Text courtesy Team Suzuki.
Edited by webBikeWorld
Lavilla Doubles Again; While Sick
Shakey Gets Two Podium Finishes
Ducati’s Gregorio Lavilla again
scored two wins in the Bank Holiday fourth round of
the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at
Oulton Park.
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne scored
brilliant second and third place podium finishes in
today’s while racing with a stomach bug that left
him feeling barely strong enough to stand.
Get this: Shakey was so sick he was
given a saline drip by doctors before climbing
aboard his Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the first
race. Despite feeling weak he showed his
determination to lead the race and finish in second
place to score the team’s first podium of the
season.
In the second event an exhausted
Shakey battled for third place for the entire race.
On the last lap he clashed with Honda’s Jonathan Rea
and both riders went off track.
Rea missed the Knickerbrook chicane and crossed the line in third
while Shakey came back on track and finished fourth.
He was later awarded third place after an
investigation into the incident and both riders
sportingly shook hands. Shakey is now up to
fifth in the Championship standings.
James Haydon was in contention for
the win in the opening race and finished fourth just
two seconds behind the winner. In the next
race he was knocked off track by Kawasaki’s Dean
Thomas at Shell Oils corner and despite rejoining
the race, finished out of the points in 17th.
Shakey Byrne: “A massive
thank you to the medical staff who kept me hydrated
and fit enough to race this weekend. I have
had a serious stomach bug which meant I couldn’t eat
or sleep and felt absolutely terrible in the races.
“Before the first race Niall
Mackenzie told me to do the warm up lap and if I
felt bad then come in to the pits and go straight to
bed. But when you receive the amount of
support I do from Rizla Suzuki it wasn’t an option
and I had to give it a go. I’m glad I did…
“In both races I wasn’t riding as
well as I could have, I just wasn’t strong enough to
muscle the bike around. Thanks to the team for
giving me a great bike this weekend and also to
Jonathan Rea for being such a good sport over our
last lap clash and conceding third place. I’m
sure we’ll both be fighting for more podiums again
very soon.”
James Haydon: “In the
opening race there were four of us battling at the
front. I was disappointed to end up fourth and
made a minor change to the rear suspension to
improve the bike for the next race.
“I didn’t get as good a start in the
second race and going into Shell Oils a Kawasaki
collided with me and forced me off the track on to
the wet grass where I dropped the bike. I got
back on and fought my way through to 17th from dead
last by the end. That’s a shame because I
think I had the pace to compete for the podium and
never got the opportunity.”
Robert Wicks - Team Manager:
“What a heroic ride by Shakey to score two
podium finishes while being seriously ill.
Most riders wouldn’t have got on their bikes but
Shakey wasn’t going to let anything stop him.
I am sure if he had been fully fit he would’ve been
difficult to beat but he can leave here content in
the knowledge he has the speed and potential to win
races.
“James rode a brilliant opening race
to take fourth and was looking to match that or
better in the second before bad luck and a Kawasaki
took him off track and out of contention. Like
Shakey, he can leave here knowing he has the bike
and ability to challenge for race wins.
“We have shown the real potential of
the team and it feels great to be back in the thick
of the racing. Rizla Suzuki has had a tough start to
the season but today’s performances by the riders
and the entire team have been a real inspiration.
Our test at Croft should hopefully yield further
improvements and we look forward to the next race at
Mondello Park.”
