Round twelve of the British Superbike championship saw points leader Steve Hislop have a relatively poor day, and his closest rivals did rather better. And once again Yamaha proved the pace of the new R1, following on from their first win at Oulton.
Hislop arrived at Mallory Park with a 56 point margin over Sean Emmett, knowing that he could afford to score six points less than his rival and still take out the title. Qualifying appeared to favour the Scot, as he lined up behind only Michael Rutter, with Emmett back on row two. Third and fourth places went to Shane Byrne and John Reynolds, with Emmett heading up Glen Richards, Karl Harris and Dean Ellison. Steve Plater was on the third row in ninth.
At the start of race one it was the Rizla Suzuki pair that made the best getaways. Reynolds slotted in behind initial leader Rutter, with Harris reaching fourth, behind Hislop, until Byrne took the place from him. Emmett was sixth, from Plater and Richards. Harris was soon relegated further, with the Yamahas of Emmett and Plater going through in quick succession.
Another big mover was ‘Shakey’ Byrne, who moved ahead of both Hislop and Reynolds to challenge his Renegade Ducati team-mate for the lead. Hislop was beginning to go in the other direction, with the Yamaha pair locked together and Plater sticking to Emmett as they both passed the MonsterMob Ducati man as one. Byrne was by now at the head of the field, from Rutter and Reynolds, and there was a bit of a gap before the two Virgin Mobile bikes, and another behind them. Hislop remained in sixth, but with the impressive Richards, on the 750 Kawasaki, now right on his tail.
The pace of the Yamaha duo soon made the race into a five-way battle, now with Reynolds in P2, from Rutter. Indeed, the polesitter was another to fall victim to both Emmett and Plater at once, the R1s proving particularly effective at the hairpin. Richards was now up to sixth, with Hislop dropping back, apparently with tyre problems.
As the Yamahas charged on, Emmett forced his way past ex-team-mate Reynolds, with Plater again taking advantage as well. Rutter was also involved, although the champion was able to regain fourth place almost immediately.
The order now saw a small gap behind the leading trio of Byrne, Emmett and Plater. Reynolds and Rutter remained together, then a gap back to Richards and another back to Hislop. The Scot’s troubles only served to aid Emmett’s title chances, which were improved further as he took over the lead. This time his team-mate didn’t make it past Byrne, but he wasn’t long in making it by. Meanwhile Reynolds went out in a major crash, which thankfully left him unharmed.
This allowed Rutter to move up to the leaders again, making it a two-by-two for Virgin Yamaha and Renegade Ducati. The stellar Richards brought his green machine up to this group, which now saw Byrne as the rear gunner at this late stage. A win for Emmett here would take him to 41 points from the sixth-placed Hislop, but the Englishman was not to see the flag first. A racy Plater had shadowed Sean all the way, despite his disappointing grid position, and with no team orders he had the final word with a good pass to win the race.
Rutter finished third, from Byrne, Richards, Hislop, Harris, John Crawford, Simon Crafar and with Ellison rounding out the top ten.
Race two again saw Rutter, Reynolds and Hislop lead off at the start, in that order, but this time Byrne and Emmett kept Harris behind, and he was followed by Plater and Richards. Lap one ended with Emmett now ahead of Byrne, whilst pole man Rutter was already pulling out a decent gap on his pursuers. Hislop was out to make up for his earlier disappointment, and was soon up to second at Reynolds’ expense.
Once again the Yamaha riders were looking good, and Emmett was past both ‘JR’ and ‘Hizzy’ in quick succession, to go second. Behind him, Byrne and Plater also deposed the reigning champion, who had now dropped four positions. Reinforcing his earlier performance, Plater’s next pass took him ahead of Byrne for P4.
At this stage the speedy Rutter led with a comfortable margin, with the group of Emmett, Plater (now third), Hislop and Byrne disputing second. Sixth man Reynolds was now a little further back, his 1000cc machine being followed by Richards’ 750. The final positions were decided when Byrne relegated Hislop a place, and by some more Yamaha action. Rutter was uncatchable, but Plater was after second place. Emmett wasn’t having it this time, though, and he repassed his team-mate and held onto the position.
Behind the first five, Richards did another strong job to take sixth from Reynolds. Two more Suzukis were next, with Harris and Crawford followed home by Crafar on the third Yamaha. Sean Emmett’s two second places were his best results since he had been forced to switch over from Ducati, whilst sixth and fifth meant that Steve Hislop’s overall lead was cut to 37. He will need at least a fourth place in Donington, but that doesn’t sound too tall an order.
Hislop arrived at Mallory Park with a 56 point margin over Sean Emmett, knowing that he could afford to score six points less than his rival and still take out the title. Qualifying appeared to favour the Scot, as he lined up behind only Michael Rutter, with Emmett back on row two. Third and fourth places went to Shane Byrne and John Reynolds, with Emmett heading up Glen Richards, Karl Harris and Dean Ellison. Steve Plater was on the third row in ninth.
