British Superbikes Roll into the Rock

30 June 2003

This weekend (4th - 6th July) the British Superbike Championship, powered by Halls, rocks up to Rockingham Motor Speedway, Corby, for round seven of the UK’s leading domestic motorcycle series.

As the Championship enters the second half of the season, MonsterMob Ducati’s Shane “Shakey” Byrne leads the series with a 133 point advantage over his nearest rival, Michael Rutter. The Renegade Ducati rider has won three out of the past four BSB races at the Corby circuit and is undoubtedly the ‘King of Rock’ingham and poses the biggest threat to the series leader.

Byrne will be looking forward to a more comfortable weekend of racing at the 1.73-mile track. Last time out at Brands Hatch the 26-year-old rider battled with injuries to both ankles following a spectacular crash on the Friday before the race. To add insult to injury, Rizla Suzuki rider John Reynolds prevented him from setting a new Superbike record of a quadruple-double win.

Reynolds, who mounted a fearsome attack on the series leader in both races, treated fans to some of the most spectacular Superbike racing this season. The Nottingham-based rider just missed out on a win in the first race of the afternoon, but made amends in the second, putting in a last corner overtaking manoeuvre and beat Byrne to the flag. The former BSB Champion will be determined to dish out more of the same this weekend and with a mere seven points between him and second place Rutter, the tenacious Suzuki rider will no doubt be looking for his first consecutive win of the season.

The action is not just reserved to the top-three. Fourth placed Hawk Kawasaki rider Glen Richards has been putting the cat among the pigeons with his Kawasaki ZX-7RR this year. The Australian has already made his way onto the BSB rostrum three times - a brilliant achievement for the Hawk Kawasaki outfit and a big worry to the remaining top BSB teams.

Honda Racing rider Steve Plater and Virgin Mobile Yamaha rider Gary Mason will also be battling for a place on the podium at Rockingham. Plater denied Mason his first ever British Superbike podium at Brands, beating him to a third place finish.  The pair start the second half of the season with 117 points a piece and both will be wanting to come out on top this weekend.

Meanwhile, just behind his Yamaha team-mate is the current Champion Steve Hislop, who has yet to finish first this year. The 41-year-old Scot will be looking for a strong result at the track that robbed him of his 2001 Championship title when an horrific accident in the penultimate meeting of the year ended his title bid.

Following today’s announcement that the Renegade Ducati team has parted company with Sean Emmett, team rider Leon Haslam will be out to impress on his BSB debut. His upgrade from the British Supersport class will see him spearheading the team's title challenge with Rutter and Nick Medd.

The premier British Superbike action is also complimented with a full programme of support races, including the British Supersport championship, the National Superstock & 125cc GP championships and the one-make Virgin Mobile Yamaha R6 Cup.

Visitors to Rockingham Motor Speedway will be guaranteed the best views of the race action from purpose built stands. The oval track is one of the main features of the complex, part of which will be used for the bike meeting. For the younger bike fans, there’s also plenty going on off the track with the Rockingham fun fair and, for those brave enough, the Adrenaline Alley Skate Park should offer thrills and spills to rival the on-track action.

Testing for all classes is on Friday while BSB qualifying starts on Saturday at 14:20 with the Dunlop Super 12 at 15:05. On Sunday, the first 22-lap British Superbike race is at 13:15 with the second starting at 15:45. The popular pit-lane walkabout is at 9am. .

See series calendar for BSB - British Superbike Championship 2003