Gregorio Lavilla sealed the Bennetts British Superbike crown with a victory and then a second place to his Airwaves Ducati team-mate Leon Haslam in the final round at Brands Hatch.

The Spanish rider had stared the campaign without a contract, merely deputising in the team for their injured rider James Haydon in the opening two rounds, but he packed the points, and earned the ride for the rest of the season.

Lavilla matured and his challenge to the dominant HM Plant Honda developed, and then intensified in the second half of the season in which he enjoyed a brilliant run of six victories and five second placings in 11 outings.

Haydon, riding for Rizla Suzuki, had started from pole, but, he was beaten away from the line by the determined Haslam who led for four laps before Lavilla charged through at Druids, to dictate terms and take the victory by a third of a second.

Ryuichi Kiyonari, his only rival for the crown, was back in fourth place, adrift of Haydon, and that meant Lavilla needed only a single point from the second race of the day to secure his first major crown.

Haslam won the second race, with Lavilla shattering the outright lap record as he finished in second place to take the champion’s trophy.

“Fantastic – it is a great feeling but I did not expect to be standing here at the start of the season. My thanks to the team. My bike has been consistent, very good. After the summer break we raced on circuits I knew and started winning regularly, taking points back from the Hondas.

“I think you say Mission Complete – it has been a great year and we have finished it well,” smiled the 30 year old from Tarragona. Kiyonari, was again fourth, this time finishing adrift of Steve Plater riding the Hydrex Honda.

The GSE team, running during the season under the Airwaves banner, have confirmed that they will be contesting the British Championship in 2006 and have already secured Haslam to ride for them: “I can hardly wait for the start of the season – I can’t thank the team enough and to have two 1-2 finishes in each of the final two races in just brilliant.”

Haslam finished the season in fourth place in the rankings, adrift of Michael Rutter, sixth and eighth here, and who has learned that he will not have his contract with the HM Plant Honda team renewed for next season – Kiyonari, who finished as runner-up 461-429 down on Lavilla, will however be back next year with the Louth based team.

Marty Nutt was the top British Superbike Cup finisher in the opening race, ahead of Malcolm Ashley and Phil Giles, while Danny Beaumont took the honours next time out, with Ashley and Giles packing the placings.

Leon Camier clinched the Metabo British Supersport crown with a fifth place in a race stopped a lap early after Pere Riba crashed out. The Padgetts Honda rider had started with a 22 points advantage and needed only a top twelve finish to add this title to his 2001 British 125cc Championship success. Stuart Easton won the race, ahead of championship runner-up Craig Jones and Cal Crutchlow.

Christian Elkin retained the British 125cc crown for a second year as he ended a roller-coaster campaign on a winning note in a dramatic race in which his two rivals both had mechanical problems – James Westmoreland, who went into the race with a single point advantage, was sidelined while lying third. Earlier Rob Guiver had stopped because of a broken chain. Sam Lowes, just 15 years old, finished second, ahead of another ACU Academy Cup rider Dan Linfoot.

Tommy Bridewell took the victory, his fourth of the season, in the final round of the Virgin Mobile Cup as Jon Boy Lee tumbled out of the lead with a couple of laps to go – overall series winner Billy McConnell was back in seventh place.

Second place was just champion for Krysal Racing Yamaha rider Lee Jackson in the Metzleler Racetec National Superstocks – Craig Fitazpatrick took the victory.

Peter Ward, already assured of the Metzeler Racetec Superstock Cup, celebrated with a seasonal seventh victory, finally overcoming the hard riding Bob Collins, in the closing stages of the race in which the series’ runner-up Paul Veazey finished third.

Rizla Suzuki

RIZLA SUZUKI’S James Haydon scored his best result of the season with a podium third place at the 13th and final round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch GP circuit in Kent today.

After securing his maiden pole position, Haydon was on top form and determined to get on the podium and taste champagne in the opening event. His race-long fight with two other riders for third place eventually ended with his first visit to the podium in 2005 and enormous cheers from the fanatical crowd.