At the start of race one it was the Rizla Suzuki pair that made the best getaways. Reynolds slotted in behind initial leader Rutter, with Harris reaching fourth, behind Hislop, until Byrne took the place from him. Emmett was sixth, from Plater and Richards. Harris was soon relegated further, with the Yamahas of Emmett and Plater going through in quick succession.
Another big mover was ‘Shakey’ Byrne, who moved ahead of both Hislop and Reynolds to challenge his Renegade Ducati team-mate for the lead. Hislop was beginning to go in the other direction, with the Yamaha pair locked together and Plater sticking to Emmett as they both passed the MonsterMob Ducati man as one. Byrne was by now at the head of the field, from Rutter and Reynolds, and there was a bit of a gap before the two Virgin Mobile bikes, and another behind them. Hislop remained in sixth, but with the impressive Richards, on the 750 Kawasaki, now right on his tail.
The pace of the Yamaha duo soon made the race into a five-way battle, now with Reynolds in P2, from Rutter. Indeed, the polesitter was another to fall victim to both Emmett and Plater at once, the R1s proving particularly effective at the hairpin. Richards was now up to sixth, with Hislop dropping back, apparently with tyre problems.
As the Yamahas charged on, Emmett forced his way past ex-team-mate Reynolds, with Plater again taking advantage as well. Rutter was also involved, although the champion was able to regain fourth place almost immediately.
The order now saw a small gap behind the leading trio of Byrne, Emmett and Plater. Reynolds and Rutter remained together, then a gap back to Richards and another back to Hislop. The Scot’s troubles only served to aid Emmett’s title chances, which were improved further as he took over the lead. This time his team-mate didn’t make it past Byrne, but he wasn’t long in making it by. Meanwhile Reynolds went out in a major crash, which thankfully left him unharmed.
This allowed Rutter to move up to the leaders again, making it a two-by-two for Virgin Yamaha and Renegade Ducati. The stellar Richards brought his green machine up to this group, which now saw Byrne as the rear gunner at this late stage. A win for Emmett here would take him to 41 points from the sixth-placed Hislop, but the Englishman was not to see the flag first. A racy Plater had shadowed Sean all the way, despite his disappointing grid position, and with no team orders he had the final word with a good pass to win the race.
Rutter finished third, from Byrne, Richards, Hislop, Harris, John Crawford, Simon Crafar and with Ellison rounding out the top ten.
Race two again saw Rutter, Reynolds and Hislop lead off at the start, in that order, but this time Byrne and Emmett kept Harris behind, and he was followed by Plater and Richards. Lap one ended with Emmett now ahead of Byrne, whilst pole man Rutter was already pulling out a decent gap on his pursuers. Hislop was out to make up for his earlier disappointment, and was soon up to second at Reynolds’ expense.
Once again the Yamaha riders were looking good, and Emmett was past both ‘JR’ and ‘Hizzy’ in quick succession, to go second. Behind him, Byrne and Plater also deposed the reigning champion, who had now dropped four positions. Reinforcing his earlier performance, Plater’s next pass took him ahead of Byrne for P4.
At this stage the speedy Rutter led with a comfortable margin, with the group of Emmett, Plater (now third), Hislop and Byrne disputing second. Sixth man Reynolds was now a little further back, his 1000cc machine being followed by Richards’ 750. The final positions were decided when Byrne relegated Hislop a place, and by some more Yamaha action. Rutter was uncatchable, but Plater was after second place. Emmett wasn’t having it this time, though, and he repassed his team-mate and held onto the position.
Behind the first five, Richards did another strong job to take sixth from Reynolds. Two more Suzukis were next, with Harris and Crawford followed home by Crafar on the third Yamaha. Sean Emmett’s two second places were his best results since he had been forced to switch over from Ducati, whilst sixth and fifth meant that Steve Hislop’s overall lead was cut to 37. He will need at least a fourth place in Donington, but that doesn’t sound too tall an order.
Bookmark or share this story with:
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
More Motorcycle Racing Online headlines
- Final race of 2009 goes to Dani Pedrosa
- More wins for BSB champ Camier at Oulton
- Leon Camier is new British Superbike champ
- First BSB race win for Stuart Easton at Croft
- Rossi champion as Stoner wins the race
- Another home GP win for Casey Stoner
- Lorenzo dominates Portuguese MotoGP
- No BSB double for Leon Camier at Cadwell
- Rossi on top again in San Marino GP
Motorcycle Racing Online latest threads
- Poll: best rider that hasn’t won the British Superbike title?
- MotoGP 2009 poll results
- Please Help to Save the Spa Francorchamps racing-track.
- Information about a motorbike rider
- 1300 star champion 1986
- James Toseland
- why does motogp has fewer laps than f1??????
- british champions of the 70's and 80's
- New Starter Aged 10
- Hayden to leave Honda