The whole HM Plant Honda team took more vital points for their respective championships at round seven of the Bennetts British Superbike championship today. Cal Crutchlow took another podium finish in race two, after falling in race one and remounting to recover to sixth place. Meanwhile his team-mate Leon Haslam netted two fourth place finishes. Steve Brogan suffered his second DNF in a row in the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport race, but kept his 100% podium record in the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship with a hard-fought second place.
Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR FirebladeRACE ONE: 4th position RACE TWO: 4th position“I’m disappointed about today’s results but I’m looking at the positive side of things. In the second race we were running a second a lap quicker and made some massive improvements, but we were still lacking out of two very important corners: Hizzy’s and Druids. I was trying to make passing moves, but to be fair I chose the wrong tyre and struggled a little with grip. Then I made a mistake, which dropped me out of third. In the first race I didn’t have the right set-up really. It was a tough weekend and not the best we could have had, but tomorrow I head to Suzuka and the Eight-Hour race. I’ve not had as much practice as I would like for that, but it’s a long race and I’m looking forward to it.”
Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant HondaBritish Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR FirebladeRACE ONE: 6th position RACE TWO: 2nd position“The second outing was a good race and I enjoyed it, despite not getting the win we wanted so much. I just don’t know what we have to do to win at the moment, but everyone in the team is working so hard I know we will win again soon. In race one on lap 10 I clipped the kerb with the engine cases at Britten’s and went down out of second place. It was annoying but I got straight back on and recovered to a sixth place finish, which obviously wasn’t what I wanted. I have to congratulate Tom Sykes today. He rode really well to get the double win, so fair play to him.”
Steve Brogan – HM Plant Honda / Honda (UK) RacingBritish Supersport – HM Plant Honda CBR600RRDNFBritish Superstock – Honda (UK) Racing CBR1000RR Fireblade2nd position“It was always going to be hard from 17th on the grid in Supersport, but I felt better after warm-up as we’d made some changes to the chassis and things felt pretty good. I got a good start and got into turn one, but as I exited Old Hall, I picked the bike up only for another rider to ram into my bike, breaking my brake lever. When I went to get on the brakes I realised what happened and waved the guys behind through at Island Bend, as if I had gone into there with no brakes I would have skittled a lot of them. In Superstock I got an average start and Jon Kirkham got the jump on us. He opened up a two second gap and as I tried to close that gap I made a few mistakes. I then decided to play it safe as I had a cushion on the guys behind. You’re only the winner of the championship after race 12 and there’s still a way to go! To be fair, with recovering from the broken left foot I’ve not been at my best but got a 1st and 2nd in Superstock, so it’s now time to rest up before Kn ockhill in three weeks.”
Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager“We’re disappointed for Steve, as he started well from the fifth row, but then had a coming together with another rider. That’s what happens when you start from that far back. In Superstock the foot was giving him some trouble and Jon was able to pull a little bit of a gap, but Steve showed maturity by simply taking the best points he could: five wins from seven starts is still a superb record. Let’s hope he comes back fit and strong for Knockhill. In Superbike the mixed weather conditions again ruled the whole weekend and we found ourselves not able to try too many changes on the HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades. Both Leon and Cal were confident going into both races, but they also learned a lot from race one and made some adjustments which they were much happier with in the second race, which was a close fight. We will take plenty of positives forward to Knockhill in a few weeks’ time.”
Bennetts British Superbike ChampionshipRace One Result:1. Tom Sykes – Suzuki
2. James Ellison – Honda
3.Shane Byrne - Ducati
4. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda5. Simon Andrews – Yamaha
6. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant HondaRace Two Result:1. Tom Sykes - Suzuki
2. Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda3. Shane Byrne – Ducati
4. Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda5. James Ellison – Honda
Championship Points:1. Shane Byrne, Ducati – 312 points
2. Cal Crutchlow, HM Plant Honda – 213 points3. Tom Sykes, Suzuki – 176 points
4. Leon Haslam, HM Plant Honda – 174 points5. Leon Camier, Ducati – 160 points
Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Championship:1. Glen Richards, Triumph – 141 points
2. Hudson Kennaugh, Yamaha – 116 points
3. Ian Lowry, Suzuki – 95 points
4. Steve Brogan, HM Plant Honda – 75 points5. James Westmoreland, Honda – 11 points
Metzeler National Superstock 1000 Championship:1. Steve Brogan, HM Plant Honda – 165 points2. Jon Kirkham, Yamaha – 125 points
3. Marshall Neill, Suzuki – 75 points
4. Alistair Seeley, Yamaha – 74 points
5. Adrian Coates, Yamaha – 67 points
