Byrne and Crutchlow take the victories in more dramatic action

12 May 2008 | Press release

Brands Hatch – Sunday 11 May 2008

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The Safety Car was withdrawn after half a dozen laps, with Race Control extending that scheduled race distance from 20 to 23 laps, but within a lap of the action resuming for real, the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

BAYLISS DOES THE DOUBLE ONCE AGAIN!

29 April 2008 | Press release

Assen (The Netherlands) Sunday 27th April: Troy Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) celebrated victory once more as he climbed on to the top step of the podium in both of today's races at Assen. Troy and his Ducati 1098 F08 dominated both races, although the Australian rider faced something of a battle against Yamaha rider Haga in the second outing this afternoon. A perfect finish to a weekend in which Bayliss has been consistently strong, and these wins, his fourth and fifth of the ten races held so far this season, mean that his lead in the riders championship is extended to 70 points. Bayliss now holds 178 points and second-placed Checa has so far accumulated 108.

A less fortunate day for team-mate Michel Fabrizio who has been suffering from pain in his right forearm, severe enough to mean that he was unable to finish either race at the Dutch track today. Having lost ground at the start of Race 1 after he and Smrz made contact through the first curve, Michel was able to make up several positions over the first few laps but then a mistake in his braking, due to pain in his arm, meant that he came off and was unable to rejoin. In Race 2 the pain worsened to such an extent that he could no longer use his right arm to brake and unfortunately this again signalled a DNF result. The young rider will undergo surgery tomorrow.

Ducati still leads the manufactures championship with 190 points, and a 64 point lead over closest rival Yamaha.

Troy Bayliss (Race 1 - winner, Race 2 - winner)
"I'm very happy of course, it's been an incredible weekend. This is the last time I'll race Superbikes here at Assen. It's perfect in that the first time I raced at this track I had a big battle with Nori and now again here this year. That first year he won and so it's fitting that in my last visit here, this time I was able to beat him. We've been going well all weekend and were able to take pole and then I made a really good start in both races. I think I'm riding for the best team in the paddock at the moment so I thank my guys, the Ducati Xerox Team, again for their hard work, and we go to Monza with 50 extra points in the bag."

Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 - DNF, Race 2 - DNF)
"I made quite a good start in race 1 but at the very first curve me and Smrz made contact and so I went wide and lost several places. I was able to make up a few places to reach sixteenth but my arm was pretty painful and I made a mistake in my braking and went off. Between the first and second race I went to the medical centre for treatment but unfortunately in Race 2 the pain in my right arm was much worse and I wasn't able to brake at all, which meant I had to stop. Tomorrow my arm will be operated on, in the hope that doing that immediately will mean I can be back on the bike as soon as possible. I am very disappointed with the outcome of the weekend but I need to fix my arm before I can be competitive again."

RESULTS: Race 1 - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox); 2. Checa (Honda); 3. Neukirchner (Suzuki) Race 2 - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox), 2. Haga (Yamaha); 3. Checa (Honda)

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: Riders - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 178; 2. Checa (Honda) 108; 3. Corser (Yamaha) 89; Nieto (Suzuki) 85; 5. Xaus (Ducati) 81; 6. Haga (Yamaha) 67...... 13. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 37. Manufacturers - Ducati 190; Yamaha 126; Suzuki 113; Honda 109; Kawasaki 37

Top 10 for Jones at Assen

28 April 2008 | Press release

PARKALGAR HONDA racer Craig Jones fought for victory at the fourth round of the World Supersport Championship at Assen in Holland today, eventually ending up ninth in an exciting race where anyone in the top 10 could have taken the honours.

On lap 16 of 21 Jones took the lead but ran off the 4.55km track shortly afterwards - and despite rejoining in third place, the hard-riding Brit slowly slipped back to ninth by the chequered flag.

Parkalgar Honda’s Miguel Praia suffered a high-speed crash and injured his shoulder in the morning warm-up due to oil on the track. Despite the pain and riding his spare bike, the Portuguese racer started 23rd and finished a very creditable 17th. Honda’s Andrew Pitt won the race.

The fifth round of the 13-round World Supersport Championship takes place at Monza in Italy on May 11th.

Craig Jones:
“That was a very hard race with a lot of close passing and tactics right from start to finish. There were always 10-or more riders in with a chance of taking the win and right from the first lap I was fighting to hold position as well as pass the racers in front.

