By blue2bikes
April 17 2005

The Honda FireBlade mounted Ryuichi Kiyonari was yet again the rider to beat - with an injured ‘Kiyo Kid’ (as he is now known), it was not to be a lacklustre performance, as he prepared himself for the job in hand. Never has anyone dominated such a competitive series as the Japanese has this year. Winning both races in the last meeting of 2004, at Donington Park, by a country mile, he was to go out and win both races at Brands Hatch, and to win the two races at a very wind blown Thruxton - in his own style of get out in front and stay in front without any serious challenge. A challenge was raised by standby rider Gregorio Lavilla, aboard the Airwaves Ducati, but it was not sufficient for him to claim a win over the Kiyo Kid.

I spoke to Kiyo on the morning of the race and, although he was in pain, having fallen from his machine during qualifying, and had his left ankle in a rigid support, he said he was feeling good and was up to the challenge of the very fast and undulating course. Being the fastest circuit and also the most bumpy course in the series, all the riders were complaining of the circuit itself, and the winds that dominated the weekend - throwing them off line, and creating more problems for them on an already demanding circuit.

Gregorio Lavilla, who broke a very long standing lap record with a time of 1min 15.577secs - although he had fallen at the club chicane during qualifying - now looks for a ride in the series, with reports stating that James Haydon will be returning at Mallory Park. Colin Wright, team boss for the Airwaves GSE Ducati team, has announced that he is willing to offer Gregorio a contract as a season standby rider, but not let Gregorio race. Gregorio will not be wanting to take such a step, and said, “What I am doing here now is showing everybody what I know and what I can do.”

Proving to everyone that the F04 Ducati still has a place, and possibly winning some races in the series, Colin Wright is loathed to let him go to another team and take his points total with him, standing at second in the championship. Gregorio is a talented rider without any shadow of a doubt, and Colin would be wise to obtain another two bikes, along with the extra four technicians, and run a three bike team. There is a petition underway to go to Colin requesting that he keeps Gregorio and obtain the required machinery, along with a further four technicians to keep the bikes in good race order, so he can compete in the full season.

Strange things can happen overnight and, with the Stobart team not running as expected, Paul Bird is laying down the law to all team members stating that things must improve or big changes are on the way, and it would not surprise me if he makes an offer for Gregorio to join his team. A lacklustre performance from Gary Mason, Michael Laverty and Jeremy McWilliams - who overcame a crash in race one after his rear wheel broke away whilst accelerating out of Club Chicane, and was the only rider of the three to gain a top ten placing, in race two at Thruxton.

Paul Bird, who has in the recent past gained four domestic titles, is not a happy man, and he has said, “That’s two meetings where we have underachieved, and it is not acceptable. I need to see some positives over the next couple of meetings, otherwise there will be big changes, I promise. To say I am unhappy is a massive understatement - we should be up there battling for race wins and podium places, not just scraping into the points.”

Suzuki mounted John Reynolds had a nightmare weekend, with the wind playing havoc and forcing riders off the racing line, and he was retired from the second race to ensure he didn’t succumb to further injuries if he had fallen - a wise decision as he is still on the mend after his pre-season crash, causing him five breaks in his right leg. John said, “It’s just been a nightmare weekend to be honest. I knew it was going to be hard work here, but never thought it was going to be as bad as it was. With horrendous weather and the strong wind, with riders being been blowing off track, I didn’t want to get involved with that. With the circuit speed being an average of 112mph I didn’t want to fall here, as that would have been the end of the year for me.”

Team-mate Scott Smart had a very bad day, with a seventh position in race one, and a DNF in race two - due to a rare machine failure for the big Suzuki. John went on to say, “I was just going round and round out of the points, so for damage limitation my team brought me in. I know we are here to represent our sponsors, but the deal was I get pulled in and then we can regroup for Mallory and go out even stronger.”

New man in the series, former Supersport Champion Karl Harris, was not to be left out in the cold, and gained a very creditable sixth position in race one and an eighth position in race two, whilst duelling with Michael Rutter, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Leon Haslam, Gregorio Lavilla and Sean Emmett An extremely good ride by Karl, considering the top opposition he has had to overcome.

Karl said, “All things considered I am reasonably happy with my results, and it was great to qualify on the front row, and to get up to second place at one point during the first race. The bike felt incredibly composed out there, so there wasn’t much need to change anything for race two. Although I came here last year when I was competing in the British Supersport series, I am still on a steep learning curve, and my goal is to finish every race this year.”

Mixed fortunes for the Hawk Kawasaki riders, with different settings on tyres and set up for the Thruxton circuit, saw Glen Richards miss a gear whilst running at the front; and Dean Thomas having holding himself back to learn the circuit behind his team-mate, and gaining more knowledge of the fast circuit - and overtaking Glen when he missed a gear and gaining a better position in race one.

Leon Haslam, aboard the GSE Airwaves Ducati, was caught up in a great tussle with Sean Emmett, and over took Sean in a daring move at the Club Chicane on the last lap of race one, to put him in fourth position. Sean is still having problems from his highside at Brands Hatch on Easter weekend, leaving him with a gash which required fifteen stitches in his left elbow.

Virgin Mobile rider Tommy Hill had a very mixed bag, with only managing a tenth position finish in race one, and DNF in race two due to a bike failure. I spoke to Tommy on the eve of the race day, and he said, “It’s very bumpy out there and, apart from being bitterly cold, the wind is playing havoc. You have to be at your best to keep concentrating on your lines in and out of the corners with the wind direction changing as you circulate.”

So what now? Will the Kiyo Kid keep on dominating the series? More to the point, can anyone overtake him and make it stick? As far as I remember, no other rider has dominated the series so much since it’s conception. With winning six races on the trot (including last year), are we seeing the next champion, and not a British one at that? Your guess is as good as mine, but whatever, you can be sure the series has a long way to go and anything can happen.

Thruxton, race one results:
1 Ryuichi Kiyonari
2 Michael Rutter
3 Gregorio Lavilla
4 Leon Haslam
5 Sean Emmett
6 Karl Harris
7 Scott Smart
8 Dean Thomas
9 Glen Richards
10 Tommy Hill
11 James Buckingham
12 Gary Mason
13 Steve Plater
14 John Reynolds
15 Michael Laverty
16 Jonathan Rea
17 Ben Wilson
18 Jon Kirkham
19 John McGuinness
20 Steve Brogan
21 Dean Ellison
22 Gareth Glynn
23 Chris Martin
24 Michael Pensavalle

Thruxton, race two results:
1 Ryuichi Kiyonari
2 Gregorio Lavilla
3 Michael Rutter
4 Sean Emmett
5 Glen Richards
6 Dean Thomas
7 Leon Haslam
8 Karl Harris
9 Jeremy McWilliams
10 Steve Plater
11 Kieran Clarke
12 Jonathan Rea
13 Gary Mason
14 Ben Wilson
15 Steve Brogan
16 Julien da Costa
17 Michael Laverty
18 Jon Kirkham
19 Danny Beaumont
20 John McGuinness
21 Marty Nutt
22 Chris Martin
23 Dean Ellison
24 Dennis Hobbs
25 Gareth Glynn
26 Michael Pensavalle