By Dan Moakes
August 26 2013

Shane Byrne continued to plough ahead in the 2013 British Superbike Championship, even with Alex Lowes and Josh Brookes consistently joining him on the podium. So would there be more of the same on the Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch, where Byrne seems unbeatable?

So many recent BSB races at Brands, including on the Indy circuit, have gone the way of ‘Shakey’ Byrne, and of course the same venue has seen him win at World Superbike level too. Would it be the same story in the heat of July 2013? On the qualifying result it was looking good. Byrne was on pole position on the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki, whereas team-mate Keith Farmer was not having an easy time of it. Following on from Snetterton, the Ulsterman was riding through the pain caused by a blood clot in his calf, ending up only in P13 on the grid.

But the usual contenders were up front, including both Samsung Honda riders - Lowes second and Ryuichi Kiyonari fourth. Brookes was third for Tyco Suzuki, with James Ellison fifth on the Milwaukee Yamaha. A fifth different manufacturer was represented in sixth position, a best-yet 2013 starting slot for Buildbase-backed James Westmoreland. Then it was Chris Walker (Quattro Plant Kawasaki) and PJ Jacobsen (Tyco Suzuki).

Ninth place was also a season’s best for Dan Linfoot on the Lloyds British GBmoto Honda, whilst tenth man Michael Rutter was pleased with the improved power and drivability of his Bathams Honda. Tommy Bridewell had not been so happy with his CBR, and had now left the Bathams team. In P11 was Jakub Smrž (Padgett’s Honda), from Karl Harris (PR Kawasaki), Farmer, Howie Mainwaring (with the MH Kawasaki, his best yet), Peter Hickman (GBmoto Honda) and then Lee Costello (Halsall Kawasaki).

Brands Hatch
Form guide: BSB wins on both GP and Indy circuits
Shane Byrne · 2003, 2008, 2008, 2008, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2012, 2012, 2012, 2012, 2012, 2013
Ryuichi Kiyonari · 2005, 2005, 2006, 2006
Chris Walker · 1998, 1999, 2000
James Ellison · 2010, 2013
Michael Rutter · 2000
Josh Brookes · 2011
Jon Kirkham · 2012

The start for race one saw Byrne lead away, but only until the left-hand bend at Surtees, where Lowes went past under braking on the inside. Kiyonari held third until the Derek Minter Straight at the back of the circuit, where Brookes made a pass. Walker held fifth, from Westmoreland and Jacobsen, then Rutter, Farmer, Ellison, Linfoot, Mainwaring, Hickman, Harris and Jon Kirkham (Buildbase BMW). Matteo Baiocco was an early pit visitor on the Rapido Sport Ducati.

Brookes was the man in the early stages, passing Byrne on the inside through Clearways, a right-hander at the end of the lap; then gaining the lead from Lowes at the Hawthorn Bend-Minter section, and quickly extending the gap. Kiyonari remained just about in touch behind Lowes and Byrne as the first four left the rest dropping back, with slow starter Ellison making his way through and soon into seventh. James would have an early finish, however, pushing on to try and pass Walker but managing to take him out as they both crashed.

There was a spirited contest for second between Byrne and Lowes, with several different passing moves, mostly under braking for the uphill Hawthorn right-hander. The last of these took Byrne through after Lowes had recovered the place at Surtees, and next it was Shane’s turn to challenge Brookes, whose advantage had been cut back at that stage. Byrne went for the inside at Hawthorn, but suffered a rare crash, on the low side, after losing the front. With ‘Kiyo’ already dropped, this left a contest between Brookes and Lowes for the win, with the Australian staying just ahead to earn his first victory of the season.

Behind the podium men, Westmoreland took a strong fourth, with Jacobsen the next man home. Kirkham had chased after his team-mate and made up six places to take sixth, from Linfoot, with Farmer just having the edge over Mainwaring at the flag. Then it was Rutter, Smrž, Costello, Hickman, Josh Waters (Milwaukee Yamaha), Harris, Martin Jessopp (Riders BMW), Aaron Zanotti (Zanotti Suzuki) and Jenny Tinmouth (Two Wheel Honda).

The fastest race laps saw to it that the same eight men were at the front on the revised grid for race two, but in a different order. This time, Ellison headed Brookes, Lowes, Byrne, Kiyonari, Jacobsen, Westmoreland and Walker. Kirkham was up to ninth, from Rutter, Linfoot, Mainwaring, Farmer, Smrž, Hickman and Costello. Byrne was first away again, and behind him the next pair would swap places at Druids Hill Bend, the right-handed hairpin, where Ellison regained his advantage in reply to a move from Lowes. Brookes was fourth, with Kiyo quickly through on Jacobsen for fifth, then Walker, Rutter and Westmoreland.

The first five were going away from the rest, as Brookes and Lowes fought over third at Clearways, the Honda man retaining his position. Walker was going backwards, and would soon pull out of the race, so that sixth man Jacobsen now headed Westmoreland, Kirkham, Linfoot, Smrž and Farmer. Rutter had also lost some positions. Meanwhile, Costello was about to crash at Sheene curve, leading to a safety car period.

Following the restart, the leading positions initially remained unchanged, with Byrne heading Ellison, Lowes, Brookes and Kiyonari; and in fact the latter pair would continually lose more and more ground as the race went on. Ultimately, the leading trio remained closely matched, but there was no change to the order right to the flag. Further incidents included a front-end crash at Sheene for Smrž, and an unfortunate end for tenth man Mainwaring, who had to pull off at Druids. Notification had already been posted that his bike was under investigation, but the ZX machine had not been able to continue.

Brookes took a lonely fourth, with Kiyonari best of the rest. The BMW boys had raced for seventh, and by the end both had passed Jacobsen, with Westmoreland taking sixth ahead of Kirkham. Then it was Linfoot, Farmer, Rutter, Waters, Hickman, Baiocco, Jessopp, Zanotti and Tinmouth. Brookes’ result took him beyond 1500 BSB points, and for Lowes the figure was exactly 500.

The race one crash for Shane Byrne meant that his advantage in the championship table was cut, but he made up for it with victory second time out, staying in front of the rest. On the day, only three men scored more points than Shakey, and the best of them was Josh Brookes, who was ‘only’ first and fourth. This brought him right onto the tail of second-third man Alex Lowes, and still any one of the three could go on to take the title, not forgetting that the Showdown format will bring others into the frame. Who will have the best of it next time out at Oulton Park?

Standings after twelve races: Byrne 232; Lowes 211; Brookes 210; Ellison 120; Kiyonari 110; Kirkham and Westmoreland 100; Walker 75; Jacobsen 71; Farmer 64.
podium credits: Byrne 26, Lowes 19, Brookes 16, Ellison 8, Kiyonari 3.