Byrne Takes Brands Double
27 July 2003
The sun kissed hordes of British fans at Brands Hatch
were treated to a double delight when wild card rider Shane Byrne (Monstermob
Ducati) scored both race wins as a wild card.
In race one Superpole winner and early leader John Reynolds (Rizla Suzuki)
was in contention for second place when his bike developed a fault,
forcing his retirement. After Byrne had hit the leading spot, however,
there was no stopping the Monstermob rider, enjoying a margin of victory
of over five seconds. In front of a weekend crowd of 120,000 –
a great turnout considering the frequently wet conditions in practice
- Byrne’s wins were hailed by all, especially as the race one
podium also featured Brits Neil Hodgson (Ducati Fila) and Chris Walker
(HM Plant Ducati).
In race two Byrne was pressurised by Reynolds all the
way, winning by 0.5 seconds after 25-laps of hard action in warm conditions.
Swapping results with his team-mate Walker, James Toseland scored third
place in the second outing.
Just off the podium Frenchman Regis Laconi was fourth
in race one, escaping a suspected jump start unscathed, and Sean Emmett,
who had worked himself into contention for a podium, was ultimately
just ahead of James Toseland (HM Plant Ducati); Emmett fifth and Toseland
sixth.
Gregorio Lavilla (Alstare Suzuki) was the first four-cylinder
rider on display, ahead of Michael Rutter’s wild card Renegade
Ducati. Laguna race winner Pierfrancesco Chili could only manage to
finish ninth at one of his best tracks, while the scent of competition
was enough to take Yukio
Kagayama (Rizla Suzuki) to tenth.
In the second race the action behind the leading trio
was tight, with Xaus racing against tyre woes and brakes which had not
quite bedded in properly. He still held off his team-mate Hodgson, to
keep his title dreams alive. Lavilla scored sixth place in an ultimately
lonely race, with Chili seventh, 16 seconds behind Byrne.
Laconi, Yukio Kagayama and Leon Haslam scored the last
places in the top ten. In the World Championship standings, Hodgson
leads by 386 points to Xaus’ 246. That equates to a gap of 140
points with a possible 150 up for grabs in the remaining three rounds/six
races. Toseland is third with 227, Laconi fourth on 208 and Lavilla
– upholding four-cylinder honour – in fifth with 185.
In the World Supersport Championship Stephane Chambon
(Alstare Suzuki) ripped his way to an excellent win, easing up in the
last laps to finish seven se conds ahead of Yamaha Belgarda rider Jurgen
van den Goorbergh. The scheduled 23-lap race was cut to 21 when Stefano
Cruciani crashed and went under the protective airfence with his motorcycle.
Cruciani was unhurt, in spite breaking his back protector in half.
Sebastien Charpentier took his Klaffi Honda to his first
podium of the year, and Karl Muggeridge survived fading tyres to score
fourth on his Ten Kate
Honda. Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-6RR) followed up his Misano
win with fifth place, World Championship leader Chris Vermeulen (Ten
Kate Honda CBR600RR) taking sixth. With Katsuaki Fujiwara (Alstare Suzuki
GSX-R600) only ninth, Vermeulen’s championship lead is still impressive,
and van den Goorbergh moved into second place in the title race. Vermeulen
has a total of 141, van den Goorbergh 104 and Fujiwara 103. Chambon
sits fourth on exactly 100.
The next rounds of the championships take place at Assen
on September 7.
See series calendar for SBK
World Superbike Championship 2003
Related Story 23.07.2003 - World
Superbike at Brands Hatch - Simply the Biggest, Simply the Best