|
Race One Result |
|
1: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati)
27:41.446 |
|
2: Shane Byrne (Rizla
Suzuki) +0.429 |
|
3: Leon Haslam (Ducati)
+0.870 |
|
4: James Haydon (Rizla
Suzuki) +2.087 |
|
5: Karl Harris (Honda)
+11.188 |
|
6: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda)
+19.467 |
|
7: Tommy Hill (Yamaha)
+20.053 |
|
8: Jonathan Rea (Honda)
+20.196 |
|
9: Michael Rutter (Honda)
+20.878 |
|
10: Glen Richards (Honda)
+25.854. |
|
|
|
Race Two Result |
|
1: Lavilla 27:33.612 |
|
2: Harris +0.058 |
|
3: Shane Byrne (Rizla
Suzuki) +12.004 |
|
4: Rea +12.380 |
|
5: Kiyonari +12.430 |
|
6: Rutter +14.764 |
|
7: Haslam +14.826 |
|
8: Hill +22.645 |
|
9: Richards +27.654 |
|
10: Ben Wilson (Suzuki)
+27.858 |
|
17: James Haydon (Rizla
Suzuki) +54.143. |
|
|
|
Championship Positions
(after four of 13 rounds) |
|
1: Lavilla 182 |
|
2: Haslam 121 |
|
3: Kiyonari 108 |
|
4: Harris 88 |
|
5: Shane Byrne (Rizla
Suzuki) 81 |
|
6: Rea 75 |
|
7: Rutter 61 |
|
8: Laverty and Hill 52 |
|
10: Smart 50 |
|
14: James Haydon (Rizla
Suzuki) 28 |
Qualifying
April 28, 2006 - Shane "Shakey"
Byrne was fastest in last week’s official Oulton
Park test and the Rizla Suzuki rider going to the
fourth round of the Bennetts British Superbike
Championship at the circuit this Bank Holiday Monday
aiming for podium results.
The 29-year-old Zurich resident won
the hearts of the Superbike fans by coming from the
back of the grid at the last round and carving his
way dramatically through the field to take fifth and
eighth. He knows he can improve on those results if
he can qualify near the front and is promising to
give it his all in front of what is expected to be a
bumper holiday crowd.
Rizla Suzuki’s James Haydon has
consistently been fast during practice and
qualification and is planning on showing that form
in both of the races at the picturesque and
technical 2.69-mile Cheshire circuit that suits his
aggressive riding style.
Superbike racing starts at 14:00 on
Bank Holiday Monday, May 1st.
Team Manager Robert Wicks said:
“Oulton Park’s fast flowing turns and demands for
courage from the competitors match Rizla Suzuki’s
GSX-R1000 and riders perfectly. It is a spectacular
woodland-surrounded circuit which lends itself to
dramatic racing and our aim is to be at the sharp
end this Bank Holiday Monday.”
Hawk Confident for Oulton Park
The three Hawk Kawasaki riders are heading for
the picturesque track of Oulton Park, Cheshire this
Bank Holiday weekend (29th April – 1st May), for
round four of the Bennetts British Superbike
Championship. Dean Thomas (33), Craig Coxhell
(23) and Peter Hickman (19) and looking forward to
tackling the 2.7-mile circuit. Having tested
with Thomas at the circuit last week the Hawk
Kawasaki Team are confident they have found a good
set up for the event.
Having scored two consistent top ten
finishes at Thruxton over Easter weekend Thomas is
keen to get to Oulton to improve his results.
A track that he is extremely fond of, the
Chesterfield based rider commented "Oulton is one of
my favorite circuits and I’m feeling confident as we
head there this weekend. We had a good test
last Friday and managed to get a set-up on the ZX-10
which I felt comfortable with, we had a reasonable
amount of changes to make during the day but had it
nearly right by the end of the three sessions."
Fellow Australian Craig Coxhell is
still recovering from the injury he sustained at
Donington Park at the beginning of April. Despite
this Craig will be riding at Oulton this weekend
having missed the last round due to the pain, he is
hoping that the injury will not be disturbed again
at the Cheshire circuit.
"I’m looking forward to getting back
on the bike again, I was certainly in a lot of pain
at Thruxton and Stuart did the best thing by
with-drawing me from the race, to avoid further
injury. I have been having intensive
physiotherapy on both my shoulders and also laser
treatment, in a hope to speed up the healing
process. I’ve not ridden at Oulton for a while
so I will be using the weekend to learn the track
and get the Kawasaki handling well round there.
Like Dean I want to get some strong results as I
need some more Championship points" Coxhell said.
Rookie rider Peter Hickman is still
aiming at scoring his first British Superbike points
saying "I really want to get into a rhythm this
weekend and be consistent, aiming for that top 15
finish. I’ve had a few crashes since the
season started and hoping now I’ve got that out my
system. I was running really well at Thruxton
and I felt really happy with the bike. Things
are certainly progressing and I’m learning more each
time I go out on circuit which is also giving me
confidence."
The British Superbike Championship
will be shown on ITV1 on Monday 1st May at 15:30 –
17:30pm and also on Sky Sports 2 at 21:00 – 00:30.
