From a press release issued by Monstermob Ducati:

MONSTERMOB DUCATI BRITISH SUPERBIKE TEAM
Round 6 – 2002 MCN British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch
Saturday 15th/Sunday 16th June 2002

Race Report


HIZZY MAINTAINS SUPERBIKE LEAD AS EASTON WINS AGAIN

MonsterMob Ducati left Brands Hatch with both MCN British Superbike and MB4U.com National Supersport Championship leads intact despite a weekend of high drama at the Kent circuit over the weekend.

Championship leader in the prestigious Superbike class, Steve Hislop had to overcome more traction woes in qualifying aboard the 998cc Testastretta but still managed to post second fastest time in Superpole to start from the front row.

But the 40 year old Isle of Man based Scot suffered more bad luck in the opening 20 lap race when he could only manage a lowly 12th place finish because of rear tyre problems which prevented him from utilising the power on the Ducati.

“I had virtually no grip from turn one on the first lap and I was having to take totally foreign lines to keep the bike as smooth and as upright as I could. I was sliding about all over the place but I was desperate to rack up a few more points” said Hislop, whose cause was aided when main championship rival Sean Emmett retired his Ducati on lap two when an oil seal blew.

Fired up and ready to salvage something from the weekend, Hislop tried a different profile rear tyre for the second race which proved to his liking and ran with the leaders for all the race, just missing out on the race win by finishing three thousandths of a second behind race winner Emmett.

“That’s turned things around for us. I really wanted to win and proved I’m still a match for the other guys as long as I’ve got the right rubber underneath me. I’m a lot more happy leaving here than I was when I left Snetterton and I’m feeling really positive that we’ve got a good set up now” commented Steve who dropped a single point to Emmett in the standings as a result.

No such problems for Supersport teammate Stuart Easton who recorded his sixth successive win in the class by taking another comfortable victory to extend his lead at the top of the standings to 59 points at the half distance stage of the series.

The 17 year old from Hawick overcame two engine problems in qualifying to set his fifth pole position of the year before destroying the opposition with a start to finish win in the 16 lap race to end up over 14 seconds to the good.

“People were saying to me that my dominance was coming to an end after the close race I had at Snetterton but I just wanted to prove to them that I’m still in charge. I’ve had a lot of stick so I thought I’d best smoke them again and show them that young ‘Ratty’ is still the man to beat” said Easton.

Team owner Paul Bird was relieved his riders had managed to maintain their leads after a weekend of frustration:

“We always knew it wasn’t going to be as easy as people were reckoning after the first couple of rounds and so it’s proving. But we’re here to ride out the storm and hopefully to take advantage when other teams get their share of bad luck, which will happen. Steve rode brilliantly to take second after the disaster in race one and as for Stuart, what more can anyone say about him. He’s a class above the rest at this moment” said the Penrith businessman.

Race One Result – 1. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 29m25.192s, 2. Steve Plater (Yamaha) 29m25.402s, 3. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 29m34.958s, 4. Paul Brown (Ducati) 29m38.985s, 5. Simon Crafar (Yamaha) 29m39.940s, 6. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 29m42.261s, (12. Steve Hislop (MonsterMob Ducati) 29m55.497s).

Race Two Result – 1. Sean Emmett (Ducati) 31m50.803s, 2. Steve Hislop (MonsterMob Ducati) 31m50.835s, 3. Michael Rutter (Ducati) 31m51.033s, 4. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 31m51.271s, 5. Shane Byrne (Ducati) 31m51.481s, 6. Steve Plater (Yamaha) 31m51.821s.

Supersport Result – 1. Stuart Easton (MonsterMob Ducati) 24m40.323s, 2. Simon Andrews (Honda) 24m54.604s, 3. Tom Tunstall (Suzuki) 24m56.140s, 4. Scott Smart (Honda) 24m57.116s, 5. Gary May (Yamaha) 24m57.305s, 6. Chris Bishop (Honda) 24m57.822s.

British Championship Standings – 1. Steve Hislop (213pts), 2. Sean Emmett (197pts), 3. Michael Rutter (162.5pts), 4. Steve Plater (147pts), 5. John Reynolds (143.5pts), 6. Paul Brown (126.5pts).