“I am disappointed in ninth place, especially after having the pace to stay at the front for 18 of the 21-laps. I will sit down with my Parkalgar Honda team and we will examine how we lost the race and make a plan so it will not happen again.”

Miguel Praia:
“I am in a lot of pain in my shoulder after a big crash in the morning warm up that was not my fault. I am pleased to have improved on my qualifying position in the race but would have preferred to score points, maybe if I had been completely fit it would have been possible.

“I have time now to fully recover my fitness before Monza. My Parkalgar Honda team will need to rebuild my number one bike also, so we will notch this race to experience and move forward.”

Simon Buckmaster, Team Manager:
“Craig rode a lot better than ninth and deserved to finish higher up but the racing was so close and hard-fought that the slightest loss of lap time led to big penalties – with the top 10 separated by only three seconds there was no breathing room.

“The Parkalgar Honda race bikes are fast and Craig has the talent and ability to win races. We will focus on those positives and do our best to make sure the tailing off in competitiveness at the end of a race does not happen again.

“Miguel had a difficult race with an injury and did very well to finish ahead of his qualifying position. I think he would have been well into the points if he had been fully fit and on his number one bike rather than his spare. That is encouraging for the future.

“Parkalgar Honda had a positive weekend right up until the last five laps of the race. We’ll get that sorted and Monza is the next opportunity for us to win a race and it can’t come quick enough.”

Race Result:

1: A Pitt, AUS, (Honda)
2: J Rea, GBR, (Honda) +0.014
3: J Lascorz, ESP, (Honda) +0.150
4: F Foret, FRA, (Yamaha) +0.201
5: B Parkes, AUS, (Yamaha) +0.283
6: J Brookes, AUS, (Honda) +0.447
9: CRAIG JONES, GBR, (PARKALGAR HONDA) +2.714
17: MIGUEL PRAIA, POR, (PARKALGAR HONDA) +27.773

Championship Positions (after four of 13 rounds)
1: Lascorz 70
2: Pitt 50
3: Parkes 49
4: Foret 46
5: Brookes 43
6: Rea 41
7: CRAIG JONES, (PARKALGAR HONDA) 39
23: MIGUEL PRAIA, (PARKALGAR HONDA) 4.

BAYLISS AND FABRIZIO EAGER TO COMPETE AT THE ASSEN TT CIRCUIT THIS WEEKEND

24 April 2008 | Press release

Assen (The Netherlands) Thursday 24th April: the Ducati Xerox Team moves on to Assen for Round 4 of the World Superbike championship this weekend. Having extended his championship lead on board the Ducati 1098 F08 with two second place finishes in front of a record number of spectators at the latest round in Valencia, Troy Bayliss is eager to see his success continue in The Netherlands. Team-mate Michel Fabrizio has also visited the podium at the Dutch TT Circuit more than once in the past and is therefore equally as enthusiastic to return there again this season.

Since leaving Valencia the Ducati Xerox Team also completed a two-day test session in very wet conditions at Monza, a useful exercise in view of the likelihood of rain here in Holland this weekend.

Troy Bayliss (1st in championship, 128 points)

Troy took wins here in both 2007 and 2006 but has very mixed emotions regarding the historic Dutch TT Circuit.

"Assen - it's a track where I've had my moments, and I like, love or hate it depending on the season! I've won and lost championships as a result of how I've gone here in the past. I hope, with it being my last year riding in World Superbikes, that this is one of those times that I come away loving it! During the race you can generally afford to sit back and wait a bit at this track but, having said that, it depends on the day, how everyone is riding, and on the unpredictable weather conditions. It's also a track where tyre issues come into play. I would like the overall F08 package to work a bit better than it did in Valencia, as although that weekend we were able to get stronger each day, I was never totally comfortable."

Michel Fabrizio (10th in championship, 37 points)

Michel has been on the Superbike podium in Assen before, two years ago, and is thus keen to ride the F08 to top of the timesheets here this year too. From this weekend onwards, Fabrizio changes his nickname from "The Wizard" back to "Uragano", or "the Hurricane", the name that adorned his bike up until 2003, the year in which he took the riders title in the Superstock 1000 championship.

"I like the Assen track a lot and have had some good results here in the past. I was on the podium here, in third place, in Superbikes in 2006 and also riding in 2005 in the Supersport class so I'm very much looking forward to racing this weekend, this time on the Ducati F08.

