Brookes wins as weather intervenes
Added on Saturday, August 6th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Brookes wins as weather intervenes
An eventful opening race at Brands Hatch saw Josh Brookes take victory in the first of three British Superbike races this afternoon, as the title contenders battled the weather.
The morning’s qualifying session saw Swan Yamaha’s Tommy Hill take pole position, however as the weather intervened, he and his fellow championship rivals succombed to the changeable weather. As the field headed to the grid for the first race at this triple header meeting, the weather caused confusion up and down the grid as the riders were forced to make a crucial tyre choice.
A continually drying wet track during the race forced a number of riders to pay a visit to their pit garages for a change to dry tyres. Championship leader Shane Byrne was among the riders caught out, together with pole sitter Hill and Ryuichi Kiyonari. The chase was soon on as the championship challengers returned to the track on fresh tyres, with the points standings in mind.
As the race got underway it was WSB rider Joan Lascorz who took the lead off the line, whilst the championship regulars settled in behind. One lap later and the lead changed, with championship leader Byrne stealing the advantage, until he was forced to relinquish his lead the following lap to a charging Brookes.
After an eventful opening race Brookes secured a strong race win, with the charging Michael Rutter fighting his way to second place. The MSS Colchester Kawasaki of Gary Mason had been second as they weaved their way onto the penultimate lap, however Mason was forced to settle for third as Rutter made his way through.
John Hopkins returned from his adventure in the WSB championship last weekend to finish a strong fourth, ahead of Chris Walker in fifth place. James Westmoreland steered his Motorpoint Yamaha to sixth place, ahead of Graeme Gowland on the WFR Honda machine. Michael Laverty was next up in seventh place, whilst Jon Kirkham and Glen Richards completed the top ten.
After their earlier troubles with tyre choices, the usual front runners were further down the pack as the chequered flag fell. Byrne fought his way back to 16th place, Kiyonari was just behind in 17th with Hill that bit further back in 19th.
Commenting on his race win, Brookes told the official BSB website: “It was always going to be a tough race and everyone on the grid was rushing to get on intermediate tyres and that was what I had opted for so I felt that was the right choice. I saw Michael (Rutter) had slicks on and knew he would be fast towards the end of the race. I pushed where I could and took it careful where necessary but it proves what a great team we have that we could work through these kind of situations.”
Brands Hatch will host two more races tomorrow, with the championship protagonists eager to rekindle their title charge.
