Byrne Extends Championship Lead At Brands Hatch
Added on Monday, May 12th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Byrne Extends Championship Lead At Brands Hatch
Shayne Byrne built on his lead in the British Superbike championship with his fourth win of the season at Brands Hatch yesterday.
Byrne took the opening race of the rescheduled round one and narrowly missed out on a double victory in Kent, finishing second behind Honda’s Cal Crutchlow in race two.
The result now means that ‘Shakey’ has a 44 point leading the championship ahead of Crutchlow.
Byrne lost the lead from pole position after a slow start but was able to regain the initiative on lap 16 and lead the pack to a convincing win ahead of Tom Sykes on the Suzuki.
Crutchlow, who finished third in race one, pipped Byrne to the chequered flag in race two although Byrne did well to battle back from a costly error and two red flags to finishing within 0.11secs of his Honda rival.
The result was a huge boost for Crutchlow however, who was a major doubt before this weekend’s meeting after picking up an ankle injury at Oulton Park just six days ago.
Crutchlow said: “If someone had said that I would have won a race at the start of this week I would have laughed. I came here to Brands Hatch with the intention of scoring some points and I just stuck in there.
“Shakey was riding really well but I just hung on in there. To be honest I was pleased to see the red flag as the race seemed to go on forever!
“Today is what championships are made of; I am going to carry on with the physio between now and Donington Park and let’s see what happens there.”
Byrne although disappointed with the second race result, would have been pleased at increasing his lead in the championship.
“I am absolutely devastated that I couldn’t take a double win for the Airwaves Ducati team,” said the 31-year-old.
“I had a dreadful start and was about ninth which was just ridiculous! Then the safety car came out and I wasn’t sure if I had passed Sykes before the flags came out so I dropped back behind him.
“When it restarted I was targeting Sykes and Crutchlow but then it was red flagged. I really wanted another double but it just wasn’t to be.”
British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race One:
1. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) 23:24.345
2. Tom Sykes (Rizla Suzuki) +1.855s
3. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) +3.111s
4. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +3.887s
5. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +4.996s
6. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +15.815s
7. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +16.645s
8. Billy McConnell (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +26.446s
9. Simon Andrews (Lloyds British Jentin Racing) +30.384s
10. Tristan Palmer (Tena for Men Honda) +33.728s
British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch, Race Two:
1. Cal Crutchlow (HM Plant Honda) 30:31.299
2. Shane Byrne (Airwaves Ducati) +0.110s
3. Leon Camier (Airwaves Ducati) +0.748s
4. Michael Laverty (Relentless Suzuki by TAS) +2.221s
5. Michael Rutter (North West 200 Ducati) +2.906s
6. Leon Haslam (HM Plant Honda) +3.097s
7. Stuart Easton (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +3.121s
8. James Ellison (Hydrex Bike Animal Honda) +4.147s
9. Billy McConnell (MSS Discovery Kawasaki) +1 lap
10. Scott Smart (Hawk Kawasaki) + 1 lap