"I have decided to go back to using my former nickname, only for superstitious motives really, as the last time I rode with it I won titles including the Superstock 1000 title. So I'm hopeful that it will be bring me luck this season too."

Country: The Netherlands
Name: TT Circuit Assen
Circuit length: 4.555 km
Pole position: Left
Corners left: 11
Corners right: 6
Length of race: 22 laps = 100.21 km

LAP RECORDS: Fastest lap - Haga (Yamaha) 1'39.770 (2007). Superpole - Toseland (Honda) 1'38.603 (2007).

2007 RESULTS: Race 1 - 1. Toseland (Honda); 2. Haga (Yamaha); 3. Xaus (Ducati).

Race 2 - 1. Bayliss (Ducati Xerox) 2. Toseland (Honda); 3. Biaggi (Suzuki).

Shane Byrne and Cal Crutchlow take the victories

21 April 2008 | Press release

Bennetts British Superbike Championship - Thruxton

Shane Byrne and Cal Crutchlow were the race winners as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship began for real at Thruxton, and with them each taking a second place, they left the Hampshire circuit as the joint leaders of the series, ahead of the rejuvenated Michael Rutter who took a brace of third placings.

Byrne, riding the Airwaves Ducati, had repeated the pole starting ride of the snow aborted Brands Hatch opening round, but he was out-started by Leon Haslam and Michael Rutter, before Cal Crutchlow swooped ahead to lead at the end of the opening lap.

The Coventry rider, who had joined the HM Plant Honda team this season, held off the early challenges of his team-mate Haslam, before Byrne moved into second and began to challenge. Crutchlow held him at bay until the thirteenth lap when Byrne found a way through at Seagrave.

Once through, Byrne dictated terms from the front, winning comfortably by over two seconds, and he reflected: “We’ve come a long way to get running, and Cal was really going for it but I got through and it all worked out. The team has done a great job, but we had to look at what everyone else was doing and then do it for ourselves.”

Crutchlow was equally delighted: “Shane was keeping me on it – I just kept plugging away but when he came past, I couldn’t match him but it was a good race.” Rutter, who had started from the front row for the first time in two years, the podium finish aboard the NorthWest 200 Ducati, enthused: “Brilliant, I couldn’t dream of this. It is like Christmas again.”

Haslam, who slowed with tyre concerns, finishing that race in fourth place, took the initiative from the start next time out, running ahead of Byrne and Karl Harris whose first race had ended in machine problems on the second lap.

Byrne took the lead on the fourth lap with Crutchlow moving through into second from Rutter with Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam duelling for fourth ahead of Harris.

On the seventh lap, Sykes and Haslam touched at around 140mph, with Sykes high-sided off his Rizla Suzuki which bounced across the track, smashing into Harris. The race was stopped immediately to care for Harris who remarkably escaped serious injury as he later explained: “I don’t feel too bad apart from very sore knees and ankles.

Steve Mercer and Malcolm Ashley took the third placings.

Results – Round Two – Bennetts British Superbike Championship – Thruxton

Race one – 20 laps

1 Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) 25m 33.903secs, 110.58mph
2. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +2.306s
3. Michael Rutter (NW 200 Ducati) +3.573
4. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +10.949
5. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +18.745
6. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +19.048s
7. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +19.406s
8. Simon Andrews (Jentin Racing/Lloyds British) +22.403s
9. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +22.709
10. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +23.902s

Race two – 15 laps

1. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) 19m 05.302secs, 111.08mph
2. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) +1.807s
3. Michael Rutter (NW 200 Ducati) +2.136s
4. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +7.942s
5. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +11.863s
6. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +12.461s
7. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +13.632s
8. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +18.759s
9. Guy Martin (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +23.395s
10. Billy McConnell (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +23.899s

Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Thruxton:

1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) 45
= Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) 45
3. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) 32
4. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) 24
5. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) 18
= James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) 18
7. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) 17
= Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) 17
9. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) 13
10. John Laverty (Buildbase NW200 Ducati)

SUZUKI 1-2 AT LE MANS WORLD ENDURANCE

21 April 2008 | Press release

Suzuki Endurance Racing Team's number two squad led a SERT GSX-R1000 one-two at the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Le Mans in France today.

