From a press release issued by MonsterMob Ducati:

MonsterMob Ducati British Superbike and Supersport Championship Team

THINK! British Superbike Championship
Rounds 5/6
Snetterton, Norfolk
24th/25th April

MORE POINTS FOR EMMETT AS LAVERTY TAKES VICTORY

MonsterMob Ducati riders Sean Emmett and Michael Laverty consolidated their positions in their respective championships after an action packed round three of the THINK! British Superbike Championship at a sun-kissed Snetterton today.

999 F02 mounted- Emmett followed up a hard fought fourth in the opening Superbike race with a battling rostrum in race two to move into third in the championship after three of the thirteen rounds.

“Not a bad day I suppose” summarised the 34 year old from Weybridge. “The four cylinder machines seemed to dominate here with their speed which we thought may happen. Also, still having an injury to my finger doesn’t help especially with not really having a break between now and OultonPark. This weekend was a damage limitation exercise but obviously there’s still a long way to go. This circuit is one of the weakest ones for us all year but you’re never going to be able to compete with the four cylinder machines on speed but wait until we get to some of the more technical circuits the twin will come into its own and I will get my pay back” said Emmett.

MonsterMob Ducati Supersport rider Michael Laverty moved to the lead in the championship after a superb debut victory aboard the 749 after a race long battle had seen him move from 11th in the opening stages.

The 22 year old Toomebridge, Northern Ireland rider snatched the lead with three laps to go but the race was red-flagged a lap short after an accident. However, Laverty was in the lead when the race was stopped and as a result took his second victory in three years at the Norfolk circuit:

“I had an awful first lap and dropped back to 11th but I rode a steady race and picked them off one by one as I didn’t want to try too hard early on. I never thought I would get through to the front but I was strong at the end of the race. The bike was brilliant and the tyres were good and it all just worked out for me” said a delighted Laverty.

Team owner Paul Bird was happy enough with his riders’ performances:
“That was a good day and we had three good finishes. We knew this wasn’t going to be a track for the Superbike and we had to make the best of a bad job, especially with Sean riding injured. We will go to Oulton Park next week which should hopefully suit the Ducati more. Michael’s result was excellent and we knew it was going to happen shortly. He has shown that he is world class, coming from way down on the first lap and he rode probably the best race of his career.”

Superbike Race One Result
1, Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 27:50.976
2, John Reynolds (Suzuki) -0.414
3, Michael Rutter (Honda) -1.018
4, Sean Emmett (MonsterMob Ducati) -1.597
5, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) -2.396
6, Dean Thomas (Ducati) -9.061
7, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) -12.186
8, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) -18.779
9, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) -31.451
10, James Haydon (Ducati) -34.846

Superbike Race Two Result
1, John Reynolds (Suzuki) 26:40.720
2, Michael Rutter (Honda) -0.504
3, Sean Emmett (MonsterMob Ducati) -9.774
4, Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) -12.937
5, Dean Thomas (Ducati) -14.436
6, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) -16.045
7, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) -16.710
8, Steve Plater (Yamaha) -21.023
9, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) -26.050
10, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) -26.795

Supersport Race Result
1, Michael Laverty (MonsterMob Ducati) 23:14.750
2, Karl Harris (Honda) -0.537
3, Pere Riba (Kawasaki) -0.578
4, Luke Quigley (Suzuki) -1.813
5, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) -2.091
6, Jay Vincent (Honda) -2.259
7, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) -7.651
8, Adrian Coates (Suzuki) -8.394
9, Craig Jones (Triumph) -8.684
10, Matt Llewellyn (Ducati) -14.619



Superbike Championship Standings (after Round 6)
1, John Reynolds (Suzuki) 127 pts
2, Michael Rutter (Honda) 117 pts
3, Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 78 pts
3, Sean Emmett (MonsterMob Ducati) 78 pts
5, Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 76 pts
6, Scott Smart (Kawasaki) 68 pts
7, Dean Thomas (Ducati) 48 pts
8, Tommy Hill (Yamaha) 40 pts
9, Glen Richards (Kawasaki) 33 pts
10, Gary Mason (Yamaha) 32 pts


Supersport Championship Standings (after Round 3)
1, Michael Laverty (MonsterMob Ducati) 51 pts
2, Karl Harris (Honda) 45 pts
3, Jay Vincent (Honda) 43 pts
4, Pere Riba (Kawasaki) 42 pts
5, Luke Quigley (Suzuki) 38 pts
6, Craig Jones (Triumph) 27 pts
6, Simon Andrews (Yamaha) 27 pts
8, Kieran Murphy (Honda) 19 pts
9, Adrian Coates (Suzuki) 15 pts
9, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 15 pts



More, from a press release issued by MSS Discovery Kawasaki Team:

British Supersport/National Superstock Championships
Round three ­
Snetterton

Sunday, April 25, 2004

MSS DISCOVERY TAKE PODIUM FINISH WITH THIRD PLACE FOR RIBA AT SNETTERTON

MSS Discovery¹s Pere Riba finished third after an action-packed third round of the British Supersport Championship at Snetterton in Norfolk on Sunday.

The ZX-6RR rider was looking to add a maiden victory to his two fourth places so far this year. And, in a race which had five different leaders, Riba lost out on a possible second place when a seven-rider crash brought the 22-lap race to a premature end on lap 20.

