Round 3 – Bennetts British Superbike Championship Meeting Thruxton, Hants. Sunday 16th and Monday 17th April 2006 THRUXTON WOES FOR BRIDEWELL BROTHERS OLLIE CRASHES AT 160MPH AS TOM HITS TROUBLE”¦ Following on from their superb starts to the 2006 British Championship season, Etchilhampton near Devizes in Wiltshire brothers Tommy and Ollie Bridewell both suffered setbacks when round three of series took place at Thruxton in Hampshire today (Easter Monday). Riding at their local track and in front of a sell out record crowd at the historic circuit, neither rider made it to the finish of their respective races due to a number of problems throughout the weekend aboard their respective Vivaldi Suzukis. 17 year old Tommy was hoping to add to his points tally where he was inside the top fifteen at the opening two rounds but handling problems on his 600cc Suzuki hindered his progress in the British Supersport Championship. Faced with an uphill struggle from a lowly sixth row grid position, Bridewell made a good start but following on from a near crash on the opening lap which had him out of the saddle, he decided to call it a day instead of risking a crash around Britain’s fastest race track: “I’m bitterly disappointed as Thruxton is one of my favourite tracks but we just couldn’t get the bike to handle all weekend long. If I’d continued in the race, I would have crashed and the last thing I needed after regaining my fitness was another injury so discretion was the better part of valour today” said a bitterly disappointed Tommy. Meanwhile elder brother Ollie was once again impressive aboard the 1000cc Vivaldi Suzuki which he had taken to top ten placings in the first two rounds of the series but any hopes he had of increasing his score in front of his local fans were thwarted in both 22 lap Bennetts British Superbike Championship races. The 20 year old set an impressive 14th fastest time during the Audi Performance Qualifying session on Sunday but an electrical fault meant he had to retire form race one in the early stages. Determined to put his misfortune behind him, Ollie got a rip-snorter of a start in race two and and inside the top eight for the opening laps when he had to take avoiding action as Rizla Suzuki rider James Haydon crashed in front of him. Undeterred, Ollie set about chasing the leading bunch again when he lost the front end at the 160mph plus Church Corner and crashed out spectacularly, luckily without major injury: “That was the fastest crash I’ve ever had and the bike is looking a little worse for wear now which I’ve apologised to the team for. I was so mad as I was running with the leading bunch and I knew I had the pace to stick with them but I tried just a little hard and down I went. Still, apart from some missing skin, I’m OK and hope to get back to scoring points next time out at Oulton Park” said Ollie. The next round of the respective championships takes place in two weeks time at Oulton Park, Cheshire over the weekend of April 30th and May 1st. More, from a press release issued by Cartersport Motorsport Media, on behalf of Stobart Motorsport: STOBART HONDA RIDERS RACK UP POINTS AT THRUXTON Stobart Motorsport riders Michael Rutter and Michael Laverty emerged from round three of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship with some more solid points following on the first dry meeting of the 2006 season at Thruxton in Hampshire today. In front of a record crowd and just prior to celebrating his 32nd birthday, Leicestershire rider Rutter scored a sixth and seventh place finish in both 22 lap races following on from problems encountered during qualifying and as a result goes into the next round at Oulton Park in joint seventh position in the Championship. Meanwhile Michael Laverty also struggled during qualifying to get a race set up but bravely battled on to record a tenth and eleventh place finish to score valuable points and in doing so left Thruxton in ninth position in the Championship. “Everything we tried didn’t work. We went back to the standard setting but we were 22 seconds off in the first race and 30 in the second so we haven’t done very well at all. We had a good set up at Donington and hopefully it is just the circuit here that just didn’t suit how the bike was set up” said Rutter. Laverty added “I just had a nightmare weekend. Everything we tried, we just couldn’t make any improvement. I just couldn’t get anything to work and I rode around like a beginner. I just couldn’t ride it fast, I just had to ride it safely. I’m just frustrated but at least I got some points at the end of the day. Like Michael (Rutter), I believe it’s just the circuit because the bike worked well at Donington and Brands and Thruxton is a unique circuit.” Meanwhile Crew Chief Phil Borley commented “We’ve learned a lot of lessons this weekend and we hope to be challenging a lot higher up the leaderboard at Oulton Park. We now have two weeks to re-group and turn things around before the next round.” The next round of the Championship takes place at Oulton Park in two weeks’ time on Mayday Bank Holiday Monday (1st May). Superbike Race One Result: 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 28m47.270s, 2, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +4.460s, 3, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +12.742s, 4, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +18.921s, 5, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) +19.058s, 6, Michael Rutter (Stobart Honda) +22.866s, 7, Glen Richards (Honda) +30.839s, 8, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +30.974s, 9, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +34.210s, 10, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) +34.252s. Superbike Race Two Result: 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 27m58.085s, 2, Leon Haslam (Ducati) +6.337s, 3, Karl Harris (Honda) +15.230s, 4, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) +15.566s, 5, Jonathan Rea (Honda) +21.323s, 6, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +25.437s, 7, Michael Rutter (Stobart