Easton (Kawasaki)
Race 2 Result:
1) Byrne (Ducati)
2) J.Ellison (Honda)
3) Camier (Ducati)
4) M.Laverty (Suzuki)
5) Easton (Kawasaki)
6) Rutter (Ducati)
7) Andrews (Yamaha)
8) Smart (Kawasaki)
9) Watanabe (Suzuki)
10) McConnell (Kawasaki)
Championship Standings:
1) Byrne – 95
2) Camier – 56
=3) Crutchlow – 55
=3) Rutter – 55
5) J.Ellison – 46
6) Laverty – 39
7) Easton – 34
8) Haslam – 33
9) Sykes – 29
10) Palmer – 18
