2008 British Superbike Round 8 - Knockhill

Knockhill Race Circuit

Text and Photos Courtesy Kawasaki Racing, Suzuki Racing, Yamaha Racing, Pirelli Tyre, Metzeler Tyre and British Superbike. Edited by webBikeWorld.

Race Results - August 10, 2008
Race 1 - Tom Sykes secured his third win in succession with a dominating performance over the opening 30 lap Superbike race at Knockhill (10 August).

The Rizla Suzuki rider was high on confidence after a double at Oulton Park and two strong rides as a wild card rider in last weekend’s World Superbike meeting at Brands Hatch.

Michael Rutter took the early lead, muscling his NW 200 Ducati in purposeful manner as he claimed the drying line just ahead of Sykes. The Rizla Suzuki rider finally made his move stick on the second try on lap 9, setting his sights on the checkered flag.

Behind Sykes, the action hotted up with Byrne moving through the field to eventually maintain his record of podium finishes. Rutter, leading for the first third, was the man to lose out as James Ellison claimed the final podium spot.

Tom Sykes, Race 1 Winner: "Absolutely fantastic! I said I was happy with the dry setting and with the wet setting and a little bit iffy with the damp setting in qualifying but this morning the Rizla Suzuki worked absolutely fantastic and fortunately it were slicks all round.

The first couple of laps were sketchy with a couple of moments, then when Rutter put me onto the curb and the dirty stuff it were really quite a near do but it's one of them things. Third one on the bounce and totally happy with the
way things are going and just all credit to the Rizla Suzuki team and it's working perfect and hopefully you know if it stays like this we will have a another go at making it another race win. It's obvious what I'm going to say and I'd just like to dedicate this one to my man Jonesy, good man!"

Race 2 - The weather was back to haunt the second Superbike race, with heavy rain falling as the riders left on the first of two sighting laps. Race start was delayed as riders returned to pit, changing slicks for Pirelli rain tires.

As the race finally got underway, HM Plant’s Leon Haslam made the early running from pole, eking out a 1.5s gap to the chasing pack. Haslam looked to be unstoppable, and it would only be a red flag incident on lap 9 that would momentarily halt his charge for his first win of the season.

The track was starting to dry, and once again it was all hands on deck as teams scrabbled to select the correct tire
choice. For the so far luckless Karl Harris, the option of slicks would later prove right.

The 20 lap restart saw Shane Byrne finally take the lead for the first time this weekend, fending off the challenge from Haslam and Harris. Michael Rutter was starting to close on the Rob Mac Racing Yamaha, and passed him on lap 13.

Cal Crutchlow, starting from the back of the grid, elevated himself up to 8th, but would be denied any more opportunity to gain on Simon Andrews just ahead as Shane Byrne’s Airwaves Ducati let go spectacularly at Seat,
throwing the championship leader from the track. The race was instantly red-flagged and result declared as of lap 14, minus Byrne.

For two riders it may not be the way they wanted to claim podiums, but Haslam will be grateful for his debut win of
the season, and for Karl Harris the bad luck that has blighted the team all season looks to have gone.

Round 9 takes place at Cadwell Park over the August Bank Holiday weekend (23-25 August).

Leon Haslam, Race 2: “We've come this weekend full of confidence and from the last few rounds and the team has made some big progress. We have had troubles, I've had troubles getting to grips with the Honda.

The last few rounds I've been feeling really confident with the bike and the team have been really behind me and I was so disappointed after that electrical problem in the first race and it could have been another win there but to do it in the second race on my spare bike I'm just over the moon.

It was mega difficult to pass and back markers started to come into play and I managed to reel him back in but he (Shane Byrne) did go down pretty hard and I'm just glad really he's ok and we can have another battle next time with
each other.”

Race 1 Results
1. Sykes (Suzuki), 2. Byrne (Ducati), 3. J.Ellison (Honda), 4. Rutter (Ducati), 5. Camier (Ducati), 6. M.Laverty (Suzuki), 7. Harris (Yamaha), 8. Andrews (Yamaha), 9. Palmer (Honda), 10. Mason (Honda)

Race 2 Results
1. Haslam (Honda), 2. Rutter (Ducati), 3. Harris (Yamaha), 4. Sykes (Suzuki), 5. Ellison (Honda), 6. Andrews (Yamaha), 7. Crutchlow (Honda), 8. Camier (Ducati), 9. McConnell (Kawasaki), 10. Burns (MV Agusta)

Championship Standings
1. Byrne – 332, 2. Crutchlow – 222, 3. Sykes – 214, 4. Haslam – 199, 5. Camier – 179, 6. Ellison – 177, 7. Rutter – 174, 8. M.Laverty – 110, 9. Andrews – 108, 10. Palmer – 75

Podium Success Rewards Hard Work for MV Agusta in Daily Star Superbike Cup
The STP Motorsport MV Agusta British Superbike Team came away from a weekend of mixed fortunes at Knockhill with its season back on track following a podium finish in race one and a stunning race win in the rain interrupted second race in the Daily Star Superbike Cup.

The Team’s mechanical jinx returned with an undiagnosed misfire on the new Superbike engine during qualifying forced the team to abandon plans to use it in the race. This left Chris Burns with his number two bike, which remains pretty much in Superstock condition.

Undeterred, he pushed hard from 17th place on the grid to finish 3rd in the Daily Star Superbike Cup and 15th overall, gaining another valuable Championship point for MV Agusta in its return to the Superbike stage.

Race two saw Chris and the MV Agusta F4 1000 take full advantage of the damp conditions and a restarted race to take his third win of the season in the Superbike Cup and register the Team’s first top ten finish in the overall Superbike Race. Given the competition that he was up against this is a magnificent result for the team and provides a real shot in the arm for the rest of the season.

As always the Team pulled together to overcome both the mechanical issues and the traditional changeable weather at Knockhill. With less than five minutes to go before pit lane opened it was still hard to call what tires to go with as the rain started to fall again. However, as the sun broke through it was obvious that a dry race lay ahead

Paul Snell – Crew Chief: “It was disappointing not to be able to make use of the extra power that the new superbike engine would have given us but the decision not to run it became a simple one to make after qualifying.

Before the problem arose it looked as if we may have been in a position to gain a third row start, and maybe sneak into the top ten in qualifying. As the session progressed, though, we slipped back to 17th overall while still managing to post the 3rd fastest time in the cup category. We now have time to test the new engine ahead of the next round at Cadwell Park and we expect to deliver the improvements on track that should have been present at Knockhill.”

Chris Burns – 3rd Place: “We were always going to struggle at Knockhill using the standard engine, so to come third in the first race and take the win and the top ten overall in the second race has to be seen as a fantastic result for the weekend’s work. Hopefully we can build on this and go on to add to the wins and podiums at Cadwell Park and improve our position in the Cup standings.”

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