2008 British Superbike
Motorcycle Racing - Round 12 - Brands Hatch Indy
Brands Hatch Indy Race Circuit
2008 British Superbike Round 10 - Brands Hatch Indy
Text and Photos Courtesy Kawasaki
Racing, Suzuki
Racing, Yamaha Racing, Pirelli Tyre,
Metzeler Tyre and British Superbike.
Edited by webBikeWorld.com
NOTE: This was the
final round of the 2008 British Superbike Championship
season.
Race Results
Race 1 - Shane Byrne recorded his first win for
Airwaves Ducati in 11 races, crossing the finish line
almost two seconds ahead of Cal Crutchlow, after 30 laps
of the penultimate race of the season at Brands Hatch
Indy circuit.
HM Plant Honda’s Cal
Crutchlow took the holeshot with Byrne, Haslam and
Ellison tucked in behind.
Ellison moved up to third on
the opening lap, just before Byrne slid his Ducati
underneath Crutchlow for the lead into Paddock Hill at
the start of lap 2.
From this point, Byrne
looked in control, despite the constant proximity of
Crutchlow. A choice of a harder front and rear
Pirelli tyre selection for Michael Rutter, competing in
the 300th BSB race of his illustrious career, could not
propel the NW200 Ducati onto the podium.
Rutter ran a somewhat lonely
race to finish in 7th, just ahead of Simon Andrew’s
Jentin Yamaha. With the last minute withdrawal of
Karl Harris just before final qualifying on Saturday
afternoon, his deputy, Jon Kirkham rode a spirited race
battling with a host of seasoned veterans to score a
fantastic 9th place finish in his first Superbike race
of the season.
As Byrne pulled an
unassailable gap back to Crutchlow, Haslam continued to
put the squeeze onto Ellison throughout the closing
laps. With time running out, and a shoulder injury
hampering his progress, Haslam narrowly missed out on a
podium finish in favor of Ellison who made his first
visit back to the rostrum since Knockhill.
However, Haslam only needs
to score four points in the final race to guarantee
second in the championship before he moves to the world
stage for 2009.
Shane
Byrne, Winner Race 1: "I can actually let my
hair down a little now, the Championship is won and we
can
concentrate on enjoying this last round. The
Airwaves Ducati has been working real well all weekend
and it's good to be back up on the top step again."
Race 2 - Shane Byrne
capped off a championship winning season with his fourth
double race victory of the campaign, under clear blue
skies at Brands Hatch.
Leon Haslam took the the
holeshot from Tom Sykes and Cal Crutchlow, determined to
finish the season on the top
step of the podium. His race plan looked to be
coming to fruition as the HM Plant Honda rider moved to
almost two
seconds clear by mid-race.
However, with Byrne
elevating the Airwaves Ducati into second position at
Druids on lap 14, he started to eat up the empty tarmac
over the next few laps to close onto the heels of Haslam.
With six laps remaining,
Byrne was within touching distance of the race lead.
As the pair entered the
final lap, Byrne attempted a pass into Paddock Hill but
couldn’t make the move stick. Rounding Druids for the
last time, back markers were visible ahead, coming into
play as the leaders entered the braking zone for
Surtees.
Haslam lost out, taking to
the grass momentarily as Byrne pulled clear to claim an
emotional 28th career victory.
Shane Byrne, Winner
Race 2: “That was one of the best races I’ve ever
had! I got dropped a bit at the start and as
usual had to make my way back through the field.
It was a fantastic battle with Leon towards the end, and
all credit to him for pushing so hard.
I want to thank Airwaves
Ducati and all the team for a great year. That was
the perfect way to say goodbye to the fans and to BSB.
It’s great to end my time in BSB with a double.”
Shane
Byrne, Winner Race 1: "I can actually let my
hair down a little now, the Championship is won and we
can