“That was a great race,” said Riba. “I made one small mistake with a couple of laps to go and lost the lead but I still thought it was possible to fight back and win. The machine was fast and the brakes were brilliant.”

Riba, fourth in the championship but just nine points off the lead, continued: “There was nothing I could fault with the machine and the win was there for the taking ­ but for me running wide. Such a small mistake has cost us but it’s normal when you¹re leading and when you have a queue of riders behind you.”

MSS Discovery’s Rob Frost looked set to record his first points of the year as he held 10th place but the Lincolnshire ace was caught up in the seven-rider incident at the end of Snetterton¹s long, back straight.

Frost explained: “I don’t know what I’ve done wrong but I can¹t seem to get the points in the bag. The guy whose engine blew had just passed me so I had nowhere to go. I got a great start and was all on for the finish and the points that I needed.”

Battling Steve Allan fought through to an eventual eighth place in the National Superstock Championship race after qualifying in 18th. The Scotsman rode a calculated race on the ZX-10R and was holding eighth when the race was cut short by three laps due to a crash.

“I don’t ever want to qualify that low again–it was madness on the first lap,” reported Allan. “I just held on really and picked off a place when I could. I got involved in a few scraps but there was no way I was going to
take any risks.

“The problems we’d had with the brakes in qualifying were sorted out and the machine felt really good and consistent throughout,” added Allan, now up to sixth place in the Championship.


British Supersport Championship, round three result (20 laps,­ 39.00 miles):
1 Michael Laverty, Ducati, 23:14.750
2 Karl Harris, Honda, 23:15.287
3 Pere Riba, MSS Discovery Kawasaki, 23:15.328
4 Luke Quigley, Suzuki, 23:16.563
5 Simon Andrews, Yamaha, 23:16.841
6 Jay Vincent, Honda, 23:17.009
7 Tom Sykes, Suzuki, 23:22.401
8 Adrian Coates, Suzuki, 23:23.144
9 Craig Jones, Triumph, 23:23.434
10 Matt Llewellyn, Ducati, 23:29.369

Championship points after three of 13 rounds: 1 Laverty 51, 2 Harris 45, 3 Vincent 43, 4 Riba 42, 5 Quigley 38, 6 Jones and Andrews 27, 8 Kieran Murphy, Honda 19, 9 Coates and Sykes 15.

Next round: Oulton Park ­ May 3


National Superstock Championship, round three result (17 laps, 33.15 miles):
1 Danny Beaumont, Yamaha, 19:33.192
2 Ben Wilson, Suzuki, 19:33.663
3 Tristan Palmer, Suzuki, 19:34.361
4 Andy Tinsley, Suzuki, 19:35.469
5 Les Shand, Yamaha, 19:42.658
6 John Laverty, Yamaha, 19:45.282
7 Darren Mitchell, Suzuki, 19:48.257
8 Steve Allan, MSS Discovery Kawasaki, 19:53.480
9 Stephen Thomson, Suzuki, 19:55.550
10 Ryan Rainey, Yamaha, 19:57.109

Championship points after three of 13 rounds: 1 Tinsley and Wilson 58, 3 Beaumont 54, 4 Palmer 45, 5 Shand 31, 6 Allan 24, 7 Mitchell 20, 8 Mark Heckles, Yamaha 16, 9 Kelvin Reilly, Ducati 15, 10 Craig Fitzpatrick, Suzuki 14.

Next round: Oulton Park ­ May 3



More, from a press release issued by Scott Smart’s publicist:

FACTORY British Superbike racer Scott Smart rounded off another successful weekend at Snetterton yesterday with two top-six finishes – and managed to lead for part of race two after getting past series leader John Reynolds. Smart (27) worked hard on set-up during qualifying as he knew that the outright horsepower of the Suzukis and Hondas would be very hard to match along the Norfolk circuit’s two long straights, so he concentrated on getting his Hawk Kawasaki’s handling exactly right. And it paid off as he was able to keep with, and get past, the faster bikes through Snetterton’s twisty Esses/Bombhole/Coram section, only losing out on the straight bits.

“My race one start was a bit average, I went to the left side of the track and got blocked,” said Smart. “That meant I got really poor drive going to Sear corner and ended up going onto the back straight in tenth. I had to work really hard draughting to get past the Virgin Yamaha bikes, Plater was riding really well too, and then got up to and past Dean Thomas.

“After I passed him, I got my head down and chased the leading group. I managed to get up to Emmett but my tyre went off and I started sliding a lot, so I just yo-yo’d up to him, and then away again as I didn’t have enough grip.

“Before race two, I made a decision that, come hell or high water, I WAS going up the inside into the first corner, I got good drive and then did two more people going into Sear, got more good drive onto the back straight. Then I picked off one more bike and found myself in second, behind Reynolds.

“There was still some oil on the track at the Esses, but I was happy to go into it as fast as John. I sat with him for a couple of laps until he made a mistake into the Bombhole, went a little bit wide, I dived underneath him and took the lead. I managed to pull a little time on JR as we went over the line. I got round to Sear again, but had a moment, and John came whistling past up the Revett Straight, dragging Emmett in his slipstream.

“I tried to stay with them, but coming into Russell Chicane, I hit a false neutral, had to go across the grass and ended up back in tenth.

“Then it was damage limitation, so I got my head down again, and managed to get back up to sixth, passing my team-mate Glen on the way. “All in all, a great weekend, it was fantastic to lead a superbike race, and I’m really, really up for Oulton Park next weekend.”