In race two Haydon was in third place and the only rider able to follow the pace of the leaders when he crashed out on the exit to Druids. Ducati’s Gregorio Lavilla and Leon Haslam shared a win each with Lavilla taking the Championship title in the process.

James Buckingham, standing in for the injured John Reynolds for this round, crashed out of the opening event and finished an impressive 14th after starting from 22nd on the grid in the second race.

JR remains in Darent Valley Hospital under observation for injuries he sustained during a crash in first practice on Friday. His doctors are happy with his progress and are working to transfer him to his home hospital in Nottingham early next week.

Rizla Suzuki will be on display at the International Motorcycle Show at Birmingham’s NEC between October 28th- November 6th and is already planning its pre-season test campaign in a bid to challenge for the Championship in 2006.

James Haydon: “I didn’t want my last race of the season to be a DNF but after scoring my first pole position in BSB and my first podium of the year in the opening race, I really went for it in the second outing. I was following Gregorio out of Druids when the rear end low-sided, which is a really weird way to crash. I’m not sure what happened, but am gutted as my bike felt good and I wanted another podium.

“Race one was great and I had to soak up a lot of pressure to take third place. That result shows the true potential of the Rizla Suzuki. Thanks to everyone in the team for a cracking weekend and a great season - I can’t wait to buy my technicians a beer this evening, they have thoroughly deserved it!”

James Buckingham: “In race one a rider high-sided in front of me on the third lap. I couldn’t avoid him and ended up crashing at Surtees, which was disappointing as I was already five-places ahead of my starting position.

“Race two was much better and I had a proper battle for the points scoring positions, ending up 14th and more comfortable on the Rizla Suzuki than ever before. I have enjoyed this experience with the team as a stand-in for JR – but my thoughts are with him now in hospital and I wish him a quick and complete recovery. I have won the Privateers Championship and tasted life with a Factory Superbike team this year and that can’t be bad!”

Robert Wicks, Team Manager: “James Haydon rode fantastically to take a thrilling podium for Rizla Suzuki. His pace all weekend shows the strides forward that we have made with the performance of the Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000. In race two he was the only rider that looked like he may have been able to compete with the Ducatis and that is encouraging.

“James Buckingham put on an great performance in the second race to score points from a difficult 22nd place on the grid. He is a star of the future for sure.

“This weekend shows we are moving in the right direction and we can go into our closed season testing regime with a strong base package that allows us to build for a title challenge in 2006.

“According to his doctors JR had a good night in hospital and is in ever-improving spirits. Our thoughts are with him and getting him home to Nottingham as quickly as possible.”

HM Plant Honda

Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Rutter finished second and third respectively in the 2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship after a thrilling 13th and final round at Brands Hatch. The HM Plant Honda Racing team-mates narrowly lost the coveted title to the consistent Spaniard Gregorio Lavilla in front of 35,000 sun-drenched spectators at the 2.6-mile Grand Prix circuit.

With 13 points separating Lavilla and Kiyonari at the beginning of the day, the pressure was on both riders to take maximum points in race one. Lavilla and his team-mate Leon Haslam made a break at the front of the field and led throughout the 20-lap race. Haslam made the early running and broke the lap record, but let the newly-crowned champion through at Druids on lap five to take a victorious 25 points.

Rutter and Kiyonari started from the third row of the grid and were unable to make up enough ground on their title rivals over race distance. Eighth at the end of the first lap, the 23-year-old Japanese star overtook his more experienced team-mate on lap four.

Kiyo then caught the battle between James Haydon and Dean Thomas for the last podium placing. Having passed Thomas on the 12th lap, the HM Plant Honda rider tracked down Haydon but was unable to make a decisive move before the chequered flag. Rutter maintained station and took the second factory Fireblade home in sixth position.

