Ryuichi Kiyonari and Shane Byrne took the victories in a dramatic, incident packed eighth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Knockhill which has left the title race wide-open.

As the series heads for next Sunday’s Oulton Park round, only 20 points separate the leading trio. Gregorio Lavilla, after a day of misfortune, saw his lead over his Airwaves Ducati team-mate Leon Haslam reduced to just eleven, while Kiyonari was denied the opportunity to make up further ground by a second race machine failure.

And there a best ever result for 19 year old Jonathan Rea. The Red Bull Honda rider had taken his first pole of the season at record breaking pace, and after a fourth place in the opener, battled brilliantly to take second place next time out. Poignantly, he stopped on his slow down lap at Duffus Dip, marking the spot were a heavy crash two years ago had threatened his career.

“Awesome,” smiled Rea, adding “It’s nice to put one over the official Honda team.” It was a moment to treasure for the Ballyclare rider whose maturing style has put him among the front running pack – now he is planning maiden race winning glory.

That will come easily, such is the intensity and determination among the leading contenders for the crown. Byrne, delighted to be re-united with his Rizla Suzuki race bikes, stolen on the eve of a test session at Croft but subsequently recovered nearby from a heap of farmyard manure, was hot on the charge.

He made the perfect start to the opener, but was struggling with grip and could do nothing as Haslam powered ahead of him, and then Kiyonari pushed him back to third place. Lavilla was running fourth, but at the hairpin, he all but stopped, a throttle problem causing momentary problems. He was soon back on the charge, but had too much to do, having to settle for eleventh place.

Kiyonari took the lead with five laps remaining, and then Haslam ran wide at the Hairpin, leaving the way open for Byrne to charge through into second place. The former champion’s team worked frantically between races to change the setting of the bike, and Byrne repaid them handsomely.

He was running out front from the start, and able to increase his lead lap by lap, smashing the record in the process while behind him Haslam was trying everything he knew to stay in contention. The Derbyshire rider was also being harassed by Lavilla, who, hot on the charge, was keen to avenge his earlier disappointment.

But, it was to end in tears for the reigning champion as he crashed heavily out of contention with four laps remaining – the Spaniard dislocated the little finger of his left hand, but will be fit to race next Sunday at the Cheshire circuit.

Rea lessened slightly the hurt for Lavilla as he nosed into second place, ahead of Haslam, to enjoy his first ever visit to the Superbike podium, but his joy hardly matched that of Byrne.

“Mega – the team have done a great job for me. No-one knows how much this result means to me. I was beginning to think, I’ve come back to this series but cannot win a race.

“This is a great result for me. The team transformed the bike between the races and then it was up to me to ride consistently, getting ahead and then pulling clear,” explained Byrne. The win lifts him to fourth in the rankings, 94 points down on Lavilla, whose advantage has been cut 244-233 by Haslam, twice third here. Kiyonari is third with 224 points, and all to play for.

James Buckingham took a winning double in the British Superbike Cup class, and that despite riding his spare Quay Garage Honda, having experienced a gearbox problem in the raceday warm-up session.

Suzuki Report

Rizla Suzuki’s Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne won the second race at a sun-drenched Knockhill circuit in Scotland at the eighth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship to end a 22-month drought of victories for the team.

Shakey led the opening race and enjoyed a three-way scrap for the win; eventually finishing second just behind Honda’s Ryuichi Kiyonari. In the second race the Rizla Suzuki rider led from start to finish. He performed a wheelie the length of the straight in celebration as he received the loudest cheer of the weekend from the huge crowd.

The last time Rizla Suzuki won a race was at Oulton Park in September 2004 when John Reynolds was on his way to claiming the British Superbike title.

Byrne was the lone Rizla Suzuki racer at Knockhill as his team mate James Haydon missed the event while he continues to recuperate from the foot and shoulder injuries he sustained in a crash at Snetterton in Norfolk four weeks ago.

Rizla Suzuki will replace James with a stand in rider at the ninth round of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park in Cheshire next weekend.

Shane Byrne:
“Everybody has been telling me how much Rizla Suzuki needed a win and I knew how important it was for the team. What people didn’t realise is just how much I needed to win as well; it has been a long time since I topped the podium and led a race from start to finish.

“A massive thank you to my team for all the support - they made the difference today. In the first race I was always in contention but had to be content with second. My crew made some inspired changes to the bike in between the races and in the second race I managed to break away for the win.

