Reynolds Doubles In British Superbike At Mondello

Reynolds Doubles In British Superbike At Mondello

© 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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From a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

MONSTERMOB DUCATI BRITISH SUPERBIKE TEAM

Round 8 – 2003 British Superbike Championship powered by HALLS
Mondello Park, Ireland

Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th July 2003

HEARTBREAK FOR SHAKEY

MonsterMob Ducati rider Shane Byrne relinquished his near-perfect record in the British Superbike Championship with a ninth-place finish in race one before getting back to business with another rostrum finish in race two in front of a record crowd at Mondello Park, Co Kildare today.

A first-corner collision bent the 26 year old Kent rider’s brake lever and ended the challenge to maintain his 100% rostrum record in the opening leg, meaning he had to settle for 9th at the flag.

However, ‘Shakey’ bounced back to take 2nd place in an incident packed race two to keep his Championship challenge back on course.

“I couldn’t believe it when I clipped the back of Scott Smart and bent the brake lever. I thought I’d be lucky to finish and I ended up cooking the rear tyre as I tried to make up time. However, I’m more than happy with second in race two and hope to get winning again at Oulton,” said Byrne who still leads the Championship by 135 points after double winner John Reynolds closed the gap.

But the team did taste the victor’s champagne in the form of defending Supersport Champion Stuart Easton who put in a late charge to seal his second win of the season.

The 19 year old from Hawick made his move with five laps to go to clinch victory and with main rival Karl Harris scoring lowly, he reduced the gap to 40 points.

“It’s the little bit of luck I needed and hopefully I can capitalise from here. The bike and tyres worked well and I’m very happy with the result,” said the Scot.

Team owner Paul Bird remained optimistic despite losing a few points in the Superbike Championship chase but was delighted with Easton’s win.

“We were due some bad luck and if that’s it then I’ll settle for it. It’s been a tough weekend but I’m happy with the outcome and look forward to the next round.”

Superbike Results

Race One
1. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 29:04.650
2. Sean Emmett (Ducati) +1.059-seconds
3. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) +2.084
4. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +4.336
5. Michael Rutter (Ducati) +5.786
6. Steve Plater (Honda) +6.083
7. Gary Mason (Yamaha) +11.266s
8. Scott Smart (Kawasaki) +14.481
9. Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) +19.716
10. Leon Haslam (Ducati) +23.567

Race Two
1. John Reynolds (Suzuki) 30:43.350
2. Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) +7.300 seconds
3. Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +7.877
4. Gary Mason (Yamaha) + 8.041
5. Michael Rutter (Ducati) +8.888
6. Steve Plater (Honda) +8.894
7. Leon Haslam (Ducati) +15.495
8. Sean Emmett (Ducati) +31.519
9. Mark Heckles (Honda) +35.494
10. Paul Young (Yamaha) +41.584


Superbike Standings after Round 8
1: Shane Byrne (MonsterMob Ducati) 352pts

2: John Reynolds (Suzuki) 217pts

3: Michael Rutter (Ducati) 203pts

4: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 170pts

5: Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 169pts

6: Steve Plater (Honda) 166pts

7: Gary Mason (Yamaha) 148pts

8: Steve Hislop (Yamaha) 122pts

9: Sean Emmett (Ducati) 116pts

10: Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 100pts

Supersport Results
1. Stuart Easton (MonsterMob Ducati) 28:01.740
2. Tom Sykes (Yamaha) +5.134
3. Michael Laverty (Honda) +5.979
4. John Crockford (Honda) +17.409
5. Simon Andrews (Yamaha) +18.353s
6. Craig Jones (Triumph) +27.309
7. Kieran Murphy (Kawasaki) +30.868
8. Rob Frost (Kawasaki) +33.569
9. Adrian Coates (Honda) +33.754
10. Jamie Robinson (Yamaha) +34.394

Supersport Championship Standings after Round 8
1: Karl Harris 165pts

2: Stuart Easton 125pts

3: Simon Andrews 83pts

4: Michael Laverty 73pts

5: Dean Thomas 71pts

5: John Crockford 71pts

7: Adrian Coates 69pts

8: Leon Haslam 60pts

9: Tom Sykes 59pts

10:Craig Jones 57pts



More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Racing Information:

REYNOLDS BSB DOUBLE

Team Suzuki Press Office – July 20th.

