BSB News

Round 2 Oulton Park

Just two rounds into the 2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, and it’s already looking like Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne is the man that everyone is going to have to beat in order to lay their hands on this year’s BSB title come October. The Kent rider was in blistering form at Oulton Park on Bank Holiday Monday, racing to what is sure to be the first of many double wins to come his way this season on current showing. It was the Ducati man’s first maximum points score since September 2003, when he rounded out his title winning year with a double victory at the season finale at Donington Park. And to complete an almost perfect day for Darrell Healey’s Airwaves squad, team-mate Leon Camier also scored two third place finishes, as he made his return to the podium for the first time since round two of the 2007 Championship at Thruxton last Easter, showing that’s he’s now almost back to full fitness and capable of launching his own championship challenge.
After practice, the rider who looked like setting the pace, fresh from his win at the opening round two weeks earlier, was HM Plant Honda star Cal Crutchlow. But after claiming pole position at a circuit that he rates as one of his favourites on the calendar, the popular Coventry rider had to endure three crashes on the day and ended the meeting with a badly dislocated right ankle. And things weren’t much better for team-mate Leon Haslam, who put in an excellent ride for second place in the opening Superbike encounter, before being controversially excluded from the results second time out after another on track clash with Suzuki’s Tom Sykes.

Round 3 Brands Hatch

With riders and fans enjoying the hottest day of the year so far, it was difficult to believe that just five weeks earlier the opening round of the 2008 Bennetts British Superbike Championship had been postponed due to the Grand Prix Circuit being covered in almost four inches of snow. Now everyone was back at the Kent track for the re-scheduled event in conditions more akin to August’s World Superbike round, as temperatures hit an incredible 27ºC. And the action on track turned out to be just as hot.Grids for the meeting were set from how the riders qualified for each class back in April, but a man missing off the front row in the Superbike class was Karl Harris. Under the advice of BSB series doctor, Toby Branfoot, ‘Bomber’ decided to withdraw from racing mid-week, following his high-speed coming together with Tom Sykes’ Suzuki at Thruxton and then re-aggravating the injuries with his two offs at Oulton on Bank Holiday Monday. And the Sheffield rider was bitterly disappointed to be missing out of his third place start: “The injuries didn’t feel that bad to be honest last weekend at Oulton, riding in the wet was OK but I started to feel the pace in the dry. I have spoken with Toby and he has advised me that it would be a wise move to sit out Brands in order to regain full fitness for Donington at the end of the month. Obviously I’m really frustrated. We’ve had nothing but bad luck so far this season. The team has been brilliant and deserves much more than our lack of results show.”

Read the full column in this months issue.