Honda) +30.305s, 8, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) +34.977s, 9, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) +38.501s, 10, Scott Smart (Suzuki) +42.610s, 11, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) +42.842s. Bennetts British Superbike Championship Standings (after round 3) 1, Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) 132pts 2, Leon Haslam (Ducati) 96pts 3, Ryuichi Kiyonari (HM Plant Honda) 87pts 4, Karl Harris (HM Plant Honda) 57pts 5, Jonathan Rea (Honda) 54pts 6, Shane Byrne (Suzuki) 45pts 7, Scott Smart (Suzuki) 44pts 7, Michael Rutter (Stobart Honda) 44pts 9, Michael Laverty (Stobart Honda) 42pts 10, Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) 40pts 2006 Bennetts British Superbike Race Dates R1: 2426 March, Brands Hatch, Kent (Indy) www.motorsportvision.co.uk R2: 79 April, Donington Park, Leics www.donington-park.co.uk R3: 1417 April, Thruxton, Hants www.barc.net R4: 29 April1 May, Oulton Park, Cheshire www.motorsportvision.co.uk R5: 1921 May, Mondello Park, Co Kildare www.mondellopark.ie R6: 24 June, Mallory Park, Leics www.mallorypark.co.uk R7: 16-18 June, Snetterton, Norfolk www.motorsportvision.co.uk R8: 1416 July, Knockhill, Fife www.knockhill.co.uk R9: 21-23 July, Oulton Park, Cheshire www.motorsportvision.co.uk R10:11-13 August, Croft, N Yorks www.croftcircuit.co.uk R11: 26-28 August, Cadwell Park, Lincs www.motorsportvision.co.uk R12: 15-17 September, Silverstone, Northants www.silverstone-circuit.co.uk More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki: Top Ten Finishes for Hawk Kawasaki Round 3 – Thruxton – 17th April Hawk Kawasaki rider Dean Thomas secured two top ten finishes at the third round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship on Bank Holiday Monday (17th April). 33-year-old Thomas gained a ninth and sixth place in the two Superbike races at Thruxton Circuit. After a fantastic qualifying position of fourth place on the grid, his second front row start this season, it was always going to be a difficult task to stay with the factory machines of Ducati and Honda at the super fast 2.4-mile track. It was the first dry race day so far this season and with a bumper crowd of 35’000 spectators it was a great day for some fantastic racing. Hawk Kawasaki Team Manager Stuart Hicken made the decision to pull the injured Craig Coxhell out of the two races to avoid further damage to his injured shoulders. Coxhell made a valiant attempt all weekend to try and bear the pain but it was obvious the 23-year-old Australian was in a lot of discomfort. Youngster of the pack, 19-year-old Peter Hickman was once again unlucky not to score his first points of the season. Tied up in some of the best battles of the race Hickman was dicing for 14th place in the first race and ended just outside the points in 18th after a fraught battle with Gary Mason, Steve Plater and Privateer Champion James Buckingham. In race two, Hickman lead a freight train of five riders for 12th position but sadly ended up crashing on lap 19 of the 22. Sheffield based Thomas was content with his results saying “I had a disaster with tyres in the first race and to avoid crashing I just wanted to ensure that I brought the bike home. This made it difficult for me to stay with the front runners, as I had no grip what so ever. The second race was much better and the ZX10 felt a lot smoother to ride. I knew we would struggle with horsepower here and the likes of Kiyo and Lavilla came past me like I was stood still. I tried to conserve my tyres a little more and managed to get past Michael (Rutter) in the closing stages of the race. We still have a lot of work to do with the bike but we are definitely getting there.” Lincolnshire rider Hickman was disappointed not to have scored points saying “It’s very frustrating not ending up in the points as I know there is a strong possibility that I can do, I think I proved that this weekend. I really enjoyed the racing today but riding a Superbike round here, certainly is a scary affair and so fast it’s untrue. It’s a very difficult circuit to learn in such a short space of time, I’ve been here on a Superstock bike but the Superbike is like an animal around here. I’m not sure what happened in the crash as it all happened so quickly but I’m just thankful I walked away from it uninjured. I’m looking forward to Oulton as it’s a track I know.” Injured Coxhell said, “I really wanted to ride this weekend to try and get some Championship points. Although I made a big effort all weekend I knew that it was going to be nearly impossible for me to finish the races in the points. Both shoulders were sore all weekend but during morning warm up I was in the slip stream of Scott Smart and pulled out the pass him and got the bike into a huge tank-slapper which ripped the muscle in my right shoulder. It was so painful and knew then that I couldn’t ride in the two races. I’m hoping to be fit for Oulton in a few weeks time.” The Hawk Kawasaki riders will be testing at the official British Superbike Test Day at Oulton Park this Friday (21st April) and will race there on the May Bank Holiday weekend (29th, 30th April and 1st May). For more details please see www.hawkkawasaki.co.uk. BSB Race 1 Result: 1.Gregorio Lavilla – 22 Laps, 2. Leon Haslam + 4.460, 3. Ryuichi Kiyonari + 12.742, 4. Jonathan Rea + 18.921, 5. Shane Byrne + 19.058, 6. Michael Rutter + 22.866, 7. Glen Richards + 30.839, 8.Tommy Hill + 30.974, 9. Dean Thomas + 34.210 (Hawk Kawasaki), 10. Michael Laverty 34.252, 18. Peter Hickman + 53.786 (Hawk Kawasaki) BSB Race 2 Result: 1.Gregorio Lavilla 22 Laps, 2. Leon Haslam + 6.337, 3. Karl Harris + 15.230, 4. Ryuichi Kiyonari + 15.566, 5. Jonathan Rea + 21.323, 6. Dean Thomas + 25.437 (Hawk Kawasaki), 7. Michael Rutter + 30.305, 8. Shane Byrne + 34.977, 9. Tommy Hill + 38.501, 10. Scott Smart + 42.610 Championship Standings after Round 3 Lavilla 132 Haslam 96 Kiyonari 87 Harris 57 Rea 54 Byrne 45 Smart 44 Rutter 44 Laverty 42 Thomas 40 15th Craig Coxhell 18 R13: 29 September 1 October, Brands Hatch, Kent (GP) www.motorsportvision.co.uk