Riders William Costes, Guillaume Dietrich and Barry Veneman took the lead from World Champions Vincent Philippe, Matthieu Lagrive and Julien Da Costa when the number one machine crashed during the night session of the 24-hour race, to win by 11 laps

SERT 2 led for the first hour from Yamaha GMT94 and SERT 1. Yamaha took over temporarily at the second hour and then SERT 1 made a charge to the front - a lead they kept for almost half the race until a crash in the dark, thought to be due to a rabbit running onto the track.

From 16 laps down, the defending champions gradually moved back through the field, climbing into second place behind SERT 2 with five hours to go - a position they held until the flag.

Provisional results: 1 SERT 2 (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 770 laps, 2 SERT 1 (Suzuki GSX-R1000) 759, 3 Acropolis Moto Expert (Yamaha) 756, 4 Infini Team/ Yohann Moto sp (Suzuki) 755, 5 Junior Team Suzuki - LMS (Suzuki) 753.

THRUXTON BSB ROUND - 18/19/20 April

17 April 2008 | Press release

Thruxton beckons for Haslam, Crutchlow and Brogan

After the snow-hit round at Brands Hatch, the 2008 Bennetts British Superbike series finally kicks off this weekend with the HM Plant Honda trio of Leon Haslam, Cal Crutchlow and Steve Brogan ready to race at Thruxton in Hampshire. The 2.34-mile circuit was originally built as an airfield in 1940 and was used by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force during World War II. Soon after the war ended motorcycling began at the former airbase and the circuit has been in constant use ever since. The track is wide, bumpy and fast, featuring some of the quickest corners on the BSB calendar. The 2008 Bennetts British Superbike series takes in 12 events between April and October and Eurosport will feature a regular four-hour race-day show, which will come from the track live, featuring both Superbike races and the Supersport race. The Thruxton races will be live from 12.30pm to 4.30pm on Sunday. Following the aborted Brands Hatch first round, that race has been rescheduled for May 10th-11th.

Leon Haslam – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
“The positives we take from what little track time we got at Brands Hatch is that we were there or thereabouts in qualifying and we had made some improvements in set-up to the 2008 Fireblade, which have been a real step forward. At Thruxton the season really begins and for me I know I need to work hard, get a good grid position for Sunday’s races and translate that into some good points. I’ll be looking for podiums or better this weekend to really start my championship challenge off in the right way.”

Cal Crutchlow – HM Plant Honda
British Superbike – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
“I’ve always enjoyed racing at Thruxton and had some great fights there. It really is a battling circuit, where the slipstream can count for a lot. From Church to the last chicane the rider leading the group is doing most of the work, so sometimes it’s best just to sit back and watch what’s happening and use the draft to pass into the final chicane. On the last lap, if you’re five lengths back you can still win. The track itself is very abrasive on tyres, but our CBR1000RR Fireblade has got a good set-up and if our tyres last for the full distance we will be up there fighting for the win. I’m just happy to finally be going racing!”

Steve Brogan – Honda (UK) Racing
British Supersport – Honda CBR600RR
British Superstock – Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade
“First thing I’m doing is keeping my fingers crossed with the weather this time! Thruxton is one of my favourite circuits, it suits my riding style and I look forward to it every year. In recent years I’ve been on the podium. Last year on the 2007 Superstock Fireblade I was on pole and came second in the race, very close behind the winner Glen Richards. Thruxton has been pretty kind to me and I’m confident that the new Fireblade will work well around there. On the HM Plant Supersport CBR600RR I’m also confident that we can get the bike working well around the circuit. I’m hoping to get both bikes dialled-in on set-up quickly so I can do some fast times in practice and qualifying – rain or shine! I’m going to Thruxton aiming for a win in both classes – there’s no reason why I can’t achieve that this weekend.”

Havier Beltran – HM Plant Honda team manager
“The long-range weather forecast is not too bad for the weekend, so let’s hope we’ve seen the last of the snow for the year! Thruxton is an interesting and a very wide-open circuit, with a lot of varied lines around it. Being the first of the few high-speed circuits on the calendar it’s going to be very interesting for us to see where everybody stacks up on top speed. Speed and stability are all-important at Thruxton, as it’s quite bumpy for the riders so it’s always a challenge to set-up the bike and choose the right tyres. In all classes we simply need to get the best out of our technical package. This is effectively the first round, so while we’re always aiming for wins, podiums in all classes would be great for us at the season opener.”