“It’s been a mega day for Rizla Suzuki, for me and for the Scottish fans. To win the Steve Hislop Memorial for the fastest lap is a real bonus as well. I couldn’t be much happier and can’t wait to get to Oulton Park to see if I can do it all again. I don’t normally drink but I’ll be having a few this evening to celebrate!”

Robert Wicks - Team Manager:
“Well done Shakey and Rizla Suzuki for this win. It has been a long time coming. We have had some bad luck recently but through sheer effort and will power we have turned things around for a fantastic result.

“Shane and the team have shown their true class and this result is not only for them, it is for Rizla, Suzuki, all our sponsors and all of the fans who have stuck with us through thick and thin. Thank you one and all and we hope we can continue in this vein for the rest of the season.

“The weather has been warm and dry for the second year in a row at Knockhill and the racing has been nothing short of spectacular. A lot of credit must go to the circuit staff for their enthusiasm and drive to make the event a big success; it has been a pleasure to race here.

“Now we will go back to the team HQ to prepare for next week’s ninth round of the Championship. There is a lot of work to be completed in a short space of time and we hope today’s results will provide us with strong momentum through the second half of the season.”

Paul Young

Youngy taken out by aggressive rider: “I was hoping for a top five on the Paul Young Racing Triumph Daytona 675 but I was ‘Frostied’ after nine laps. Rob Frost took me out at McIntrye’s and then crashed out all on his own a lap and a half later. Looking at the final standings I can see it’s cost me a hell of a lot of points and positions in the championship as well as potential mileage for getting sponsors for next year. I think I missed out on my aim of a top five just because of a notoriously idiotic rider on the track who struck an innocent racer once again. I think to be fair to the bike, the last four meetings has shown the potential that we (almost) showed at Knockhill. I’ve been comfy enough with the bike to finish well in the top 10, but circumstances once more conspired against me. The weekend wasn’t without dramas, as the bike did feel like still suffering from a lack of top-end. That’s something I can work on and fix if I’ve just got the time and money available! Both are lacking at the moment! I’m pretty disappointed. In fact, that’s an understatement.”

Qualifying: “I was confident all through practice and qualifying and was up to sixth place on race tyres so I was very confident for the actual main event. To be honest, qualifying 11th meant that at worst I’d maybe finish in the top 10. That would have been a piece of cake.”

The Race: “I got a reasonable start, I was in or around my starting position so I didn’t lose or gain any places, instead I just tried to settle into a rhythm and not rush to get by anyone as I knew I could pick people off as and when. I started passing people and felt comfortable with the bike and tyres. I came up behind Frosty as the group in front were getting away and Frosty was definitely holding me up. He was looking completely ragged, so I thought I’d try to choose the right moment to get by safely, but with Rob that didn’t seem to exist and he was bobbling everywhere and was completely out of shape through the chicane. I finally went by him into McIntyre’s and was in front, I tried to give him and me room and let him know I was coming. We got into the apex and the next thing I know he’s come around the outside of me, just as the camber goes away from you. As I’m starting to pick the bike up, he was leaning on top of me, which pushed the back of the bike down. The bike then went from underneath of me, and that was it. He crashed a lap and a half later. I was pretty lucky to be walking and talking, as I ended up in middle of track on a blind corner and crest. I jumped up just as a pack of bikes came through the corner at around 100-120mph. I don’t know how they missed me. The bike was rideable, but it was on the other side of the track and I couldn’t get to it. All-in-all I was lucky not to get hit. At the stage when Frosty took me out I was catching people and I reckon I could have finished in front of Sean Emmett and he finished in 4th. Gutted!”

Coming events: “Oulton Park is next weekend and I’m confident that I should have a similar result to the one I was expecting at Knockhill. Thankfully there’s not a huge amount of damage to the bike so it’s not too much of a drama to have bike ready for the race in Cheshire. The bike’s going good, so now I want the result I deserved in Scotland. In the previous round at Oulton earlier this year I was 7th before tyre problems set in, but now I want the finish to cap it off!”

Brendan Roberts

21-year-old Brendan Roberts took a determined fourth win at round eight of the National Superstock Championship at Knockhill Circuit this weekend, 16th July. In a nail-biting race Roberts was keen to extend his lead in the Championship, which he did convincingly and now leads the series by a massive 60-points.

