Cal Crutchlow powered through the pain barrier to take third place, adrift of Shane Byrne and Tom Sykes, and then took a victory in the re-scheduled round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch.
The HM Plant Honda rider sustained a dislocated right ankle and ligament damage in a crash in the Holiday Monday round at Oulton Park and was passed fit to race after lengthy treatment by the Coventry City physio and series’ medics.
He had started alongside Byrne at the front of the grid – the positions had been decided five weeks earlier at the snow aborted opening round, and in total contrast the races were fought out over a sun-drenched Kent grand prix circuit.
Crutchlow made the early running ahead of Tom Sykes aboard the Rizla Suzuki with Byrne running third, though a rare mistake by the former champion as he ran wide at Westfields left him having to make up time.
He put in a series of fast laps to reel them back in and was running second at two thirds distance and soon Crutchlow was beginning to feel the heat.
“I felt comfortable enough even though we were running at a hard pace,” explained Byrne. “I’d just taken Sykes but ran ride and I thought to myself you are an idiot. But a few quick laps towards the end got it back and I took the victory ahead of him.”
He finished 1.855secs clear with Crutchlow third from his team-mate Leon Haslam with Leon Camier running ahead of James Ellison and the MSS Discovery Kawasaki duo of Stuart Easton and Billy McConnell.
Chris Burns won the Daily Star Cup section on his MV Agusta, finishing ahead of Martin Jessopp and John Laverty.
Haslam charged clear at the start of the second race with, as the race settled into a pattern, Crutchlow, Sykes and Byrne in hot pursuit but just before half-distance the leader made an error, running straight on at Surtees and dropping back to eleventh place.
Crutchlow was ahead with Sykes closing in on him and Byrne catching fast but just into the final third of the race, Malcolm Ashley crashed heavily and the Audi Safety Car was introduced while marshals and medics dealt with the incident.
That bunched the pack, with Byrne who had moved second just as the flags came out, instructed to drop back into third place, behind Sykes to avoid the risk of any penalty.
The Safety Car was withdrawn after half a dozen laps, with Race Control extending that scheduled race distance from 20 to 23 laps, but within a lap of the action resuming for real, the red-flags were out.
Sykes went tumbling, without injury, as his Suzuki bucked wildly out of line amid a cloud of oil smoke, the engine blown and spraying oil over the track.
Crutchlow took the victory, reflecting: “If you’d said a couple of days ago I would have done this I would have laughed – I was glad to see the red-flags to stop the race as Shakey was challenging hard, but I hung on.”
Byrne was just 0.110secs down on him, while Camier ran third ahead of Michael Laverty, Michael Rutter, and Haslam while victory in the Daily Star Cup went to Buildbase NW200 Ducati rider John Laverty, ahead of Luke Quigley and Martin Jessopp.
Results - Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch
Race One:
1 Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) 29m 24.345s, 93.89mph
2. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +1.855s
3. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +3.111s
4. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +3.887s
5. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +4.996s
6. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +15.815s
7. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +16.645s
8. Billy McConnell (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +26.446s
9. Simon Andrews (Lloyds British Jentin Racing) +30.384s
10. Tristan Palmer (Tena for Men Honda) +33.728s
Race Two:
1. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda)
2. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) +0.110s
3. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +0.748s
4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +2.221s
5. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) +2.906s
6. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +3.097s
7. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +3.121s
8. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +4.147s
9. Billy McConnell (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +1 lap
10. Scott Smart (Hawk Kawasaki) + 1 lap
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings:1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) 140
2. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) 96
3. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) 83
4. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) 66
5. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 64
