From a press release issued by Monstermob Ducati:

MONSTERMOB DUCATI BRITISH SUPERBIKE TEAM

Round 9 – 2002 MCN British Superbike Championship, Thruxton

Saturday 10h/Sunday 11th August 2002

Hislop Increases Championship Lead

Monstermob Ducati rider Steve Hislop increased his MCN British Superbike Championship lead to 19 points after another pair of thrillers around the 2.35 mile Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.

The 40 year old Isle of Man rider scored two second places albeit in differing circumstances, edging out main rival Sean Emmett aboard the 1000cc Virgin Mobile Yamaha, in both races.

A rain interrupted first race saw Hislop running inside the top six before leading the restart and taking the chequered flag only for fellow Ducati rider Michael Rutter to take victory on aggregate with Emmett in 3rd.

Race two saw Hislop in command after the threat of Rutter and defending champion John Reynolds had retired only for Ducati’s Shane Byrne to outsprint Hislop to the flag to take victory by 43/1000ths.

“I can’t believe it, he did the same to me last year. I could have done with the win but all credit to Shane, he rode well” said Hislop.

Supersport rider Stuart Easton’s run of wretched luck continued after his race machine developed an electrical fault prior to the race leaving the 18 year old Hawick rider to start on his spare bike from the back of the grid.

Despite having to pass 34 bikes, Easton clawed his way up to 4th, one place behind championship rival Scott Smart to leave Thruxton 26 points in the lead with 4 races left.

“They say bad luck comes in threes and after this and what happened at Rockingham and Knockhill, I hope that’s it for the season” said Easton.

Team owner Paul Bird remained upbeat despite a challenging weekend.

“That’s racing and we’ve got to be happy with Steve increasing his lead and under the circumstances for Stuart to concede 3 points is also a bonus. Hopefully we can have a better run at Cadwell” said the Penrith businessman.

Results:

MCN British Superbike Race One: 1. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 28m31.896s, 2. Steve Hislop (Monstermob Ducati) 28m32.112s, 3. Sean Emmett (Yamaha) 28m32.678s, 4. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 28m40.046s, 5. Simon Crafar (Yamaha) 28m40.564s, 6. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 28m40.695s, 7. Steve Plater (Yamaha) 28m41.793s, 8. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 28m41.894s, 9. Dean Thomas (Ducati) 28m45.001s, 10. John Crawford (Suzuki) 28m46.478s.

MCN British Superbike Race Two: 1. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 28m15.712s, 2. Steve Hislop (Monstermob Ducati) 28m15.755s, 3. Sean Emmett (Yamaha) 28m17.032s, 4. Steve Plater (Yamaha) 28m18.279s, 5. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 28m21.819s, 6. Karl Harris (Suzuki) 28m30.506s, 7. Simon Crafar (Yamaha) 28m32.417s, 8. Dean Thomas (Ducati) 28m42.730s, 9. John Crawford (Suzuki) 28m44.111s, 10. Mark Burr (Kawasaki) 28m45.781s.

MCN British Superbike Standings: 1. Steve Hislop (320pts), 2. Sean Emmett (301pts), 3. Michael Rutter (253.5 pts), 4. Shane Byrne (201.5 pts), 5. John Reynolds ( 190.5 pts), 6. Steve Plater (180 pts), 7. Paul Brown (159.5 pts), 8. Simon Crafar (131 pts), 9. Glen Richards (121.5 pts), 10. Dean Thomas (98 pts).

Supersport: 1. Michael Laverty (Honda) 23m59.183s, 2. Simon Andrews (Honda) 24m09.728s, 3. Scott Smart (Honda) 24m15.260s, 4. Stuart Easton (Monstermob Ducati) 24m18.874s, 5. Tom Tunstall (Suzuki) 24m23.496s, 6. Pete Jennings (Kawasaki) 24m23.872s, 7. Chris Bishop (Honda) 24m24.000s, 8. Gary May (Yamaha) 24m24.602s, 9. Callum Ramsay (Suzuki) 24m25.859s, 10. Douglas Cowie (Kawasaki) 24m26.117s.

Supersport Championship Standings: 1. Stuart Easton (183pts), 2, Scott Smart (157pts), 3. Tom Tunstall (91pts), 4. Pete Jennings (87pts), 5. Simon Andrews (80pts), 6. Michael Laverty (79pts), 7. Jeremy Goodall (78pts), 8. Ben Wilson (66pts), 9. Chris Bishop (61pts), 10. Callum Ramsay (49pts).