From a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

MONSTERMOB DUCATI BRITISH SUPERBIKE TEAM

Round 4 – 2003 British Superbike Championship powered by HALLS, Thruxton

Sunday 4th and Monday 5th May 2003

SHAKEY HITS DOUPLE TOP.. AGAIN!!

MonsterMob Ducati rider Shane Byrne strengthened his grip on the 2003 British Superbike Championship with his second consecutive double victory, to emerge from round four 65 points to the good.

The 26 year old Kent rider followed up his first ever double win at Thruxton over Easter with a repeat performance in front of a bumper bank holiday crowd at Oulton Park, Cheshire to take command of the 12 round series.

“I got my head down in race one and kept plugging away and gradually built a gap. There was a minor problem with the bike so we decided to use the spare for race two and I was a little apprehensive but it all worked out just fine. Another double is unbelievable and all credit to a fantastic team effort.”

Meanwhile team mate Stuart Easton couldn’t reciprocate in the Supersport class when problems in qualifying relegated him to a row three start aboard the MonsterMob 748 Ducati.

The 18 year old Hawick racer battled his way up to fifth at the flag to be docked a place for a chicane infringement on the final lap.

“I’m disappointed as I’ve conceded a lot of points to my rivals today. I need to be winning and a sixth place is not a lot of good to my championship aspirations.”

And whilst team owner Paul Bird was delighted with his team’s Superbike results, he sympathised with Easton.

“Shakey’s on fire at present and long may it continue – but another double is fantastic. Stuart proved at Thruxton that he can cut it with the best but today wasn’t his day.”

The next round takes place at Knockhill, Scotland on 17/18th May.

Superbike Results

Race One
1. Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 29:37.968
2. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 29:43.700
3. Steve Hislop (Yamaha) 29:44.420
4. Steve Plater (Honda) 29:50.449
5. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 29:58.832
6. John Crawford (Ducati) 29:59.701
7. Gary Mason (Yamaha) 30:00.849
8. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 30:02.181
9. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 30:09.287
10. Mark Heckles (Honda) 30:11.245

Race Two
1. Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 29:30.799
2. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 29:40.205
3. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 29:45.601
4. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 29:47.907
5. Steve Hislop (Yamaha) 29:48.022
6. Mark Heckles (Honda) 29:53.655
7. Dean Ellison (Ducati) 29:53.656
8. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 30:03.321
9. Gary Mason (Yamaha) 30:05.850
10. John Crawford (Ducati) 30:10.202

Superbike Championship Standings after Round 4

1: Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 190pts
2: Michael Rutter (Ducati) 135pts
3: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 87pts
4: Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 82pts
5: Steve Hislop (Yamaha) 77pts
6: Gary Mason (Yamaha) 75pts
7: Steve Plater (Honda) 64pts
7: John Reynolds (Suzuki) 64pts
9: John Crawford (Ducati) 55pts
10: Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 47pts

Supersport Result
1. Karl Harris (Honda) 27:26.193
2. Dean Thomas (Honda) 27:28.005
3. Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 27:32.854
4. Leon Haslam (Ducati) 27:36.541
5. Michael Laverty (Honda) 27:37.658
6. Stuart Easton (MonsterMob Ducati) 27:38.400
7. Adrian Coates (Honda) 27:38.486
8. Craig Jones (Triumph) 27:47.234
9. Jamie Robinson (Yamaha) 27:48.797
10. Kieran Murphy (Kawasaki) 27:49.382

Supersport Championship Standings After Round 4
1: Karl Harris 90pts
2: Stuart Easton (MonsterMob Ducati) 51pts
3: Simon Andrews 49pts
4: Adrian Coates 43pts
4: Michael Laverty 43pts
6: John Crockford 39pts
7: Leon Haslam 27pts
8: Rob Frost 25pts
9: Craig Jones 24pts
10:Tom Sykes 21pts



More, from a press release issued by Team Renegade Ducati:

RUTTER RACKS UP TWO PODIUMS AT OULTON PARK

Michael Rutter stormed to two podium finishes in rounds seven and eight of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park on Bank Holiday Monday, but the Team Renegade Ducati rider left the Cheshire circuit disappointed not to have taken a race win.

Second away from the line in the opening race, Rutter hung onto the rear of race leader, Shane Byrne, for the first eight laps, before handling problems forced him to slow and accept 20 points for second place. In race two, the 30-year-old West Midlander was involved in a battle for second place with John Reynolds, but handling problems struck again in the closing stages of the race and Rutter was forced to settle for third, and the final position on the podium.

“Second and third may seem like reasonable finishes, but we came here this weekend to win, so I’m not particularly happy about the results,” said Rutter. “Because we’ve had a few problems with set-up this weekend I had to muscle the bike around in both races and you just can’t ride a Ducati that way. But, we learn more about the bike at every meeting and I’m confident we’ll have things sorted for Knockhill.”

While Rutter was disappointed with two podium finishes, his Renegade Ducati teammate, Sean Emmett, was devastated to rack up two more non-finishes at Oulton Park. The 33-year-old Weybridge rider was forced to retire from race one when his Ducati 998F02 developed an electrical fault, while a rear tyre problem sidelined him after just ten laps of race two.

“What can I say; the nightmare continues,” commented Emmett. “Anything that can go wrong has gone wrong so far this year. To be fair, it’s not really anyone’s fault, it’s just that we’ve had four season’s worth of bad luck in four meetings. But it’s got to end sometime and, while the championship has probably gone for me now, I’m still determined to get out there and win races. If we can get some testing done between now and Knockhill then I’m sure we can get things sorted and be back up there at the front in two weeks time.”

After qualifying in 18th place on Sunday, Nick Medd bettered his grid position in both 18-lap Superbike races on Monday, adding to the championship points he secured in rounds three and four at Snetterton.

“Although the results aren’t what I’d have hoped for, it’s been a good weekend for me,” said Medd. “I’m a lot happier on the bike now than I was at the start of the season and I’m beginning to understand both how the Ducati needs to be ridden and how to set it up to suit me. If we can continue to make progress at Knockhill, then I’m sure the results will come.”

Leon Haslam jumped four places in the championship standings after bringing his Ducati 748 home in fourth place in the 16-lap Supersport race at Oulton Park. The 19-year-old former GP rider had held second place for much of the race, but lost out on a podium finish when Dean Thomas and Simon Andrews used a top speed advantage to best effect towards the end.

“Set-up is critical at Oulton Park but the problems we had on Saturday, combined with the weather, meant that we weren’t quite there come race day,” said Haslam. “I was able to run the same lap times as Karl Harris, but I just didn’t have the top speed needed to stay with Dean Thomas and Simon Andrews when they came past me towards the end. But, after not finishing at the previous two rounds, it was good to finally see the chequered flag again this weekend.”