Kiyonari and Hopkins score Oulton wins
Added on Monday, May 2nd, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Kiyonari and Hopkins score Oulton wins
Ryuichi Kiyonari and John Hopkins scored surprise victories at a sunny Oulton Park this afternoon, as round two of the British Superbike Championship rolled into Cheshire for the Bank Holiday.
Despite starting further down the field, Kiyonari fought his way through to be in the prominent position when it really mattered.
Michael Laverty was the first to take the lead, with the Swan Yamaha rider taking control into Old Hall (turn one) on the opening tour. Before too long it was a five way fight for honours, with Laverty being forced to defend from Hopkins, Josh Brookes, Shane Byrne and Stuart Easton.
As the race progressed everyone began to switch track positions, as the field ran close together. Keeping an eye on what was happening at the front, Kiyonari was soon in the thick of the action, and chasing down the leader.
As eighteen laps came to an end, Kiyonari had found his way to the head of the field, as he swept passed the chequered flag for his first taste of victory this season. Second place was awarded to John Hopkins with a charging Easton third.
Byrne narrowly missed out on a podium finish, whilst early leader Laverty dropped down the order to fifth. Josh Brookes scored a sixth place finish, ahead of Jon Kirkham and Loris Baz. Gary Mason and Dan Linfoot rounded out the top ten in the first of two races.
Commenting on his first victory this year, reigning champion Kiyonari told the official BSB website: “I am very happy, especially as it had been very difficult here to find a good setting for the race. Everyone in the team has worked very hard, me too as I wanted to push harder. They worked late into the night after qualifying to solve the problems we had so it was good work and I want the same in race two.”
Race two saw drama strike, as an eventful race unfolded. As the field headed into Old Hall for the first of eighteen times, it was Easton who held the advantage, ahead of Brookes in second. Alex Lowes of the Mirror.co.uk Evo Class secured a surprise start, with a front row grid slot transferring into a strong third place at the start.
As the opening laps developed, the top two edged away slightly until a brief mistake out of Cascades from Brookes allowed Lowes into second place. Before long Brookes had regained his momentum, jumping back ahead of Lowes.
As half distance approached Brookes’ race took a brutal turn, when he slipped from his Relentless Suzuki bike, causing him to slide onto the grass and his bike to take a flying tumble at the Brittains Chicane. Luckily the Suzuki narrowly missed Easton, however debris on the track called for the release of the safety car.
At the restart, Easton got the jump once again leaping into the lead. By this point Michael Laverty was up into second, however was under investigation for an error earlier on, when he ran wide at the Knickerbrook Chicane. By lap fifteen, Laverty was in control after pushing Easton aside, with Hopkins following shortly afterwards.
On the penultimate lap Hopkins took the oportune moment to slip into the lead, when Laverty ran wide again at the Knickerbrook Chicane. With just over one lap to go, Hopkins managed to fight off a chasing pack to secure his first BSB victory, ahead of Easton and Byrne.
Kiyonari secured another points finish with fourth place, whilst Laverty eventually crossed the line in fifth place. Michael Rutter came home in sixth place, with Kirkham seventh, Peter Hickman eighth and Loris Baz ninth. Gary Mason scored another top ten finish in tenth.
Race one pole sitter Tommy Hill was forced to watch both races from the sidelines, after a crash in the morning warm-up session left the Swan Yamaha rider with a shoulder injury. Shane Byrne leaves Oulton Park with a points total of 70, with Easton jumping up to second in the standings with 59 points.
The next round of the BSB championship is at Croft, North Yorkshire in just two weeks time, over the weekend of 14-15th May.