The mathematics before race two were simple. All Lavilla had to do was take one solitary point to claim the British Superbike crown at his first attempt. He did so in style by breaking the lap record and following Haslam home in a safe second place.

Kiyonari and Rutter each moved forward by one position on the grid after their Honda-Racing.co.uk team-mate Karl Harris was declared a non-starter as a result of injuries sustained in a first race crash. However, they were unable to take advantage of this as they joined Dean Thomas, Glen Richards, Gary Mason and Steve Plater in a close race for the final podium position.

Ninth at the end of the first lap, HM Plant Honda Racing’s British Superbike runner-up made a customary charge through the field to claim a hard-fought fourth position. Rutter was unable to capitalise on his early fifth position and was relegated to the rear of the group in eighth.

An analysis of the 2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship will reveal Kiyonari’s crash at the third round at Mallory Park as the decisive moment in terms of the outcome of the title. Having won the first four races of the season, the HM Plant Honda Racing rider was forced to miss the next two events due to injury.

A further eight victories took Kiyo’s winning tally to 12 – five more than Lavilla. When added to Rutter’s three race wins, this ensures that HM Plant Honda Racing will go down in history as the most successful team of the 2005 season. These impressive results enabled Honda to clinch the manufacturers’ award by 25 points from Ducati.

Ryuichi Kiyonari: “I have had a hard weekend here at Brands Hatch. I won the first two races of the season over the Indy circuit but the Grand Prix track presented me with a new challenge.

“This was not a good event for me last year, but I have made a big improvement. The HM Plant Honda Racing CBR1000RR and Michelin tyres are an improved package – and the rider has also made a slight improvement! Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win the championship.

“Today’s races were very similar for me in terms of starts, lap times and final positions. They were tough events and I tried very hard to finish on the podium. Next season, I must try even harder.

“Overall, I would like to thank my chief technician Adrian Gorst and the rest of the HM Plant Honda Racing team. I am obviously disappointed with the final result of the championship, but I know that I didn’t lose the title on today’s performance only.

“I have enjoyed my second year in the British Superbike Championship and I hope to return next year. I have happy memories of my 12 wins, but the races that I failed to start – and finish – made all the difference in the end. I have learnt a lot in 2005 and I hope that it will make me even stronger in the future.”

Michael Rutter: “We’ve made good progress with the HM Plant Honda Racing CBR1000RR and I’d like to thank the team for all their help – not just this weekend, but over the past two seasons as well. I wasn’t at my best today and am still not 100 per cent fit after my big crash at Snetterton in July. They were long, demanding races and I felt the pace towards the end of each leg.

“This season didn’t turn out as Kiyo or I had planned, but at least we have the consolation of being the best team overall. I had a 45-point advantage going into the ninth round at Silverstone, but the second half of the season was more difficult than I could ever have imagined.”

Karl Harris

Karl Harris’s hopes for a positive end to the season were cruelly dashed at the final round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch today.

A crash at Clarke Curve on lap one of the first race left the Yorkshireman with an injured ankle, which sidelined him from the remainder of the event. Harris was taken to the circuit’s medical centre where a precautionary x-ray was advised.

This revealed a broken bone in the top of the 25-year-old’s right foot. It was a bitter blow for Harris who had qualified in third position for today’s two 20-lap races and recorded the fastest time aboard the Dunlop/BLD-backed Honda-Racing.co.uk machine in this morning’s warm-up.

The incident also forced Harris to miss out on sixth position in the championship overall by just three points from Dean Thomas who finished fifth in both of today’s races.

Karl Harris: “I can’t describe how frustrating today has been for me. Until race one, the weekend was going really well for the Honda-Racing.co.uk team. The set-up of the CBR1000RR Fireblade was working really well with the Dunlop tyres.

“I didn’t get the best start to the race and unfortunately I pushed too hard to try and make up for that. I’m just sorry that I couldn’t provide a better end to the season for my sponsors BLD, Dunlop and Sonneti, who came to Brands Hatch to support me today.”