With scorching hot conditions at the Scottish circuit the young Australian took second position in qualifying and was feeling confident heading into the 25-lap race. Gaining a fantastic start, Roberts got the hole-shot from Tristan Palmer, Marshall Neill and Pole Sitter Torquil Patterson.

A big moment on lap four out of Clark's, lead to Roberts rolling off the throttle to bring his Suzuki back under control, this allowing Palmer and Neill underneath the youngster into the Hairpin. It was not long before Roberts regained second place as he passed Palmer over the start/finish line.

Laps nine and ten were action packed as position were swapped and paintwork was exchanged, local Scottish rider Patterson briefly took second place but by lap 11 Roberts had manoeuvred his way to the front of the hounding pack once again. A vigorous battled ensued between Roberts and Irishman Neill, each lap became a scrap between the two. Neill who was extremely strong on the back part of the circuit and pulled out a pass on Roberts into the Hairpin taking the lead. As back-markers approached the two were still exchanging positions as well as finding a way past the slower riders.

Roberts made some tidy passes to see him through the lapped riders safely and also regaining the lead. Roberts managed to gain an advantage over Neill as he battled to pass the back-markers allowing him to extend his lead and take his fourth win of the season.

The Grantham based rider was delighted with his result commenting "What a weekend it turned out to be, I knew it was going to be a tight race as there was only a few riders who had been testing here. I rode with-in myself, after some big moments on the opening laps, I settled down and felt comfortable from there. We are back racing again this weekend at Oulton Park and as my points lead is now over two race wins, I wont need to take the risks as I did last time back in April when I went onto win at the demanding Cheshire Circuit."

The next round of the National Superstock Championship is at Oulton Park this weekend, 21st - 23rd July.

Hawk Kawasaki

The two Hawk Kawasaki riders Craig Coxhell and Peter Hickman secured some strong results this weekend at round eight of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Knockhill, 16th July. With Dean Thomas sidelined for the next few meetings due to injury, it was down to the two youngsters in the team to secure some good results.

Coxhell was determined to carry on his recent good form and managed to gain a fantastic sixth and ninth position in the two Superbike races with nineteen-year-old Hickman finishing just outside the points in both races gaining a 17th and 16th finish respectively.

The two riders were consistent throughout the weekend and were adjusting to the newly resurfaced 1.3-mile Scottish Circuit. Riding on-board the Dunlop-shod Kawasaki ZX-10R's the two managed to end Saturday's Qualifying session with Coxhell in 11th and Hickman in 19th position for the two races.

Race one saw Coxhell gain a flying start and he had moved up two places by the end of the first lap. He was locked in a battle with factory Honda rider Karl Harris who he managed to pass on lap five, an electrical problem for current British Champion Lavilla saw him lose out on places whilst he re-set his Ducati, this promoting Coxhell to seventh position. A confident pass on Yamaha rider, Hill left Coxhell to take a strong sixth place for the Hawk Team. In race two he did not gain the start that he did in the first race and got boxed in into the first corner, spending a number of laps trying to pass Honda rider Rutter, this proving difficult at the tight and twisty circuit. A pass on the Stobart rider on lap 25 moved Coxhell to ninth place, unable to catch the riders in front this is where he finished the race.

Hickman struggled during both starts and left himself a lot of work to do. The rookie rider was locked in a battle in the first race with Michael Rutter and Champion Lavilla, a daunting task for the youngster. He held his ground and even managed to re-pass Lavilla into turn one. The two extremely experienced riders managed to get the better of Hickman but also gave him the opportunity to learn from his peers.

Coxhell commented "I enjoyed both races and I'm really happy with my first race result and hope that I can continue to get some more positive results at the remaining rounds. I was finding it very difficult to find good passing places at Knockhill and got stuck behind Rutter in the second race, unable to find a safe place to get through on him. By the time I did I'd left it too late to try and catch Glen in front of me, a few more laps and it would have been possible to make up more positions. We have definitely made progress this weekend and hope that it will last."

Hickman said, "I struggled with both my starts in the races which proved to be a huge disadvantage. I am still learning all the tracks and how a Superbike works on them, I got two finishes, which is the main thing. I do struggle in the heat and the conditions were incredible hot. I'd like to get back in the points at Oulton next weekend and get some strong results there."