Team Rizla Suzuki’s John Reynolds took his GSX-R1000 to two outstanding wins in today’s British Superbike round at Mondello Park In Ireland.

Rizla Suzuki teammate Yukio Kagayama took third place in the first race and lead the second right up until the penultimate lap, when Reynolds squeezed by. Yukio looked certain to make it a repeat double Suzuki rostrum, but high-sided on the last lap without injury.

Reynolds now moves up to second place in the championship standings.


More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki:

BSB Round 8, Mondello Park, Eire

Sunday July 20
Track length: 2.1766 miles
Weather: dry, bright, 27°C
Track: dry, 36°C

GREEN MEANIE MAKES PODIUM IN MONDELLO

Glen Richards made the most of his front-row start at Mondello Park today, by taking his Hawk Kawasaki ZX-7RR to a hard-fought fourth and third in the two British Superbike races.

The Aussie was in determined mood from the start of the first race, grabbing the lead on the opening lap and stretching an advantage over the following pack. A podium finish looked well within Richards’ grasp until his rear tyre passed its best, forcing him to settle for a strong fourth.

His brilliant third in race two – his fourth podium of the season – elevates him back to fourth in the riders’ championship and confirms his status as the star of this year’s British Superbike series. ‘It was a good hard race and to get on the podium again was great,’ beamed Glen after the race. ‘I had a go at getting past Shakey, who finished second, but my bike was moving around too much. It was hard because I wanted to pass him, but I also wanted to defend my position. I’m well pleased though.’

Scott Smart looked on course to join his team mate with a top five finish in race two, after recovering brilliantly from a hectic start that saw him pushed wide and dropped down the order in the first corner, until he lost the front end of his ZX-7RR trying to pass Steve Plater three laps from the end of the 18 lap race.

‘There was no doubt that I could have finished up with Glen and maybe got on the podium,’ said Scott, who remounted to finish a brave 13th. ‘There was a place where I could pass Plater every lap, but he closed the door and I had to roll off and I just lost the front.’

His hopes of a podium in the first race were dashed by a badly worn rear tyre, but the 2002 National Supersport runner-up wasn’t afraid to mix it with the front runners in the early laps. ‘The start I got in the first race was alright, although I touched Shakey off the line and then Kagayama stuffed it up the inside, so it was an interesting first lap,’ explained Smart. ‘Then unfortunately Emmett decided to stuff it up the inside and collected me on about the third lap going into the first corner, then Plater passed me because I lost so much time – it was really stupid. It was just a case of trying to catch up, which I started to do, but the rear tyre shredded itself.’

Lee Jackson turned a frustrating weekend around by improving upon his qualifying position in both races, with 14th and 12th, as well as continuing to score points in every race so far this season. ‘We ended up 14th in the first, which isn’t the best result we could have had, but the way the weekend’s been going I’m quite pleased because it’s all about lap times and I found a second over qualifying,’ said Lee. ‘In the second race Emmett ran off the track and rode straight across in front of me, which cost me time, and that was the only lap that I dropped into the 45s – the rest were 42s and 43s. In the end I was 44 seconds behind the winner and that’s not too bad after the weekend I’ve had.’

Hawk Kawasaki team boss Stuart Hicken had plenty to smile about after seeing two of his riders qualify on the front row and one make the podium at a track new to BSB: ‘After having two bikes on the front row and everyone riding real well, it’s been a good weekend for the team,’ he said. ‘You need a little bit of luck and Glen had that with his third position, which was really hard fought for. Unfortunately Scotty had the bad luck – he still got back on to score good points though. I’m happy, because we got a podium – it could have been a double podium, which is hopefully something that will happen before the end of the year.’

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