Text courtesy Team Suzuki.
Edited by webBikeWorld
August 27 , 2006 - Gregorio Lavilla
and Leon Haslam, both riding for Ducati, split the
wins at the 11th round of the Bennetts British
Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park in
Lincolnshire today.
Rizla Suzuki’s Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne
crashed while battling for the lead in the second
race.
After taking fourth in the opening
race, held in wet but drying conditions, Byrne was
in determined mood for the dry second race.
He made an excellent start and led
for the first lap before settling behind Gregorio
Lavilla. The pair broke away from the pack and
Shakey was closing in on the reigning Champion when
he crashed on the exit to Charlie’s and retired.
Steve Plater crashed out of the
opening race when he was forced on to the wet line
when two riders clashed in front of him. In the
second race, aboard his spare bike, Steve took a
season’s best of sixth place in front of his home
fans. Ducati’s Gregorio Lavilla won the opening race
and his team mate Leon Haslam the second.
Rizla Suzuki will attend the
official British Superbike test at Silverstone on
Tuesday, September 5th, before returning to the
circuit for the 12th round of the Championship on
Sunday, September 17th.
Shane Byrne: “I am
gutted after crashing out in the second race. I was
fighting Greg for the win and had the pace on him. I
came out of Charlie’s as fast as I could when the
front wheel skipped and then slid away. There was
nothing I could do to avoid crashing.
“Fourth in the opening race is okay
but when you have the bike and ability to challenge
for wins it isn’t what I want. The Rizla Suzuki is
fast; we had a good package at Cadwell and knew we
could run at the front. I’ve two more rounds left
and want to get on the top step of the podium
again.”
Steve Plater: “Sixth is
my best result of the season and while it isn’t a
win, I am over the moon with the progress I have
made with the Rizla Suzuki. The whole team deserves
a result for their efforts supporting me – thanks
guys!
“In the first race the two riders in
front of me touched, I went off the dry line to
avoid hitting them and crashed at low speed on the
wet surface. Overall though, the top six was my
target for this weekend and I achieved that. Thanks
to all my home fans for cheering me on.”
Race One Results: 1: Gregorio
Lavilla (Ducati) 28:04.401, 2: Leon Haslam (Ducati)
+5.307, 3: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +20.611, 4:
Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) +30.238, 5: Tommy Hill
(Yamaha) +35.712, 6: Glen Richards (Honda) +35.823,
7: Craig Coxhell (Kawasaki) +45.755, 8: Dean Thomas
(Kawasaki) +48.406, 9: Jon Kirkham (Kawasaki)
+48.446, 10: Karl Harris (Honda) +49.815. DNF: 6:
Steve Plater (Rizla Suzuki).
Race Two Results: 1: Haslam
26:34.675, 2: Lavilla +5.859, 3: Jonathan Rea
(Honda) +19.928, 4: Hill +23.784, 5: Harris +24.399,
6: Steve Plater (Rizla Suzuki) +29.053, 7: Michael
Laverty (Honda) +29.668, 8: Ben Wilson (Suzuki)
+39.079, 9: Richards +40.892, 10: Billy McConnell
(Yamaha) +41.569. DNF: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki).
Championship Standings (after 11
of 13 rounds): 1: Haslam 352, 2: Lavilla 337, 3:
Kiyonari 326, 4: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) 211, 5=:
Harris, Rea 192, 7: Laverty 152, 8: Hill 151, 9:
Michael Rutter (Honda) 138, 10: Richards 104, 16:
Steve Plater (Rizla Suzuki) 37, 17: James Haydon (Rizla
Suzuki) 36.
British
Supersport Cup Championship
19-year-old Pete Spalding carried on
his winning form this weekend at Cadwell Park,
Monday 28th August. The youngster who tied up the
British Supersport Cup Championship at Croft took
his tenth win from ten races at the technical
Lincolnshire Circuit.
Spalding was running well all
weekend and managed to qualify in a strong 15th
position on the grid. A strong start saw him move
through the pack to tenth but he slowly dropped off
the pace and was struggling to stay with the front
runners.
In the drying condition tire choice
caused a problem with all the teams and the majority
of the pack opting for full wets, including
Spalding. A last lap maneuver on Aaron Walker saw
him take the lead of the Cup riders and bring his
Centurion Racing Honda home in a low 20th position
overall.
Speaking with the New Milton based
rider he said "I was struggling throughout the race
with a trapped nerve in my elbow, which was causing
me to have no feeling on the brakes. It was
giving me a lot of grief and I didn't want to push
to hard due to the lack of strength I was feeling.
I'm not happy with my result today as I know I can
ride much better than that. Cadwell is a difficult
circuit and I ensured that I did as many laps as
possible during practice and qualifying to learn the
track a bit more. I'm hoping Silverstone will see me
get a better result in the Overall Championship."
Team Manager Gary Stubbington said
"We are a little disappointed with Pete's overall
result even though he did win the Cup race. We will
be sitting down together as a team and discussing
what went wrong and how to move things forward for
Silverstone in a few weeks time. We know the tricky
weather conditions did play a small part in
proceedings but hopefully we will be back on track
for Silverstone."
British Supersport Cup Race
Results: 1. Pete Spalding Centurion Racing
Honda; 2. Aaron Walker, Honda; 3. Christian Elkin,
Triumph; 4. Rob Sketchley, Honda
Cup Championship Points:
Pete Spalding 250; Aaron Walker 166; Christian Elkin
116; Mike Goodfellow 81
